Resources

Developmental Guidelines

These general guidelines can be used by parents who may have concerns regarding their child's development of speech & language skills.

One-Year Olds

• Understand and participate in routines such as pat-a-cake, peek-a-boo
• Can produce a variety of sounds
• Says mama, dada, and a variety of other words

Two-Year Olds

• Use two word combinations
• Can have a vocabulary of approximately 50 words
• Understand names of familiar people, places, things
• Understand verbs and some adjectives

Three-Year Olds

• Use three and four word sentences with simple grammar
• Can relate simple story with events
• Can be understood by all family members
• Can be understood by most adults

Four-Year Olds/Preschoolers

• Mostly produces grammatically correct sentences
• Begin to use complex sentences
• Start to talk about past and future events
• Able to follow directions at home & classroom
• Uses pronouns correctly
• Able to be understood by most unfamiliar listeners

School-Age Children

• Begin to use non-literal language and humor
• Tell stories using a logical sequence of events
• Can think and talk about language (multiple meanings, antonyms, synonyms, rhyming).

Compare Developmental guidelines above to Indicators of Concern