The Speech & Language Therapist

The role of the Speech and Language therapist on the neonatal unit is primarily in assessing and supporting infants in safely and efficiently establishing oral feeding (that is breast or bottle feeds by mouth). This specialised input is given to babies who have been identified as requiring additional help in preparing for or starting to feed by mouth, ie very preterm infants, infants with chronic lung disease or infants with underlying medical conditions.

The Speech and Language Therapist may start working with families and infants well before the infant is ready to have any feeds by mouth to support pre feeding development and experiences. Early input may focus on understanding how to make the infant as comfortable as possible with tube feeds, learning about and understanding how the infant communicates through their subtle behaviours and helping infants to have opportunities to suck and feel calm and comfortable in feeding positions.

To be able to start breast or bottle feeding, infants need to have developed the ability to co-ordinate sucking, swallowing and breathing.  Infants also need to have stable breathing and a gastrointestinal system that is able to cope with milk feeds. The SLT therefore works closely with other members of the neonatal team.

Language is an important skill that allows a person to communicate. A child begins to develop language even before he/she can use words, as seen by a baby who cries to get his/her needs met. A delay in language skills can cause frustration for a child as well as miscommunication about what he/she may be trying to convey. Language development is important to a child in order to adequately exchange information with others in a meaningful way.

Language is not the same as speech. Language consists of a set of social standards that shows comprehension of the meanings behind words, putting words together in a sentence in order to communicate and understanding commands, directions and information given by others. Children must develop language skills to relate with their parents and peers, as well as to grow into a person who can socially interact with others through life.

The world of special education and speech/language delays/disorders can be very confusing and incredibly overwhelming.  There is a multitude of information out there on many different topics but little of it is parent-friendly.  Your educators or healthcare providers may be using terms that you’re not familiar with and expecting you to keep up.

Every parent wants to help their child but they simply don’t have any idea where to start or what to do.

Speech and language therapists (SLTs) work closely with babies, children and adults who have various levels of speech, language and communication problems, and with those who have swallowing, drinking or eating difficulties.

 Graphic depicting pyramid with Speech and Language words and phrases.

Therapists assess a client’s needs before developing individual treatment programmes to enable each client to improve as much as possible.

Treatment plans often involve other people with whom the client has a close relationship, for example family, carers or teachers.

SLTs usually work as part of a multidisciplinary team, alongside other health professionals such as:

  • Doctors
  • Nurses
  • Psychologists
  • Physiotherapists
  • Occupational therapists

They may also liaise with professionals in education and social services.

Tasks vary depending on the type of client, e.g. baby, child or adult, and on the nature of the problem, but may include:

  • identifying children’s developmental speech and communication difficulties/disorders;
  • assessing and treating swallowing and communication difficulties arising from a range of causes, e.g. congenital problems (such as cleft palate) or acquired disorders after a stroke or injury;
  • devising, implementing and revising relevant treatment programmes;
  • advising carers on implementing treatment programmes and training other professionals in therapy delivery;
  • assessing communication environments;
  • monitoring and evaluating clients’ progress;
  • working with clients on a one-to-one basis, and in groups, to deliver therapy;

 

Speech And Language Problems: Terms to Know

  • Speech Vs. Language: This will often come up in discussions about a child’s difficulties.  A problem with speech has to do with how the child is able to pronounce certain sounds.  This has to do with how well he is understood.  A problem with language deals with any other part of communication, such as understanding what other say, formulating sentences, using correct grammar, having a good vocabulary of words, interacting with others, etc.
  • Fluency Disorders: When we talk about a child’s fluency, we are talking about stuttering or stammering.  You can learn more about fluency disorders by clicking this link:

www.speechandlanguagekids.com/stuttering-cluttering-resource-page/

  • Voice Disorders: If a child has a voice problem, that has to do with the quality of that child’s voice.  Does he sound hoarse?  Is his voice scratchy?  Is his voice to quiet or too loud?
  • Pragmatic Disorders: Pragmatics is another way to say “social skills”.  When the Speech and Language Therapist looks at pragmatics, he/she looks at how well a child can interact with others and maintain appropriate relationships with those around him.  You can learn more about social skills by clicking this link:

www.speechandlanguagekids.com/social-skills-resource-page/

Speech and Language Diagnoses

Your child may have received a diagnosis that describes his or her speech/language problem.  Please click the links to learn more about each disorder/topic.

 

MILESTONES

The following milestones referred to are based on research about typically-developing children but this information is not meant to diagnose a speech-language delay or disorder.  There is a wide range of normal and even if your child is slightly delayed in a few of these areas, it doesn’t necessarily mean he or she has a speech or language delay.  Please contact a speech-language pathologist for a screening if you are concerned about your child’s speech and language skills.

6 month Old Baby Milestones: Communication

Speech Sound Development for a 6-Month-Old:

At 6 months of age, children should be exploring their vocal systems.  They should begin playing with sounds and making noises.  According to the Liguisystems Guide to Communication Milestones, a 6-month old should do some of the following things:

  • Plays with voice and mouth by squealing, growling, yelling, and blowing raspberries
  • Produces vocalizations that vary weekly and daily
  • Produces a variety of vowel-sounds
  • Begins doing some experimenting with putting a consonant and vowel together, like “buh” or “gah”

Social Language/Interaction Skills for a 6-Month-Old:

Your 6-month-old should interact with the world around him/her in the following ways:

  • Startles to loud sounds
  • Responds to voices
  • Turns head toward a sound source
  • Watches a speaker’s face when spoken to
  • Recognizes familiar people
  • Stops crying when spoken to
  • Smiles when spoken to
  • Makes noises/sounds to attract attention
  • Makes eye contact when interacting

Literacy/Reading Skills for a 6-Month-Old:

Now is a great time to expose your little one to books!  In fact, reading to your child often is one of the best ways to improve communication and future reading skills.  Make sure you’re setting aside some time every day to explore books with your child.  Children this age should be beginning to engage in some of these interactions with books:

  • Likes to chew or pat books
  • Can focus on large and bright pictures in a book
  • Shares books with an adult as routine part of life

RED FLAGS to Watch For in a 6-Month-Old:

If you consistently see these signs in your child, you may want to contact a speech and language therapist for advice or a screening:

  • Does not laugh or squeal
  • Does not look toward new sounds

BACK TO MILESTONES

 

1 Year Old Speech and Language Skills

Speech Sound Development

  • Begins variegated babbling.  This means the child is putting together different non-sense syllables (consonant-vowel) together, like “buh duh gah”.
  • Has adult-like tone of voice.  This means that although they aren’t using real words, their pitch rises and falls as if they are asking a question or making an exclamation.
  • Uses a variety of vowels and consonants while babbling.

Social Language/Interaction Skills

  • Responds to no
  • Responds to his/her own name
  • Points at things as if to ask what it is called
  • Coos, squeals, and shouts for attention
  • Laughs at times
  • Tries to communicate with others through actions and gestures
  • Smiles at self in mirror
  • Plays pat-a-cake and peek-a-boo type games
  • Copies simple actions of others

Literacy/Book Skills

  • Likes to chew and pat books
  • Can focus on large and bright pictures in a book
  • Shares books with an adult as routine part of life

Vocabulary Development

Your 1-year-old should be able to understand quite a few words by now.  This means that if you mention a familiar object or person, your child will point to it or look at it.  For example, if you say “Where’s Daddy?”, she should be able to find Daddy in the room by looking for him.  Around 12 months of age is typically when we hear children saying their first word.  However, some children say their first word a few months before that and some a few months after.  If your child has still not spoken his first word by 16 months, you may want to talk to your child’s pediatrician or a speech-language pathologist.  Children are typically able to use sign language to communicate a single word earlier than they can speak it.  Children have been known to use  simple signs as early as 9-months of age!  If your child is not yet speaking any words, try looking up and exploring some signs to use with your child.

Listening Skills

  • Responds to sound when a source is not visible
  • Responds physically to music (like dancing!)
  • Stops an activity when his/her name is called
  • Recognizes words for common items
  • Begins to respond to simple requests, such as “sit here”

1 Year Old Speech and Language Skills RED FLAGS

If your child consistently exhibits these red flags, you may want to discuss them with your pediatrician, general practitioner or speech and language therapist:

  • Does not point to objects
  • Does not use gestures such as waving or shaking head

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2 Year Old Speech and Language Skills

Speech Sound Development:

By 2-years of age, a stranger should be able to understand your child’s speech about 50% of the time.  Your child should be using a variety of vowels and consonants but it isn’t a problem if he/she can’t produce them all yet.

Sentence Development:

  • Produces sentences that are an average of 2-words long.  That means, some utterances will be 1-word, some 2-words, and some 3-words long
  • Uses intonation to ask yes/no questions
  • Uses some “wh-” questions, like “what?”, “what that?”, or “where mommy?”

Social/Pragmatic Language Use:

  • Follows simple directions, especially with a gestural cue
  • Waves bye-bye
  • Indicates wet pants
  • Repeats actions that made someone laugh
  • Plays next to other children
  • Pairs gestures with words to get wants and needs met
  • Imitates adult behaviors in play
  • Refers to self by name
  • Protests by saying “no”
  • Does “pretend play”, such as talking on a phone or pretending to eat play food
  • Talks to self during play
  • Uses social words like “hi”, “bye”, “thanks”, “please”

Literacy/Book Skills

  • Recognizes certain books by their covers
  • Listens to simple stories, songs, and rhymes
  • Turns pages
  • Points to and labels pictures by herself
  • Pretends to read books

Concept Development

  • Follows simple spatial directions, such as “in” and “on” (put it in the barn, put it on the barn)
  • Can follow the direction “give me another one”
  • Uses simple directional terms, such as “up” and “down”

Vocabulary Development

If you had been counting all of the words your child can say, your 2-year old should have about 200-300 words in his vocabulary.

Asking Questions

  • Looks in the appropriate place when asked a simple question like “where’s daddy?”
  • Chooses an object purposefully when asked about a choice of two, such as “do you want milk or juice?”

2-Year-Old Speech: RED FLAGS

If your child shows these signs, please talk to your child’s pediatrician, general practitioner or speech and language therapist.

  • Has a vocabulary of fewer than 50 words
  • Doesn’t have much interest in social interactions

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3 Year Old Speech and Language Skills

Speech Sound Development:

Your 3-year-old should be consistently and correctly using all vowels and the following consonants:

  • /p/, /m/, /h/, /n/, /w/

In addition, your child should also no longer be doing the following things with sounds:

  • Deleting syllables from multi-syllabic words (such as saying “brella” for “umbrella”)
  • Deleting all sounds at the ends of words (such as “ca” for “cat”)

By 3 years of age, your child should be understood by an unfamiliar adult about 75% of the time.

Grammar Development:

  • Uses some pronouns (such as “I”, “it”, “me”, “my”, “mine”, “you”, “your”, “she”, “he”, “yours”, and “we”)
  • Uses the “-ing” at the end of verbs (such as “running” and “jumping”)
  • Is beginning to use these grammatical markers as well:
    • Plural “-s” (like socks)
    • Past tense “-ed” (like jumped)
    • Possessive “’s” (like Mommy’s)
    • Some helping verbs like “can”, “do”, “be”, “will”
    • Produces sentences with an average length of 3 words

Social Language/Pragmatic Skills

  • Watches other children and briefly joins in their play
  • Requests permission for items and activities
  • Begins to make simple play schemes, like playing house
  • Defends own possessions
  • Holds up fingers to tell age
  • Looks for missing toys

Literacy/Book Skills

  • Likes to listen to books/stories for longer periods of time
  • Holds a book correctly
  • Begins to recognize logos (like the McDonald’s Golden Arches or a favorite food logo at the grocery store)
  • Is developing phonological awareness and pre-reading skills:

Concept Development:

  • Distinguishes between “in” and “under”
  • Understands (can point to when requested) number concepts of “one” and “two”
  • Understands size differences such as “big” and “little”
  • Understands “in”, “off”, “on”, “under”, “out of”, “together”, “away from”
  • Begins to understand the time concepts of “soon”, “later”, “wait”
  • Selects three that are the same out of a set of four objects
  • Begins to say adjectives for color and size

Vocabulary Development:

Your three-year-old should be able to say about 1,000 words.

Answering Questions:

  • Points to objects when described, such as “What do you wear on your head?”
  • Answers questions such as “Where…?”, “What’s that?”, “What’s ___ doing?”, “Who is…?”, and “Can you…?”

Asking Questions:

  • Asks simple questions about his/her wants and needs, such as “where cookie?”
  • Asks “where…?”, “what…?” and “what ____ doing?” questions

Listening Skills:

  • Responds to commands involving body parts, such as “show me your nose”
  • Follows simple two-step directions, such as “get your cup and give it to me”

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4 Year Old Speech and Language Development

Speech Sound Development

By this age, your child should be able to consistently make the following sounds correctly:

  • /p/, /b/, /m/, /h/, /n/, /w/, /d/, /k/, /g/, /d/, /f/, “y”

Your child’s speech should be understood by a stranger about 75%-90% of the time.

Grammatical Markers

Your child should be correctly using most of the following grammatical markers:

  • Pronouns:
    – I, me, you, he, she, him, her, we, us, they, them
  • Possessive Pronouns:
    – My, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, our, ours, their, theirs
  • “-ing” on the end of verbs
  • Plural -s (The apples)
  • Possessive ‘s (Mommy‘s ball)
  • Past tense verbs (jumped, ran, etc.)
  • Regular third person singular (he jumps, she runs)
  • Articles (the ball, a banana)
  • The conjunction “and”
  • Your child should also be producing sentences with an average length of 2.75-4.5 words/morphemes.

Pragmatic Skills

Your child should be interacting with other people in most of the following ways:

  • Follows two-step related directions without cues (such as “stand up and push in your chair)
  • Takes turns and plays cooperatively
  • Relates personal experiences through verbalization
  • Separates from primary caregiver easily
  • Frequently practices conversation skills by talking to self
  • Begins dramatic play, acting out whole scenes
  • Shows frustration if not understood
  • Expresses ideas and feelings

Literacy/Book Skills

Your child should be using books in most of the following ways:

  • Begins to pay attention to specific print, such as the first letter of his name
  • Recognizes logos and other environmental print and understand that print carries a message (knows that the golden arches mean “McDonalds”
  • Identifies some letters and makes letter/sound matches (such as knows that “s” says “sssss”)
  • Participates in rhyming games (such as recognizing that duck and buck rhyme although they may not be great at this yet)
  • Talks about characters in a book
  • Likes to “read” stories to herself and others
  • Protests if an adult changes the story
  • Produces some letter-like forms in scribbles that look like letters
  • Is developing phonological awareness and pre-reading skills:

Concept Development

Your child should have an understanding of most of the following concepts:

  • Follows quantity directions of “empty” and “a lot” (such as “which one is empty” or “which one has a lot of candy?”
  • Follows equality directions of “same” and “both” (such as “which two are the same?” or “give me both apples”)
  • Understands “next to”, “beside”, and “between”
  • Identifies colors (points to the correct color when you name it, like “show me blue”)
  • Matches one-to-one (can match two items that are the same)
  • Points to the object that is different than the others
  • Uses position concepts such as “behind”, “in front”, and “around”

Vocabulary Development

Your child should have a vocabulary of about 1600 words.

Questions

Your child should be able to use questions in most of the following ways:

  • Answers a variety of questions, including “yes/no”, “what”, “who”, “where”,  “why”, “how”, “when”, and “how many” (as long as there are only a few things)
  • Asks “what”, “where”, “when”, “how”, “whose” and one-word “why” questions
  • Asks “is” questions (like “what is this?” and “is she crying?”)

Listening Skills

Your child should be doing most of the following listening skills:

  • Attends to name being called from another room
  • Understands most simple questions pertaining to his/her activities and environment
  • Begins to learn from listening

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5 Year Old Speech and Language Development

Speech Sound Development

By this age, your child should be able to consistently make the following sounds correctly:

  • /p/, /b/, /m/, /h/, /n/, /w/, /d/, /k/, /g/, /d/, /f/, “y”

Your child’s speech should be understood by a stranger about 90% of the time.

Grammatical Markers

Your child should be correctly using most of the following grammatical markers:

  • Pronouns:
    – I, me, you, he, she, him, her, we, us, they, them
  • Possessive Pronouns:
    – My, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, our, ours, their, theirs
  • Other pronouns like:
    – myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves
  • “-ing” on the end of verbs
  • Plural -s (The apples)
  • Possessive -s (Mommy‘s ball)
  • Past tense verbs (jumped, ran, etc.)
  • Regular third person singular (he jumps, she runs)
  • Articles (the ball, a banana)
  • The conjunction “and”
  • Helping verbs such as “to be”, “to do”, and “to have”, including contractions (such as “that‘s my ball”, “I’ll do that”, and “I have two”)
  • Your child should also be producing sentences with an average length of 4.5 words/morphemes or more.

Pragmatic Skills

Your child should be interacting with other people in most of the following ways:

  • Follows three-step directions without cues
  • Uses direct requests with justification (“Stop that, you’re hurting me.”)
  • Uses words to invite others to play
  • Uses language to resolve disputes with peers
  • Plays competitive exercise games (with help from adults)
  • Can hold a basic conversation
  • Speaks of imaginary conditions, such as “What if…” and “I hope…”

Literacy/Book Skills

Your child should be using books in most of the following ways:

  • Understands story sequence (what comes first, next, last)
  • Understands the function and purpose of print
  • Knows many letter names
  • Uses more letter-like forms that scribbles
  • Is developing phonological awareness and pre-reading skills:

Concept Development

Your child should have an understanding of most of the following concepts:

  • Understands comparative and superlative adjectives, such as “big”, “bigger”, and “biggest”
  • Understands time concepts yesterday, today, tomorrow, first, then, next, days of the week, last week, next week
  • Understands different, nearest, through, thin, whole
  • Identifies positional concepts first, middle, last

Vocabulary Development

Your child should have a vocabulary of about 2,200-2,500 words

Questions

Your child should be able to use questions in most of the following ways:

  • Answers a variety of questions, including “yes/no”, “what”, “who”, “where”,  “why”, “how”, “when”, and “how many” (as long as there are only a few things)
  • Asks “what”, “where”, “when”, “how”, “whose” and one-word “why” questions
  • Asks “is” questions (like “what is this?” and “is she crying?”)

Listening Skills

Your child should be doing most of the following listening skills:

  • Hears and understands most of what is said at home and in school
  • Repeats four digits when they are given slowly
  • Readily follows simple commands involving remote objects (such as “go to your room and get your blue shoes and bring them here”)

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6 Year Old Speech and Language Development

Speech Sound Development

By this age, your child should be able to consistently make the following sounds correctly:

  • /p/, /b/, /m/, /h/, /n/, /w/, /d/, /k/, /g/, /d/, /f/, “y”, /t/, “ng”, /r/, /l/

Your child’s speech should be understood by a stranger 90%-100% of the time.

Grammatical Markers

Your child should be correctly using most of the following grammatical markers:

  • Pronouns:
    – I, me, you, he, she, him, her, we, us, they, them
  • Possessive Pronouns:
    – My, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, our, ours, their, theirs
  • Other pronouns like:
    – myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves
  • “-ing” on the end of verbs
  • Plural -s (The apples)
  • Possessive -s (Mommy‘s ball)
  • Past tense verbs (jumped, ran, etc.)
  • Regular third person singular (he jumps, she runs)
  • Articles (the ball, a banana)
  • The conjunction “and”
  • Helping verbs such as “to be”, “to do”, and “to have”, including contractions (such as “that‘s my ball”, “I’ll do that”, and “I have two”)
  • Your child should also be producing sentences with an average length of 4.5 words/morphemes or more.

Pragmatic Skills

Your child should be interacting with other people in most of the following ways:

  • Uses threats and promises
  • Asks for the meanings of words
  • Likes to complete projects
  • Makes purchases at store (with adult supervision)
  • Asks questions for information
  • Chooses own friends
  • Takes more care in communicating with unfamiliar people
  • Engages in cooperative play, such as making group decisions, assigning roles, and playing fairly
  • Announces topic shifts

Literacy/Book Skills

Your child should be using books in most of the following ways:

  • Recognizes letters and letter-sound matches
  • Understands that print is read left to right and top to bottom
  • Retells simple stories
  • Begins to write stories with some readable parts with assistance
  • Tries to spell words when writing
  • Understands that spoken words are made up of sounds
  • Recognizes some words by sight
  • Identifies and writes uppercase and lowercase letters
  • “Reads” a few picture books from memory
  • Prints own first and last name
  • Has mastered phonological awareness and pre-reading skills:

Concept Development

Your child should have an understanding of most of the following concepts:

  • Understands comparative and superlative adjectives, such as “big”, “bigger”, and “biggest”
  • Understands time concepts yesterday, today, tomorrow, first, then, next, days of the week, last week, next week
  • Understands different, nearest, through, thin, whole
  • Identifies positional concepts first, middle, last
  • Understands opposite concepts, such as big/little, over/under
  • Understands left/right
  • Understands number concepts up to 20
  • Answers “How are things different/same?”
  • Uses adjectives for describing
  • Uses comparative adjectives such as loud, louder
  • Uses yesterday and tomorrow
  • Uses adverb concepts of backward and forward
  • Uses prepositions through, nearest, corner, middle
  • Names ordinal numbers, such as first, second, third

Vocabulary Development

Your child should have a vocabulary of about 2,600-7,000 words.

Questions

Your child should be able to use questions in most of the following ways:

  • Answers a variety of questions, including “yes/no”, “what”, “who”, “where”,  “why”, “how”, “when”, and “how many” (as long as there are only a few things)
  • Asks “what”, “where”, “when”, “how”, “whose” and one-word “why” questions
  • Asks “is” questions (like “what is this?” and “is she crying?”)

Listening Skills

Your child should be doing most of the following listening skills:

  • Repeats sentences up to nine words in length
  • Follows three-step directions
  • Responds correctly to more types of sentences but still may be confused at times by more complex sentences

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7 Year Old Speech and Language Development

Speech Sound Development

By this age, your child should be able to consistently make the following sounds correctly:

  • /p/, /b/, /m/, /h/, /n/, /w/, /d/, /k/, /g/, /d/, /f/, “y”, /t/, “ng”, /r/, /l/, “ch”, “sh”, “j”, voiceless “th” (like in “thumb”)

Your child’s speech should be understood by a stranger 90%-100% of the time.

Grammatical Markers

Your child should be correctly using most of the following grammatical markers:

  • Pronouns:
    – I, me, you, he, she, him, her, we, us, they, them
  • Possessive Pronouns:
    – My, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, our, ours, their, theirs
  • Other pronouns like:
    – myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves
  • “-ing” on the end of verbs
  • Plural -s (The apples)
  • Possessive -s (Mommy‘s ball)
  • Past tense verbs (jumped, ran, etc.)
  • Regular third person singular (he jumps, she runs)
  • Articles (the ball, a banana)
  • The conjunction “and”
  • Helping verbs such as “to be”, “to do”, and “to have”, including contractions (such as “that‘s my ball”, “I’ll do that”, and “I have two”)
  • Your child should also be producing sentences with an average length of 4.5 words/morphemes or more.

Pragmatic Skills

Your child should be interacting with other people in most of the following ways:

  • Uses threats and promises
  • Asks for the meanings of words
  • Likes to complete projects
  • Makes purchases at store (with adult supervision)
  • Asks questions for information
  • Chooses own friends
  • Takes more care in communicating with unfamiliar people
  • Engages in cooperative play, such as making group decisions, assigning roles, and playing fairly
  • Announces topic shifts

Literacy/Book Skills

Your child should be using books in most of the following ways:

  • Identifies an increasing number of words by sight
  • Begins to decode new words independently
  • Uses a variety of reading strategies such as rereading, predicting what will happen next, asking questions, or using visual cues or pictures
  • Reads and retells familiar stories
  • Reads aloud with ease
  • Decides independently to use reading and writing for different purposes
  • Sounds out and represents major sounds in words when trying to spell
  • Tries to use some punctuation and capitalization

Concept Development

Your child should have an understanding of most of the following concepts:

  • Understands comparative and superlative adjectives, such as “big”, “bigger”, and “biggest”
  • Understands time concepts yesterday, today, tomorrow, first, then, next, days of the week, last week, next week
  • Understands different, nearest, through, thin, whole
  • Identifies positional concepts first, middle, last
  • Understands opposite concepts, such as big/little, over/under
  • Understands left/right
  • Understands number concepts up to 20
  • Answers “How are things different/same?”
  • Uses adjectives for describing
  • Uses comparative adjectives such as loud, louder
  • Uses yesterday and tomorrow
  • Uses adverb concepts of backward and forward
  • Uses prepositions through, nearest, corner, middle
  • Names ordinal numbers, such as first, second, third

Questions

Your child should be able to use questions in most of the following ways:

  • Answers a variety of questions, including “yes/no”, “what”, “who”, “where”,  “why”, “how”, “when”, and “how many” (as long as there are only a few things)
  • Asks “what”, “where”, “when”, “how”, “whose” and one-word “why” questions
  • Asks “is” questions (like “what is this?” and “is she crying?”)

Listening Skills

Your child should be doing most of the following listening skills:

  • Repeats sentences up to nine words in length
  • Follows three-step directions
  • Responds correctly to more types of sentences but still may be confused at times by more complex sentences

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8 Year Old Speech and Language Development

Speech Sound Development

By this age, your child should be able to consistently make all English speech sounds correctly:

  • /p/, /b/, /m/, /h/, /n/, /w/, /d/, /k/, /g/, /d/, /f/, “y”, /t/, “ng”, /r/, /l/, “ch”, “sh”, “j”, voiceless “th” (like in “thumb”), /s/, /z/, /v/, voiced “th” (like “the”), “zh” (like in “beige“)

Your child’s speech should be understood by a stranger almost all of the time.

8 Year Old Speech and Language Skills #2:

Grammatical Markers

Your child should be correctly using adult-like grammar, including:

  • Pronouns:
    – I, me, you, he, she, him, her, we, us, they, them
  • Possessive Pronouns:
    – My, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, our, ours, their, theirs
  • Other pronouns like:
    – myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves
  • “-ing” on the end of verbs
  • Plural -s (The apples)
  • Possessive -s (Mommy‘s ball)
  • Past tense verbs (jumped, ran, etc.)
  • Regular third person singular (he jumps, she runs)
  • Articles (the ball, a banana)
  • The conjunction “and”
  • Helping verbs such as “to be”, “to do”, and “to have”, including contractions (such as “that‘s my ball”, “I’ll do that”, and “I have two”)

Literacy/Book Skills

Your child should be using books in most of the following ways:

  • Identifies letters, words, and sentences
  • Has a sight word vocabulary of 100 words
  • Understands what is read
  • Creates rhyming words
  • Reads grade-level material fluently
  • Expresses ideas through writing
  • Prints clearly
  • Spells frequently-used words correctly
  • Begins sentences with capital letters and attempts to use punctuation
  • Writes a variety of stories, journal entries, or notes

Reference: www.SpeechAndLanguageKids.com

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USEFUL LINKS

Website: www.SpeechAndLanguageKids.com
Facebook: Speech and Language Kids

Carrie Clarke, Speech and Language Therapist is the proprietor of Speech And Language Kids. Carrie recognized the lack of parent-friendly speech and language therapy and developed a website that guides families through the world of speech and language by providing practical speech and language activities and information that families can use to improve their child’s communication skills.

Website: www.speechandlanguagetherapy.ie
Facebook: Speech and Language Therapy Services by Kasey O’Shea
Telephone Number : 085-7750394
Location: Elm Suite, Loughmore Centre, Raheen Business Pk, Limerick
Email : speechtherapistkasey@gmail.com

Kasey graduated with a M.Sc. in Speech and Language Therapy from the University of Limerick in 2007 and has  an M. Phil from Trinity in Linguistics where she wrote her dissertation on developing language in 2005. Kasey has worked with pre-school children on language, behaviour and early developmental milestones since 2002 through home tutoring programmes.  She believes in a rounded and intense approach to therapy and works closely with parents to ensure they are fully trained to help their children learn. She is fully accredited by the IASLT .
Kasey believes the value of Early Intervention cannot be underestimated and starts treatment and advice sessions from as early as 10 months. Her aim is to provide a service to support a child’s development, a parent’s knowledge and a teacher’s resources.  Kasey works with children up to adulthood if needed but likes to start as soon as a problem is detected. If parents have concerns before their child’s 2 yr check-up,  she can help determine the nature of their social and linguistic difficulties. Early childhood moves so fast. Kasey aims to get the most out of the initial incredible years of a child’s life and continue progress with ongoing support where needed.
Kasey’s motto is……….

‘If I can help the children I work with reach their potential as much as I help my own children reach theirs, then I have done my job well.