Speech & Language Developmental Milestones
In the First Year of Life....
From Birth to Six Months
Expressive Language Skills
cries
makes sucking sounds and throaty voices
makes pleasure sounds
smiles
vowel sounds begin to emerge
coos, squeals, grunts
vocalizes and coos when talked to
Receptive Language Skills
startles to loud sounds
prefers human voice over non-human sounds
human voice has calming effect when crying
focuses on objects that are about 8 inches from her face
moves eyes in the direction of sound
differentiates male and female voices
follows the direction your eyes take when you move from looking at her to an object
pays attention to music
From Six to Twelve Months
Receptive Language Skills
vocalizations have purpose to request a person, an action or object and to comment on what's around them
shakes head "no"
repeats consonant-vowel combination - dadadada, pepepepe
babbling becomes more complex
consonant-vowel combination will have more sounds - adadatata, tetadagugu
babbling will have inflections
waves bye-bye
Receptive Language Skills
localizes sound
appears to be listening to conversation
plays pat-a-cake, peek-a-boo
responds to his own name
recognizes words for common objects: cup, milk
understands no
responds to simple requests
follows simple commands - Push the car.
recognizes names of family members
If you’re just not sure that your child is on track, talk with your pediatrician who can refer you to a speech therapist.
Or if you’d like to speak with one of our speech language pathologists, click Let’s Talk.
Remember not to wait too long to make sure your child is reaching the appropriate developmental milestones.
As time moves on, other children the same age as your child will be progressing and that “gap” may get larger.