Milestones

9-12 Months

Developmental Milestones

Developmental milestones are key skills or objectives that your child should obtain naturally on their own through growth and development. We track these milestones in the categories of cognitive, communication, social, emotional, adaptive, and physical development.

Cognitive

  • Child should be able to look at pictures in a book.

  • Child should be able to roll wheeled toys.

  • Child should be able to touch an adult to have that person start or continue an interesting game or action.

  • Child should be able to remove rings from ring stack toy.

  • Child should be able to realize objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen.

Communication

  • Child should be able to follow simple spoken commands. (Example: Give daddy the ball)

  • Child should respond to where questions.

  • Child should point to five or more familiar persons, animals, or toys.

  • Child should spontaneously say familiar greetings and farewells.

  • Child should briefly stop activities when told “no.”

Social-Emotional

  • Child should imitate facial expressions, actions, and sounds.

  • Child should repeat activities that elicit positive responses from others.

  • Child should bring toys to share with caregivers.

  • Child should play well for a brief time in groups of two or three children.

  • Child should use a blanket or soft toy for comfort.

Adaptive

  • Child should chew textured foods.

  • Child should drink from a sippy cup independently.

  • Child should cooperate in dressing and undressing.

  • Child should drink from open cup or glass held by an adult.

  • Child should cooperate with hand-washing.

Physical Development

  • Child should scribble spontaneously.

  • Child can walk three or more steps with assistance.

  • Child can hold a pencil or crayon in an adaptive fashion.

  • Child can move from standing to sitting in coordinated fashion.

  • Child should be able to demonstrate controlled starts and stops in walking.

All information is taken from the Third Edition of Early Childhood Development by Judith K. Voress and Nils A. Pearson.

The Play Based Approach

At Ability Innovations we believe that children learn best through play. Our talented pediatric therapists are trained to improvise and adapt to the needs of each child. They help guide your little hero soar to new heights. If you feel like play-based therapy is right for your child, give us a call and schedule your free consultation today!