SPEECH AND LANGUAGE MILESTONES

0-6 months

  • Frequently coos, gurgles, and makes pleasure sounds
  • Uses a different cry to express different needs
  • Smiles when spoken to
  • Recognizes voices
  • Uses the phonemes /b/, /p/, and /m/ in babbling
  • Uses sounds or gestures to indicate wants
  • Responds to no and changes in tone of voice

7-12 months

  • Understands no
  • Responds to simple requests
  • Understands and responds to own name
  • Recognizes words for common items (e.g., cup, shoe, juice)
  • Babbles using long and short groups
  • Uses a large variety of sounds in babbling
  • Imitates some adult speech sounds and intonation patterns
  • Uses speech sounds rather than only crying to get attention
  • Uses nouns almost exclusively
  • Has an expressive vocabulary of one to three words
  • Uses characteristic gestures or vocalizations to express wants

13-18 months

  • Imitates individual words
  • Uses adult-like intonation patterns
  • Omits some initial consonants and almost all final consonants
  • Produces mostly unintelligible speech
  • Follows simple commands
  • Receptively identifies one to three body parts
  • Has an expressive vocabulary of 3 to 20 or more words (mostly nouns)
  • Makes requests for more of desired items

19-24 months

  • Uses words more frequently than jargon
  • Has an expressive vocabulary of 50–100 or more words
  • Has a receptive vocabulary of 300 or more words
  • Starts to combine nouns with verbs and nouns with adjectives
  • Begins to use pronouns
  • Uses appropriate intonation for questions
  • Is approximately 25–50% intelligible to strangers
  • Asks and answers “What’s that?” questions
  • Accurately names a few familiar objects
  • Understands basic categories (e.g., toys, food)

2-3 years

  • Speech is 50–75% intelligible
  • Verbalizes toilet needs (before, during, or after act)
  • Requests items by name
  • Identifies several body parts
  • Follows two-part commands
  • Asks one- to two-word questions
  • Uses two- to four-word phrases
  • Uses words that are general in context
  • Has a receptive vocabulary of 500–900 or more words
  • Has an expressive vocabulary of 50–250 or more words
  • Exhibits multiple grammatical errors
  • Understands most things said to him or her
  • Consistently uses initial consonants (although some are misarticulated)
  • Frequently omits medial consonants
  • Frequently substitutes final consonants
  • Uses some regular past tense verbs

3-4 years

  • Understands object functions
  • Understands few opposites
  • Follows two- and three-part commands
  • Produces simple verbal analogies
  • Uses language to express emotion
  • Uses four to five words in sentences
  • Uses nouns and verbs most frequently
  • Is conscious of past and future
  • Has a 1,200–2,000 or more word receptive vocabulary
  • Has a 800–1,500 or more word expressive vocabulary
  • Increases speech rate
  • Speech is approximately 80% intelligible
  • Appropriately uses is, are, and am in sentences
  • Tells two events in chronological order
  • Consistently uses regular plurals, possessives, and simple past tense verbs
  • Uses an increasing number of compound or complex sentences

4-5 years

  • Imitatively counts to five
  • Has a receptive vocabulary of 10,000 or more words
  • Listens to short, simple stories and can answer questions about them
  • Answers questions about function
  • Uses adult-like grammar most of the time
  • Has an expressive vocabulary of 900–2,000 or more words
  • Uses sentences of four to eight words
  • Answers complex two-part questions
  • Asks for word definitions
  • Significantly reduces number of persistent sound omissions and substitutions
  • Frequently omits medial consonants
  • Speech is usually intelligible to strangers even though some articulation errors may persist

5-6 years

  • Follows instructions given to a group
  • Asks how questions
  • Uses past tense and future tense appropriately
  • Uses conjunctions
  • Has a receptive vocabulary of approximately 13,000 words
  • Uses sentence length of four to six words
  • Reverses sounds occasionally
  • Accurately relays a story
  • Communicates easily with adults and other children
  • Uses appropriate grammar in most cases

6-7 years

  • Understands left and right
  • Uses increasingly more complex descriptions
  • Engages in conversations
  • Has a receptive vocabulary of approximately 20,000 words
  • Uses a sentence length of approximately six words
  • Understands most concepts of time
  • Uses most morphological markers appropriately
  • Uses passive voice appropriately