Speech & Language Development
This list represents both speech and language and social skills developmental milestones. If your child demonstrates several of the following it is recommended that he/she is evaluated as soon as possible to avoid any further delays.

Birth to 2 months 3 to 5 months
5 to 7 months 7 to 9 months
9 to 12 months 12 to 15 months
15 to 18 months 18 to 24 months
24 to 33 months 33 to 36 months

Birth to 2 months:

• Does not cry when hungry or uncomfortable
• Does not make comfort sounds or sucking sounds
• Cry does not vary in pitch, length and volume to indicate different needs
• Difficulty establishing/maintaining a rhythmical suck/swallow pattern
• Significant loss of breast milk/formula out of side of mouth during feeding
• back

3-5 Months:

• Vocalizes separately from body movements (sound is not a response to body movement)
• Inability to establish or maintain face to face communication during feeding
• Does not vocalize in response to sound stimulation
• Has not begun to laugh by 5 months in response to play
• Difficulty with feedings such as above

5-7 Months:

• Does not babble during play or in response to stimulation (may suggest a hearing problem)
• Does not use voice to vocalize attitudes other than crying
• Does not respond to sound stimulation (indicative of hearing problem)
• Difficulty with swallowing early solids or other feeding issues

7-9 Months:

• Does not look toward sounds or own name
• Is not babbling double consonants (bababa…)
• Difficulty with textures in foods (gagging, chocking, etc.)
• Is unable to participate in conversations with adults using babbling noises
• Does not say “mama” or “dada” nonspecifically
• Does not use different inflections to produce exclamations

9-12 Months:

• Is unable to successfully eat early finger foods or munch/bite on foods
• Cannot babble single consonants such as “ba” or “da”
• Does not respond to words/language appropriately
• Does not experiment with language when playing independently
• Does not participate in conversations by responding with vocalizations

12-15 Months:

• Does not use inflection during vocalization
• Is not experimenting with language during play
• Is not using 1-3 words spontaneously while repeating additional words
• Does not vocalize or gesture to communicate needs
• Is not using “no” emphatically and meaningfully
• Is not using exclamatory expressions such as “Oh-oh”, “No-no”, “Ta-da”, etc.

15-18 Months:

• Is not attempting to sing songs
• Cannot use 10-15 words spontaneously
• Is not using vocalization in conjunction with gestures
• Does not use language to communicate needs
• Is not repeating sounds or words or imitating environmental sounds
• Is not jabbering tunefully during play
• Continues to demonstrate eating problems (swallowing issues, choking, etc.)

18-24 Months:

• Is not using jargon with good inflection
• Cannot label 2-4 pictures while looking at a book
• Is not putting 2-4 words together to form short sentences or communicate needs
• Does not understand nouns, verbs and modifiers and their uses
• Is not using intelligible words to communicate needs
• Cannot imitate 2-4 word phrases
• Does not relay experiences using jargon, words and/or gestures

24-33 Months:

• Cannot sing phrases of songs
• Is not using three word sentences
• Is not using a wide range of consonant and vowel sounds
• Does not use past tense words (“He runned”)
• Is not expressing frustration at not being understood
• Does not use up to or more than 50 expressive words
• Is not imitating phrases or experimenting with new words

33-36 Months:

• Is not responding to questions when asked things
• Is not producing correct beginning sounds of words
• Is having a hard time understanding prepositions
• Is not speaking in complete sentences
• Does not use plurals to refer to more than one (even if not correct)
• Is not participating in storytelling
• Does not have expressive vocabulary of 200-1000 words
• Is not using expressive vocabulary to communicate all needs
• Is not using sentences to communicate