Children’s Speech and Language Evaluation

0-6 Months

  • Makes cooing sounds
  • Quiets if crying when hearing a voice
  • Localizes sound by turning head
  • Listens to speech and music
  • Notices toys that make sound
  • Makes speech-like babbling sounds /b/, /p/, & /m/ (3-6 mos)
  • Uses sound to indicate wants (3-6 mos)

7-12 Months

  • Turns and looks in the direction of sounds
  • Understands & responds to own name
  • Listens to & imitates sounds
  • Recognizes words for common items and people like “truck”, “cup”, “juice”, “daddy”
  • Uses large variety of sounds in babbling
  • Uses speech sounds rather than crying to get attention
  • Listens to songs and stories
  • Babbles long strings of sounds, like mimi babababa; begins to change babbling to jargon
  • Vocabulary of 1 to 3 words
  • Plays games with you, (e.g. peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake)
  • Looks when you point
  • Uses gestures like waving bye, reaching for “up”, and shaking head for “no”

13-18 Months

  • Uses adult-like intonation patterns
  • Uses echolalia and jargon
  • Uses jargon to fill gaps in fluency
  • Omits some initial consonants and almost all final consonants
  • Produces mostly unintelligible speech
  • Follows simple commands
  • Receptively identifies 1 to 3 body parts
  • Shows interest in pictures
  • Has expressive vocabulary of 3 to 20 words
  • Combines gestures and vocalization
  • Makes requests for more of desired items

19-24 Months

  • Uses words more frequently than jargon
  • Has expressive vocabulary of 50-75 words
  • Receptive vocabulary of 300 words
  • Starts to combine nouns & verbs
  • Begins to use pronouns (me, you, my)
  • Approximately 25-50% intelligible to strangers
  • Answers “What’s that?” questions
  • Enjoys listening to stories
  • Knows 3-5 body parts
  • Accurately names familiar objects

2-3 Years

  • Speech is 50-75% intelligible
  • Understands “one” & “all”
  • Requests items by name
  • Identifies several body parts
  • Follows simple commands & answers simple questions
  • Gives first name, holds up fingers to tell age
  • Enjoys listening to short stories, songs & rhymes
  • Asks 1-2 word questions
  • Combines nouns and verbs (“mommy go”)
  • Uses 2-word negative phrases such as "no want"
  • Holds conversations with adults and toys
  • Has approximately 450 word vocabulary
  • Exhibits multiple grammatical errors
  • Understands most things said to him or her
  • Increases range of pitch
  • Uses vowels correctly
  • Consistently uses initial consonants
  • Frequently omits medial consonants
  • Frequently omits or substitutes final consonants
  • Tries to gain adult attention: "watch me"
  • Solves problems by talking instead of hitting or crying
  • Talks to other children and adults
  • Produces simple sentences (“I want book”)
  • Forms some plurals by adding "s"; book, books
  • Likes to hear same story repeated
  • Understands simple time concepts: "last night", "tomorrow"

3-4 Years

  • Understands object functions
  • Understands difference in meanings
  • Follows 2 and 3 step commands
  • Asks & answers questions
  • Produces verbal analogies
  • Uses language to express emotion
  • Repeats 6-13 syllable sentences accurately
  • Identifies objects by name
  • Uses up to 5 word sentences
  • Increases vocabulary to approximately 1,000 words
  • Is conscious of past & future
  • May repeat self often
  • Increases speech rate
  • Masters 50% consonants
  • Speech is 80% intelligible
  • Tells two events in chronological order
  • Engages in conversations
  • Uses contractions

4-5 Years Old

  • Understands concept of numbers up to 3
  • Continues understanding spatial concepts
  • Recognizes 1-4 colors
  • Recognizes shapes: circles, triangles and squares
  • Has extensive receptive vocabulary
  • Counts to 10
  • Listens to short stories
  • Answers questions about functions
  • Uses mostly grammatically correct sentences
  • Has extensive expressive vocabulary
  • Uses sentences with 4-6 words
  • Answers 2 part questions
  • Asks many questions (“what”, “where”, “who”, “why”)
  • Reduces repetitions
  • Enjoys rhymes & rhythms
  • Significantly reduces number of sound omissions & substitutions
  • Intelligible to strangers
  • Talks about experiences at school, friends’ home, etc.
  • Accurately relays long story
  • Uses past tense correctly
  • Can speak of imaginary conditions such as "I hope"

5-6 Years Old

  • Names 6 colors & at least 3 shapes
  • Follows instructions
  • Understands concepts “same” and “different”
  • Follows 3 part commands
  • Answers verbally to “hi” and “how are you”
  • Uses past & future tense
  • Uses conjunctions
  • Knows spatial relations like "on top", "behind", "far" and "near"
  • Defines objects by their use (you eat with a fork) 
  • Has extensive receptive vocabulary
  • Names opposites
  • Sequentially names days of week
  • Counts to 30
  • Continues to drastically increase receptive/expressive vocabulary
  • Reverses sounds occasionally
  • Exchanges information and asks questions
  • Uses sentences with details
  • Accurately relays a story
  • Sings entire song and recites nursery rhymes
  • Communicates easily with adults & children
  • Uses appropriate grammar in most cases

 

6-7 Years Old

  • Names letters, numbers, and currencies
  • Sequences numbers
  • Understands left and right
  • Uses increasingly more complex descriptions
  • Engages in conversations
  • Has extensive receptive vocabulary 
  • Uses sentences with approximately 6 or more words
  • Understands most concepts of time
  • Recites alphabet
  • Counts to 100
  • Uses passive voice appropriately