language development- offshoot of vax thread

[lfp2n]

I was reading the vax thread and started to worry, I hadn't really considered language milestones, DD is 14 months and doesn't say any real words yet. What sort of tests do they do at 11 months that would show a language delay, as I didn't know you would expect language at that age. She can understand a lot of stuff we say, like point at all sorts of things, simple commands, like shut the door etc, by what age is it a concern if there are no discernable words and you should think about testing?

Lucy DD 3/03

[Rachels]

Beth can answer more specifically as to when you might start to be concerned, but I can tell you it's not at 14 months. :) LOTS of babies don't have words that young. No worries yet! :)

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

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"We have a secret in our culture...it's not that birth is painful, it's that women are strong!!" - Laura Stavoe Harm

[egoldber]

Most peds do simple assessments at each well baby visit. Before one year, the only language milestones for words is 1-2 words or protowords (dada for daddy and duhduh for dog are examples of protowords).

They generally do not do evaluations for speech delays before 18 months. At 18 months, the milestone is 10 words or protowords. Now MANY MANY normally developing toddlers have ZERO words at 18 months. But no words or fewer than 10 words would generally trigger your ped to recommend a speech evaluation by an early intervention specialist to make sure there no other issues that could be causing the delay.

Between 18 months and 30 months most children experience a language "explosion". They will go from having few or no words to having a word for almost everything in just a matter of weeks. For most kids that happens before their second birthday, but again, MANY MANY normal children have very few words before age two.

The things that are really important at your DD's age are 1) receptive language and 2) sound repertoire. By 15 months and certainly by 18 months, the typical normally developing toddler will understand most of the everyday conversation around them. If not, that is a cause for concern. Also important is that they are able to produce most sounds (but not necessarily as words). This is not easy to assess and generally takes a trained speech pathologist. When a ped refers someone for a speech eval for few words, one of the things the trained personnel will assess is your child's ability to make all the sounds that are appropriate for that age.

But it sounds like your DD is well withing the range of normal. :)

Here's a good link:

http://www.asha.org/public/speech/de..._hear_talk.htm

HTH,