Speech Therapy for Wylie – Sound & Early Word Production Ages 0-3

Do you have questions about your toddler’s speech development?  Do you wonder if he or she is on target with sound and word production compared to others of the same age?  Fortunately, we have a body of research that regarding typical speech and language development and we know there is a predictable progression for these skills.  Pediatric speech therapy information and services for the Wylie area are available at Speech & Occupational Therapy of North Texas.  We are always happy to answer any questions a family may have concerning their child’s language development!  Communication encompasses many areas of development, from understanding to expression, to social uses of language.  This article will focus primarily on sound and early word production up to age three years.

Speech Development

We know that children go through stages in acquiring articulation and word production skills, and, though each stage has a time frame, there is an overlap between stages.  Each new stage introduces characteristics not found in the previous stages.

Prelinguistic Milestones

In the first year of life, we hear infants cooing and babbling, experimenting with sound production (vocal play) as well as learning the impact of vocalizations on their “listeners”.  Sounds typically produced during this period include /m/, /n/, /t/, /d/, /b/, /p/, and, /z/ as well as vowels. An infant will have different cries for hunger or fatigue and will also has different vocalizations for anger and contentment.  They will initiate play or interaction through cooing, chuckling and babbling.

Second Year Milestones (12-24 months)

Young toddlers will start to produce consonant-vowel combinations such as “mama” or “dada”, and will start to use single words, perhaps having at least 50 words by two years of age.  Many times they may imitate words, and use social ritual words “hi” and ‘Bye”.  By age two years they will typically be producing two word phrases and using commands such as “move”, and possessives such as “mine” (that one always seems to come easily).

Third Year Milestones (24-36 months)

There is a real burst of word development during this period, with the toddler producing up to 500 words by age 3 years.  Phrase length will be around 3-4 words in length and will include pronouns me, you, mine and the use of regular plurals.  During this period, children will also accurately produce /w/ and /h/.  By three years of age a child typically refers to self by name.

These are a few key milestones to be looking for with your child, keeping in mind that there is a broad range in normal development.  Though it is important to take notice if you see that your child is developing spoken or intelligible language at a slower pace than his or her peers, this does not necessarily signal that your child has a speech or articulation disorder.  However, it is always wise to talk with your pediatrician or a speech-language pathologist if you have concerns.  Please give us a call 972-424-0148  if you have questions about language development and a licensed speech-language pathologist near the Wylie area will call you to discuss your concerns free of charge.  You can also complete our online developmental survey and a professional will contact you to discuss the results.