Should I Be Concerned About My Child's Speech?
Children develop speech and language at different rates. However, there are times when professional intervention is in order to best help your child thrive.
Below is a list of signs that your child’s speech development may be delayed or disordered. If your child exhibits any of these “red flags,” s/he would benefit from assessment by a certified speech-language pathologist.
By 9 months:
- Your child does not demonstrate enjoyment of social interactions.
- Your child does not babble or babbles with limited consonant sounds.
- Social connection with caregivers is poor (e.g. lack of eye contact, does not take turns vocalizing with caregiver, does not engage in back and forth play)
By 12 months:
- Your child does not try to make requests when focused on item s/he wants.
- Your child does not use reduplicative babbling (e.g. babbling with the same consonant-vowel combination repeated, such as “mama,” “baba,” “gaga”)
- Your child does not show comprehension of common words (e.g. ball, mommy) or gestures (e.g. waving goodbye)
By 18 months:
- Your child does not imitate words or produce words on his own in a meaningful way.
- Your child says less than 10 words on his own.
- Your child understands less than 50 words/phrases (without given gesture cues or context cues)
By 2 years old:
- Your child uses gestures mostly without vocalizations.
- Your child says less than 50 words.
- Your child never puts two words together in an utterance (e.g. mommy hat)
- Your child says very few consonant sounds.
- Your child tends to label items instead of commenting/requesting.
- Your child exhibits regression in language (i.e. loss of previously-acquired language skills)
- Your child’s speech is mostly unintelligible (i.e. not understood).
By 3 years old:
- Your child does not say words with multiple syllables or does not produce consonant sounds at the end of words.
- Your child produces no/few multi-words sentences (e.g. sentences with 3+ words)
- Your child does not ask questions.
- Your child’s speech is difficult to understand.
- Your child repeats language heard instead of using words meaningfully.
At The Village Therapy Place, our speech-language pathologists are experienced and trained in a vast array of techniques and methods to best help your child make real gains as quickly as possible!
Reach out to us at office@thevillagetherapyplace.com or (201) 201-8220 with any questions or concerns you have regarding your child’s speech development.
We are here to help you with all of your child’s develpomental needs!
About Us:
We, at The Village Therapy Place, located in Bergen County- in Wyckoff, NJ, aim to provide integrative, neurodevelopmental, individualized, pediatric therapy in a warm, fun, and collaborative environment.
We offer pediatric services that include physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, feeding therapy, and DIR Floortime.
At The Village Therapy Place, we utilize current and evidence-based treatment techniques to help treat your child during his PT, OT, speech therapy, feeding therapy and DIR Floortime session. These include sensory integration, reflex integration, therapeutic listening, Kinesiotape, craniosacral therapy, NDT, BrainGym, feeding therapy, PROMPT, to name a few.
Our expert pediatric therapists offer a variety of treatment options, including 30/45/60 minute sessions, group classes and virtual therapy to best suit a child’s needs.
The pediatric physical therapists, occupational therapists & speech therapists at The Village Therapy Place are in constant contact with a child's caregivers to facilitate lasting change.
Call us today at (201) 201-8220 or email us at office@thevillagetherapyplace.com to speak with a pediatric expert who truly cares!