Speech and Language of the 18-Month-Old

At age 18 months, your child….

Uses 40 different words consistently.

Recognizes pictures of familiar people and objects.

Starts to combine 2 words, such as “all done” and “Daddy bye-bye.”

Uses words to make wants and needs known, such as “more” and “up.”

Imitates words and sounds more precisely.

Points and gestures to call attention to an event or to show wants and needs.

Points to his or her own toes, eyes, and nose.

Brings familiar object from another room when asked.

Turns pages of a book a few at a time.

Follows simple commands.

Makes a tower of 3-4 cubes.

Knows and says the names of 5 things.

Hums and may sing simple tunes

Mixes real words with jargon; on occasion develops a play routine.

Practices words and word combinations.

You can stimulate your 18-month-old child’s speech if you…

Imitate everything your child says and does.

Play music to your child such as: “Old McDonald” and The Wheels on the Bus.”

Point and label objects you see and talk about what you’re doing all day.

Look at your child when he or she talks to you.

While you’re playing with your child, make environmental sounds such as “choo-choo”, “beep-beep”, honk-honk.

Describe what your child is doing, feeling, and hearing in short, 2-word phrases.

Offer two choices to your child and ask him or her to say “I want + object.”

Hold a toy under your chin and label the object, then ask him or her to repeat.

Engage in pretend play and pair your actions with sounds and words: “pour juice, feed baby, stir soup, daddy jump, eat apple.  

Speech and Language of the 6-to 12-month-Old

At 6 months of age, your child…

Makes lots of different, playful sounds (called babbling).

Laughs, gurgles, and coos with familiar people and reacts to loud and friendly voices.

Turns and looks at new sounds and babbles/cries for attention.

At 8 months of age, your child…

Responds to his or her name and shows interest of self in mirror.

Produces four or more different sounds and tries to imitate sounds and actions.

Uses syllables such as ba, da, ka and listens to own vocalizations and those of others.

Transfers objects from one hand to the other.

At 10 months of age, your child…

May say “mama” and “dada” and says a syllable or sequence of sounds repeatedly.

Shouts to attract attention and uses jargon (babbling that sounds like real speech).

Plays early speech routine games such as Peek-a-Boo.

At 12 months, your child…

Recognizes name and responds to name being called consistently.

Point to objects for you to get or name and follows simple instructions.

Sustains eye contact and attention for brief periods of time.

Says 2 to 3 words besides “mama” and “dada.”

Imitates familiar words and words overheard in the environment.

Recognizes words as symbols for objects (i.e., hears “car” and points to garage).

You can stimulate your infant’s speech and language if you…

Participate in “mommy and me” activities with other infants the same age.

Imitate and respond to your infant’s noises and actions.

Talk in one-two word phrases during your daily routine activities. Keep your speech simple.

Recite nursery rhymes, play simple music, and sing songs, particularly in the car.

Look at colorful books with your child every day.

Show interest in all the different sounds you hear (bird chirping, dog barking, doorbell).

Share eye contact as your child coos and babbles.

Teach your child the names of household items, familiar people, and common actions.

Play simple games such as Peek-a-Boo and Pat-a-Cake.

Speech and Language of the 12-17-Month-Old

From 12 to 17 months of age, your child….

Recognizes his or her name.

Understands “no” and “stop.”

Understands simple instructions and gives a toy on request.

Points and gestures to call attention to an event or to show wants and needs.

Imitates familiar words and practices words.

Waves good-bye and plays Pat-a-Cake.

Uses “mama” and “dada” and several other words, usually nouns.

Likes to make the “sounds” of familiar animals and things.

Hears and discriminates among many sounds.

Shows a great deal of affection; makes noise and pats parents affectionately.  

Places a cube in a cup on command.

Scribbles imitatively with a crayon.

Attempts to communicate by mixing jargon with real words.

Vocalizes for enjoyment and laughs a great deal.

You can stimulate your 12-17-month-old child’s speech and language if you….

Look at colorful books with your baby, naming objects and actions and asking your child to point to objects.

Imitate all sounds and words your baby says.

Encourage imitation games such as Peek-a-Boo.

Recite nursery rhymes and sing songs to your baby.

Model short 2-3 word phrases with your baby.

Imitate your baby’s movements and vocalizations.

Reward and encourage early efforts at producing new words.

Act as if everything your baby says is meaningful even if you don’t understand it.

Talk to your baby about things you are doing together; describe bathing, dressing, eating, shopping, car riding, and so on, as you share these activities.

How to Keep Your Child’s Voice Healthy

A child who yells, screams, talks in a noisy environment, or does an excessive amount of crying, laughing, singing, cheering, coughing, throat clearing, or loud talking, may be risking the health of his or her voice.  These vocal abusive behaviors often cause hoarseness in children. Continual vocal abuse may lead to swelling and thickening of the vocal folds, which in turn may lead to vocal nodules (callous-like growths on the vocal folds). The child’s voice may become hoarse, breathy, or lower in pitch.  Hoarseness in children may also be due to medical conditions such as allergies, sinus infections, or colds. If your child is hoarse for more than 10 days but shows no other signs of allergies or upper respiratory infection, take your child to an ENT. Voice therapy may be necessary following any medical treatment.  Voice therapy is aimed at identifying the child’s vocal behaviors that contributed to the nodules, and then reducing or eliminating them. Vocal nodules can be prevented by practicing healthy voice habits.

To prevent voice problems, your child could…

Reduce the amount of talking, singing, coughing, or throat clearing, especially

during episodes of upper respiratory infection or allergies.

Drink at least 8 glasses of water each day and limit dairy products.

Turn down the volume on televisions, radios, and computer games.  

Stop yelling and screaming; use nonverbal methods to show excitement or get attention (i.e., clapping, walking upstairs/downstairs).

Move close to another person before talking and rest the voice throughout the day.

Avoid using the voice to make special effect noises when playing with toy vehicles.

As a parent, you could…

Tell your child you can only “hear” when he or she uses a quite “indoor” voice, without whispering, then respond only after he or she speaks in a quiet volume.

Be a good voice model for your child; use a calm, comfortable loudness level.

Encourage your child to drink plenty of water.

Set up a calm, quiet, restful “break” area (i.e., tent, closet) and encourage your child

to go there and calm down rather than yelling in the house.

Eliminate background noise so your child does not have to speak loudly to be heard.

Teach your child to find quieter ways to get someone’s attention (tapping on shoulder).

How Do I Know if my Child May Have a Speech/Sound Disorder?

• Your child cannot produce /p, b, m, n, h, w, t, d, k, g/ by 3-4 years of age.
• Your child cannot correctly say /f, v, r, l, s/ by 5-6 years of age.
• Your child isn’t 100% clear by 6.0 years of age or before entering Kindergarten.
• Your child confuses /t/ and /d/ for /k/ and /g/ past 3.0 years of age.
• Cannot produce /s/ and /l blends by 5.0 years of age (i.e., cool→school, boo→blue).
• Cannot say /sh/, /ch/, /j/, /zh/ by 5.0 years of age.
• Becomes very frustrated when others cannot understand him or her.
• Child has a history of chronic ear infections or hearing loss.
• Is unable to move his or her tongue in different positions with a model.
• Your child has difficulty saying multi syllabic words by 5.0 years (spaghetti, gymnastics)

You can help your child’s speech sound production by…

• When you’re in a store with your child, ask him or her to find as many products that include their target sound.  For example, if your child is working on /s/ blends, he can find and say: “strawberries, spices, string cheese, snacks, and spaghetti.”
• Play iPad Apps with your child such as “Articulation Station.”
• Buy a child’s magazine and cut out all the pictures that contain the target sound. Make a collage of all the pictures and practice saying the sound.
• If your child is learning to read, highlight the target sound in your books at home.  Have your child read outloud. This visual prompt will remind them to produce the sound correctly while reading.
• When you child is brushing her teeth, practice the sound in front of the mirror.
• Once your child is aware of the correct production of a target sound, try saying a word incorrectly to see if your child corrects you.
• Rather than saying comments such as: “What did you say?” or “Say that again” try repeating everything that you heard, omitting the word(s) that were unclear. (i.e., “It was who that came to the party?”)