Speech and language development is so variable in young children that it can be difficult to know when your child is really delayed and what is considered within normal development.

As children learn to talk they quite often have a difficult time pronouncing things correctly or putting words together. Some sounds are more difficult for children to say causing them to substitute sounds or delete them all together.

Children begin to combine words around age 2. In order to be able to do this they need to have approximately 150-200 words. Most small children begin to acquire new words every single day. If your child has a limited vocabulary at age 2 or is still difficult to understand at age 3 it may be time to call a speech-language pathologist. It may also be time to seek help if your child is doing any of the following:

• Mispronouncing vowels (says “dodo” instead of “dada”)

• Not responding consistently to his or her name

• Not following simple directions (“bring it to me”, “sit here”)

• Not pointing to objects in a book

• Using only vowels or vowels plus 1-2 consonant sounds when talking

• Answering questions by repeating part of the question (“Do you want a fish cracker?” and she responds “you want fish cracker?)

• Not playing people games (Peek-a-boo, patty cake)

By Rite Care of Utah