Every child develops physically and mentally at their own unique pace, making it challenging to identify early signs and symptoms of speech delay. However, the following milestones can help parents, guardians, or caregivers understand a child’s needs better and seek support when necessary.
- Paying Attention to Others: Between 1 and 4 months, infants should start paying attention to moving or stationary objects and responding to the sounds and voices they hear.
- Babbling: Between 4 and 6 months, babies should increase their vocalizations and babbling by making vowel sounds like A, E, and O.
- Recognizing Their Name: Between 6 and 9 months, a baby should start turning around and seeking attention when they hear their name.
- Saying Their First Word: By around 12 months, most babies say their first word.
- Communicating with Gestures: By 12 months, children should be able to use gestures such as waving goodbye and pointing to communicate.
- Using Vocalization as Their Primary Communication Method: By 18 months, children should use verbal communication more than gestures. A characteristic of speech delay is when a child prefers gesturing to talking.
- Imitating Sounds: By 18 months, a child should be able to mimic some of the sounds they hear.
- Understanding and Following Verbal Requests: By 24 months, children should understand and follow simple verbal requests.
- Producing Words and Phrases Spontaneously: By 24 months, children should be able to say words and phrases on their own rather than just imitating them.
- Using Verbal Language to Communicate: Children should verbally express their needs and feelings. If they can only communicate by repeating a small handful of words, they may have a speech delay.