Your child might need to be evaluated if:
People don't understand what they say
They are not yet imitating words by 12-18 months
People don't understand what they say
Children should be 90% intelligible to family and strangers by their third birthday. Every speech sound should be in place before kindergarten. If they have speech sound delays, they are at risk for reading difficulties. It is never too early to begin correcting sound delays, the sooner the better.
Their speech is disfluent
They are not yet imitating words by 12-18 months
People don't understand what they say
Two and three year olds often go through a developmental period of stuttering. However, fluency disorders are hereditary. If stuttering runs in your family, it is best not to wait for an SLP to evaluate your child. Our therapists have expertise in evaluating risk factors and helping you and your child navigate these challenges and coming up with a plan forward.
They are not yet imitating words by 12-18 months
They are not yet imitating words by 12-18 months
If your child is having difficulty learning to read and write
Your baby should smile at you in the first three months and begin babbling at about 6 months. Babies also begin to point and gesture by 9 months (e.g., yes/no, up, more, pointing). First words usually happen between 12 and 18 months. If your toddler is not putting words together to make sentences by 19 months to 2.5 years of age, please seek an evalutation by a fully-licensed SLP.
If your child is having difficulty learning to read and write
If your child is having difficulty learning to read and write
If your child is having difficulty learning to read and write
Learning to read and write use our executive functioning skills. Learning language is also an executive functioning skill. There are many reasons why children have difficulty with this skill. If your child has had difficulty learning spoken language they are at risk for also having difficulty with written language. Early intervention in Kindergarten, or even preschool, is vital to early readers. Our therapists are trained in spoken and written language development and we can help.
American Speech-Language Hearing Association Public Website
If your child is having difficulty learning to read and write
American Speech-Language Hearing Association Public Website
This is a great public website for additional information about communication development.