What are the stages of Early Language Development?
- From birth to 3 months a child should begin to recognize familiar voices and smile reflexively. A social smile should develop at around 3 months
- From 4 to 6 months a child should begin to babble and use more consonants like sounds (p,b,m). They should move their eyes toward a source and begin to vocalize excitement and displeasure.
- From 7-9 months a child should begin to play vocally, shout for attention, and begin using jargon (pre-linguistic vocalizations in which infants use adult like stress and intonation).
- From 10-12 months the child should recognize their own name, use one or more words, and follow simple commands.
What is a Speech Language Pathologist?
A Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) works to prevent, assess, diagnose, and treat speech, language, social communication, cognitive-communication, and swallowing disorders in children and adults. A SLP holds a Masters Degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders. In order for SLP’s to earn a Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC-SLP), individuals must hold a Masters Degree, successfully complete clinical experiences and pass a national board examination.
To earn the CCC-SLP, individuals must complete graduate course work and a clinical practicum at a college or university whose program is accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA). This assures graduates that their academic and clinical experience meets nationally established standards.
SLP’s work in a variety of settings including but not limited to: private practice, schools, hospitals, rehab centers, nursing care centers, research centers, State and Federal Government Agencies, home health care, early intervention, preschools, head start, adult day centers, prisons, colleges and universities.
My son is not talking, should I wait?
According to The Hanen Centre,
- At 18 months old, a toddler should have approximately 20 words varying in nouns, verbs, prepositions, adjectives, and social words.
- At 24 months old, a toddler should have approximately 100 words and be able to combine two words such as “thank you”, “bye bye”, “all gone”, and “what’s that?”.
What should you do?