Pediatric developmental milestones: Speech and language

Natalie Iverson, SLP-CF

It’s easy to get caught up wondering if your child is “where they should be.” The age of social media only amplifies the comparison of other kids your child’s age and your own. Are they saying enough? Can I understand enough of what they’re saying? Do they have the sounds they should by now? As a speech-language pathologist, I get these questions all the time. It’s natural to be worried about your child’s progression, and different kids have different strengths and timelines for development. There are averages or milestones we can look to, however, to gauge realistic expectations for our child’s progress with speech and language. 

Many parents worry their child’s speech and language development may not be on track.

It’s important to note, however, that if your child regularly uses delayed echolalia, scripts, or gestalts, these milestones are not applicable to your child. If that sounds more like your child, please check out our blog post on Gestalt Language Processing for more information on what your child’s language development may look like instead.

Language Development

When we look at language development, there are two main parts to consider: receptive language (comprehension) and expressive language. 

Speech Sound Development

Though our kids may be saying a lot of words, it is common for their words to not be clear right away. Part of this has to do with the age by which kids master the ability to make certain sounds. Below is a chart showing the typical ages of development for each sound in the English language. 

If you are concerned your child may not be meeting these language or speech milestones, set up a free consultation with one of our speech-language pathologists to determine if pursuing speech therapy would be beneficial for your child’s development. 

Developmental charts can help parents understand which sounds their child should be producing at certain ages.