by E K Stapleton

Created on: April 29, 2008

As parents, we delight in all the progress our children make, during important stages in their development. In some cases, certain milestones aren't reached during the time frame we expect. All children develop differently, and some may take longer to develop certain skills. They may be focusing their attention on mastering another skill, and lagging behind in another. This may level out, and your child will eventually catch up. A delay in speech is one such example. Your child may just take longer to develop these skills, or there could be an underlying cause, such as hearing loss or autism. Either way, you should have your child assessed, as intervention may be required.

In my son's case, by the time he was 18 months, I noticed there was a problem. He made no attempt at repeating words, gave no acknowledgment when called by name, and his mode of communication was pointing and uttering any sound that would come out of his mouth. My doctor decided it was too early for concern. He may just be lagging. In six months, nothing had changed. He finally agreed it was time to investigate. Testing and assessments took over a year. The end result, he was deaf. Luckily, the cause of his deafness could be corrected with surgery. He was three by the time surgery was performed, and he finally started to speak. With the detection and medical intervention of his disability, he has been able to achieve great success.

There are general stages of development that should be reached by certain ages. These aren't set in stone, as every child is unique. Knowing what to expect will give you a heads up, when there may be a problem.

6-12 months

- The child should understand common words, when used with gestures (bye, bye).
- The child should respond to their own name.
- The child should try to express words and sounds.
- They should try to sing with the radio or television.

12-18 months

- The child should start to babble.
- They should understand simple questions like, where is your mouth.
- They should start to say words. Although they may not be spoken clearly. Usually they will know about ten words.
- They should be able to nod their head for yes, and shake for no.
- They should start to dance with the rhythm of music.

18-24 months

- They should be able to put together two word sentences (all gone).
- They inquire, "what's that" a lot.
- They should be able to follow simple directions (get your blanket).
- They can understand more words than they can say.
- They usually have a vocabulary of about twenty words.

24-36 months

- They should be able to combine three word sentences (me do it).
- They can answer simple questions (where's the dog).
- They know the difference between placing something on, in or under.

Some behavior you may notice:

- prefers to use gestures
- doesn't follow directions
- doesn't look attentively at you when you speak
- only imitates your speech
- Doesn't produce words or phrases on their own

In using this as a guide, you will pick up on the delay. Early detection is the key to overcoming the problem. The child can be assessed, and intervention such as speech therapy can begin. Your child will be on their way to achieving great success.

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