

You say something and then pause to give him time to respond. Other helpful strategies are to use short sentences (three to five words) when you talk with him, and to engage in lots of back-and-forth verbal interaction with him. Continue to read, talk, and sing with him, ask him questions, and point out and identify the people and things that fill his world. For example, if he says “ba” for “ball,” you can say, Yes, that’s the ball. In order to support your son’s language development, make a habit of repeating and labeling any sounds he uses for words. Bring this list with you to your discussion with your pediatrician and during any assessments that may take place. So you can include “muh” as one of his words on the list. For example, he may say “muh” for milk and only use this sound to ask for milk. These words don’t have to be pronounced perfectly, but they should be sounds that your son uses consistently for one idea. It is also helpful to begin keeping a word list in which you note the words that your child uses.

It may very well be that an assessment concludes that your child doesn’t need any extra help and will catch up on his own, but it’s always good to check this out, if only for reassurance. These programs are part of a federal system that operates in all states. They also offer early intervention services such as speech therapy. (You can go to: contact/ptccoord.asp for each state’s contact information.) Child Find professionals provide screening and assessment services to babies and toddlers, often at no charge. The best first step is to make an appointment with your son’s pediatrician to discuss whether he might have a speech delay.Īlso, call your state’s “Child Find” office. If you find that your child is only saying a limited number of words and not using two word sentences, he may be behind in his expressive language. According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, at 27 months, children should be saying new words each month and using two-word sentences, such as “more juice”. The pronunciation won’t sound perfect, but they should be saying real words, and not just gibberish. For the most part, two-year-olds have moved past constant babbling. The best way to teach is to set a good example. This is expressive communication, too.Īs for expressive vocabulary, this typically increases between ages 2 and 3 to about 300 words. Your toddler learns words by seeing and hearing them in action. I want a banana, he may take his mom’s hand, walk her to the kitchen, and point to the banana. For example, while a child may not say with words, Mommy, I’m hungry. As for expressive communication, it’s important to factor in your child’s ability to communicate with gestures.

He is responding appropriately to your requests and can follow simple directions, like holding up his fingers to count to five. The good news is that it sounds like your son’s receptive vocabulary is quite good. To understand where your son is at, it’s important to look at both your child’s receptive language-the words he understands, and his expressive language-the words he can say. Infant and Early Childhood Mental HealthĪ.
