How Do I Know If My Child Needs A
Speech-Language Pathologist?
A child who doesn’t develop normal speech and hearing abilities may have a disorder.
- At 12 months: a child should cry, babble and pay attention to other voices.
- At 24 months: a child should be able to understand a small vocabulary and short directions, and combine two words into sentences.
- At 36 to 48 months: a child should have a growing vocabulary, use short sentences and make most speech sounds.
- By age 5: a child should be able to take part in a simple conversation, have language that is understandable and fluent, and not sound much different from his playmates.
Early treatment can help prevent a speech or language difficulty from developing into a
lifelong handicap.