Speech Milestones

Speech and Language Development Milestones for Ages 4 to 6 Months

• Follows sounds with his or her eyes.
• Laughs
• Notices toys that make sounds and music.
• Produce a few back sound consonants (g or k)
• Recognizes changes of tone of your voice.
• Babbles using with more vowel sounds and more consonants (p,b or m)
• Begins to copy sounds while babbling.
• Smiles when he or she sees you
• Develops different cries to meet varying needs.
• Yells, squeals and growls with some pitch changes.

Speech and Language Development Milestones for Ages 7 to 12 Months

• Repetitive long and short sounds (dada, tata, bibi).
• Consistent pitch changes with meaning.
• Turns and looks in the direction of sounds.
• Listens more attentively.
• Understands common words like momma, dadda, cup, and juice.
• Responds to commands or questions (Come here, want more?, want up?).
• Knows a couple of words and exclamations (Ooh, Ahh, hi, baba, mamma, dadda, dog).
• Communicates with hand gestures (waves, lifts arms to be picked up).
• Develops different cries to meet varying needs.
• Yells, squeals, growls and gurgles with some pitch changes.
• Non-repetitive babbling begins (Ba-ga-de, go-do-da-di)

Speech and Language Development Milestones for Ages 1 to 2 Years

• First words (10-15 months).
• Holophrastic speech (A single word expresses a complex idea – “Ball” means “I want the ball” or “Where is the ball?”)
• Phases (uh-oh, all gone, no no, bye-bye).
• Uses many consonant sounds at beginning or words.
• Knows a few body parts.
• Follows simple commands or questions (Roll the ball, walk to me, where’s your nose?)
• Enjoys hearing simple songs, stories and rhymes.
• Can point to pictures in a book when asked (Wheres the ball?)
• Adds new words constantly.
• Uses one or two word sentences (Where dada? Go bye, bye, want up, no cookie, no juice).
• Non-repetitive babbling begins (Ba-ga-de, go-d0-da-di)
• Knows a couple of words and exclamations (Ooh, Ahh, hi, baba, mamma, dadda, dog).

Speech and Language Development Milestones for Ages 3 to 4 Years

• Answers simple questions (Who?, What?, Where? and Why?)
• Talks about daily activities.
• Uses sentences with four or more.
• Speaks easily without having to repeat syllables or words.
• Follows simple commands or questions (Roll the ball, walk to me, where’s your nose?)
• Enjoys hearing simple songs, stories and rhymes.
• Can point to pictures in a book when asked (Wheres the ball?)
• Adds new words constantly.
• Uses one or two word sentences (Where dada? Go bye, bye, want up, no cookie, no juice).
• Non-repetitive babbling begins (Ba-ga-de, go-d0-da-di)
• Knows a couple of words and exclamations (Ooh, Ahh, hi, baba, mamma, dadda, dog).

Speech and Language Development Milestones for Ages 4 to 10 Years

• (4 years old) Can say the following sounds correctly (b,d,f,g,h,k,m,n,p,t,y).
• (4 years old) Might still make errors with (l,r,s and th).
• (4 years old) Can be understood by family members and non-family.
• (4 years old) Most phonological processes should stop.

• (5 years old) All phonological processes should stop.

• (6 years old) Correctly produce the following sounds (l,j,v,ch,sh).
• (6 years old) Errors can still occur commonly for sounds like (s,r,z,th) but should be decreasing.

• (7 years old) 100% understandable.

• (8 years old) Errors can still occur commonly for sounds like (s,r,z,th) but should be decreasing.

• (9 and 10 years old) Says all sounds now incldung (s,r,z and th)
• (9 and 10 years old) Might have some trouble with difficult words like (Aluminum, whistle, adjective, scissors, spaghetti)

• (10 and 11 years old) There should be no speech problems by this age with the exception of the r sound which can be a lingering issue.