SPEECH AND LANGUAGE NEWS
April 2008
These are the 1 through 3
year-old "Developmental Milestones for Speech and Language" by the American
Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).
Age Language and Speech Behaviors
1
yr. Recognizes
his/her name
Understands
simple instructions
Initiates
familiar words, gestures, and sounds
Uses
"mama," "dada," and other common nouns
1
1/2 yrs. Uses 10 to
20 words, including names
Recognizes
pictures of familiar persons and objects
Combines two
words, such as "all gone"
Uses words
to make wants known, such as "more," "up"
Points and
gestures to call attention to an event and to show wants
Follows
simple commands
Imitates
simple actions
Hums, may
sing simple tunes
Distinguishes
print from nonprint
2
yrs. Understands
simple questions and commands
Identifies
body parts
Carries on
conversation with self and dolls
Asks
"what" and "where"
Has sentence
length of two to three words
Refers to
self by name
Names
pictures
Uses
two-word negative phrases, such as "no want"
Forms some
plurals by adding "s"
Has about a
300 word vocabulary
Asks for
food and drink
Stays with
one activity for six to seven minutes
Knows
how to interact with books (right side up, page turning from left to right)
2
1/2 yrs. Has about a
450-word vocabulary
Gives first
name
Uses
past tense and plurals; combines some nouns and verbs
Understands
simple time concepts, such as "last night," "tomorrow"
Refers
to self as "me" rather than name
Tries
to get adult attention with "watch me"
Likes
to hear same story repeated
Uses
"no" or "not" in speech
Answers
"where" questions
Uses
short sentences, such as "me do it"
Holds
up fingers to tell age
Talks
to other children and adults
Plays
with sounds of language
3 yrs. Matches
primary colors; names one color
Knows
night and day
Begins
to understand prepositional phrases such as "put the block under the
chair"
Practices by talking to self
Knows
last name, sex, street name, and several nursery rhymes
Tells
a story or relays an idea
Has
sentence length of three to four words
Has
vocabulary of nearly 1000 words
Consistently
uses m, n, ng, p, f, h, and w
Draws
circle and vertical line
Sings
songs
Stays
with one activity for eight to nine minutes