The results still very preliminary, do not offer any quick fixes. But they demonstrate that a person's ability to understand and say words begins in the first few months of life, and experts say they provide even stronger evidence that efforts to correct speech defects should begin as soon as possible. Now we know that while babies are quiet, there is a tremendous amount going on in the brain. For toddlers, communication is far more important than articulation, said Dr. Michael Cunningham, a pediatric otolaryngologist at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston. At this age, he and other doctors said, many sounds are difficult and mispronunciation is to be expected.
Double consonants are another tricky maneuver.
Many toddlers stutter simply because the brain is working faster than the mouth muscles, not because they have a chronic problem. For most children, the powers of language blossom somewhere between 18 months and 2 years, with an outpouring of words flowing together in a crude grammar. Children know an average of about 50 words at this stage. For instance, most 2year-olds will say throw ball, not ball throw. Twins are particularly interesting because they tend to speak later than singletons.