Early Words
Through Early Words, the speech and language team provides information about how babies and young children learn to talk, what parents can do to help their children learn and where parents can get advice if they think their child may have a speech or language problem.
Services available for babies and children up to 6 years of age include:
- regular drop-in screening sessions
- consultations to day care centres, nursery schools and drop-in centres
- ongoing monitoring as needed
- education opportunities for parents, caregivers and other professionals
- group speech and language therapy through the Chatham-Kent Children’s Treatment Centre
Developmental Milestones
By 6 months
- turns to sounds
- startles when sudden, loud noises
- makes different cries for different needs
- watches your face as you talk
- smiles and laughs in response to your smiles and laughs
- imitates coughs or other sounds
By 9 months
- responds to his/her name
- responds to the telephone ringing or a knock at the door
- understands being told “no”
- gets what he/she wants through gestures ie. reaching to be picked up
- plays social games with you, ie. peek-a-boo
- enjoys being around people
- babbles and repeats sounds - babababa, duhduhduh
By 12 months
- follows simple one-step directions - “sit down”
- looks across the room to something you point to
- consistently uses three to five words
- uses gestures to communicate - waves “bye bye”, shakes head “no”
- gets your attention using sounds, gestures, and pointing while looking at your eyes
- brings you toys to show you
- “performs” for attention and praise
- combines lots of sounds as though talking - abada baduh abee
- shows interest in simple picture books
By 18 months
- understands the concepts of “in and out”, “off and on”
- points to several body parts when asked
- uses at least 20 words consistently
- responds with words or gestures to simple questions
- demonstrates some pretend play with toys
- makes at least 4 different consonant sounds - p, b, m, n, d, g, w, h
- enjoys being read to and looking at simple books with you
- points to pictures using one finger
By 24 months
- follows two step directions
- uses 100 to 150 words
- uses at least two pronouns - you, me, mine
- consistently combines two to four words in short phrases
- enjoys being with other children
- begins to offer toys to peers and imitates other children’s actions and words
- people can understand his/her words 50 to 60 per cent of the time
- forms words and sounds easily and effortlessly
- holds books the right way up and turns pages
- “reads” to stuffed animals or toys
- Scribbles with crayons
By 30 months
- understands the concepts of size and quantity
- uses some adult grammar- two cookies, bird flying, I jumped
- uses more than 350 words
- uses action words - run, spill, fall
- begins taking short turns with other children using both toys and words
- shows concern when another child is hurt or sad
- combines several actions in play
- puts sounds at the start of most words
- produces words with two or more syllables or beats
- recognizes familiar logos and signs
- remembers and understands familiar stories
By age 3
- understands, who, what, where and why questions
- creates long sentences using 5-8 words
- talks about past events
tells simple stories- shows affection for favourite playmates
- engages in multi-step pretend play
- is understood by most people outside of the family, most of the time
- has a beginning interest in and awareness of rhyming
By age 4
- follows directions involving 3 or more steps
- uses adult type grammar
- tells stories with a clear beginning, middle and end
- talks to try to solve problems with adults and other children
- demonstrates more complex imaginative play
- is understood by strangers almost all of the time
- is able to generate simple rhymes - cat-bat
- matched some letters with their sounds
By age 5
- follows group directions
- understands directions involving “if…then”
- describes past, present and future events in detail
- seeks to please his/her friends
- shows increasing independence in friendships
- uses almost all of the sounds of their language with few to no errors
- knows all the letters of the alphabet
- identifies the sounds at the beginning of some words
To find out about screening clinics in your community call 519-354-0520
