General Guidelines to Detect Speech delay in Children

These are the general guidelines that parents may use to know if a child is developing at a normal pace. Of course, every child is different. Every child has its own unique developmental milestones. Some children may “grow out” speech delay to finally fill-up the gap in their speech development but others don’t. The most painful realization for me as a mother is that my child was so frustrated that other cannot understand her; she finally lost her speaking confidence. I think this was the worst.

Now that I spend more time with her everyday to work on improving her speech, I cannot avoid thinking that her speech delay was also cause by lack of support from us, her parents. She is now four years. For four years she spent most of her time with her baby sitter and in front the television. Although I brought her to Developmental Pediatrician, Speech Language Pathologist, Occupational Therapist, I also enrolled her in a toddler school, SPED and at the same time regular school, these are not enough. A child needs a parent. Developmental delayed children need extra effort and more support from the people around them.

The most important lesson for me as a parent is that; parents play an important role in the development of our child. We need to guide and help them to be the best that they can be. I feel better now that I have taken a leave to help my child personally. I am now teaching her at home with her Special Education HomeProgram. She is now enrolled in a regular school and she is coping up well.

If you notice any delay compared to the charts below, do not freak out. Help your child. The earlier that we detect speech delay, the better because we can help our child through early intervention.

Vocabulary Milestone of a child:

7-12 months----- some syllables mama, dada

12 months------- 3-5 words

18 months------- 10-20 words

2 years old------ 300 words

2 ½ years old--- 450 words

3 years old------- 1,000 words

Sentence Construction Milestone:

7-12 months------ First true words appear

12 months-------- Use both gestures and vocalizations together.

18 months-------- Early 2-word combinations of words

2 years old------- Puts two words together on, uses pronouns

2 ½ years old--- Child uses past tense, plurals, and combines nouns and verbs

3 years old------- Child can use 3-4 word sentences, Child can tell a simple story

4 years old------- Child talks in 4-5 word sentences, Child will talk in the past tense correctly.

5 years old------- Child uses 5-6 word sentences Child can use different tenses (past, present, future), and many sentence types

Mastery of Different Sound Milestone:

3 years old------------- p, b, n, h, w

3 1/2 years old--------- t, d, k, g, ng

4 years old-------------- f, v

5 years old-------------- l

6 years old-------------- ch, sh, j, th

6 years old-------------- s, z, r, blends

Other Speech and Language Milestone

18 months-------- imitate simple actions, Child will point, hum or sing, follow simple commands

2 years old------- refers to herself by name, make-up play talking with dolls and herself

3 years old------- Child ask many questions what, where, why

4 years old------- Child can give the meaning of words

These are list of the approximate ages at which children should be capable with their speech. However, let us not disregard the fact that children develop differently and may not be able to follow in these exact orders. If you notice at least a oneyear delay versus the milestones, then I suggest that you consider going to Developmental Pediatrician for your peace of mind.