When to Contact a SLP

When talking to parents in the community, I'm constantly asked when a speech-language pathologist (SLP) should be contacted for a child under 5 years old.  Below are some of the major communication milestones a child should reach by the age of five. 

By the age of one:

·         A child will look when you point

·         Turns when you call his name

·         Uses sounds and gestures to get and keep your attention

·         Uses at least 20 words by 1.5 years old

·         Listens to stories and songs for a short period of time

By age two:

·         A child should be able to produce the b, m, p, h, and w sounds

·         Able to name some pictures while looking at books

·         Responds to simple questions like , "Who is this?" when playing

·         Asks questions "What's that?"

·         Points to some body parts, such as head or hand

·         Puts 2 words together, like "more milk"

·         Vocabulary should between 200-300 words

By age three:

·         Follows 2-part directions (Get your doll and put her on the bed)

·         Vocabulary with 500 words or more

·         Asks why questions

·         Form 3 word sentences

·         Produce sounds /k, g, f, t, d, and n/

·         Understands opposites, like up and down

By age four:

·         Understands some shapes and colors

·         Responds when called from another room

·         Answers simple who, what, and where questions

·         Uses pronouns like I, you, me , we, and they

·         Form 4 word sentences

·         Talks about what happened during the day

·         Uses plural words, like dogs or horses

·         Most people understand what your child says

By age five:                                                                             

·         Understands words related to order (e.g. first, next, and last) and time (e.g. today, yesterday, tomorrow)

·         Follows three step directions for home and school

·         Can say most speech sounds, with some errors

·         Can participate in conversations

·         Able to tell short stories

·         Vocabulary should be approximately 5,000 words (body parts, numbers, letters, colors, shapes, etc)

·         Able to adjust his speech when talking to others. For example, talks quietly inside, use long sentences with adults and short sentences with children.

Children should be close to most milestones listed by the given age.  If you feel your child is not meeting these language milestones, please talk to your pediatrician immediately so that a referral can be made or schedule an evaluation with an SLP.