SPEECH-LANGUAGE MILESTONES

Smiles spontaneously to human contact

Smiles when playing alone

Smiles at faces of several family members

Stops crying when spoken to

Shows different responses to different family members

Coos to caregivers

Responds to "Come here baby!"

Becomes more outgoing with familiar people

Shows anxiety when separated from favorite caregiver

Likes to be with specific people

Uses speech sounds to get attention

Listens when spoke to

Says 1-3 words

Uses nouns almost exclusively

Understands simple commands

Follows simple directions, especially with gestures

Practices intonation, sometimes imitating an adult

Is aware of the value of communication

Uses much, meaningful jargon with inflection and emotion

Has an expressive vocabulary of 5-20 words

Produces 2-word phrases

Most speech is unintelligible

Combines gestures and vocalizations

Requests more of desired items

Names common objects

Uses 2-3 or more preposition like "in" or "under"

Uses noun + verb consistently

Listener understands 2/3 of what child says

Understands 300 words or more

Uses 100-200 words reliably

Rhythm and fluency of speech is poor

Confuses "I" and "me"

Poor control of pitch and volume

Follows commands such as "show me your nose"

Adding more words

Knows 5 body parts

Enjoys listening to stories

Answers "what's that" questions

​Understands of 500-900 words; Knows main body parts

Says 50-250 or more words

Requests items by name

Responds to some yes and no questions

Speech is 50-70% intelligible to strangers

Uses 3-4 word sentences; Asks 1-2 word request

Begins to use plurals and past tense; Verbs begin to emeerge ls correctly

Able to explain experiences

Understands more than is able to express

Says 800-1500 or more words; speech is 80% intelligible to stran

Understands 1200-2000 words; Uses 4-5 words in sentences

Identifies animals and colors; enjoys pretend play schemes

Imitates many words, phrases, sounds

Uses pronouns (him, her, she, they); understands contrasts; uses at least four prepositions

Tells two events in chronological order

Engages in meaning and long conversation

Can repeat sentences as long as 9 words

All speech should be intelligible, but some articulation errors may be present

Knows opposites

Can follow 3-step commands without help

Understands simple time concepts

Uses adjectives and adverbs in conversations

Talks extensively during play

Able to define common words