GUIDELINES FOR REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE FROM SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY AGE 18 MONTHS First words emerging – possibly up to 19 and point to objects to be named Understanding more words and phrases than they can say e.g. Where’s your coat? Copying words and short familiar phrases Parents may still understand child’s attempts at language better than unfamiliar listeners Interested in other people and attempting to communicate with them REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE NOT NECESSARY Possibly using jargon with a couple of words Understanding language in specific contexts e.g. “Here’s your cup” Looks with interest when hears language but no attempts to copy words Able to concentrate for periods on toys or interaction with adults REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE NOT NECESSARY BUT DEVELOPMENT SHOULD BE CHECKED AGAIN Poor attention e.g. unable to sit with adult for short period Does not make eye contact or show interest in adults or other children Not using any words Doesn’t look to people or objects when named Doesn’t turn to look where sounds are coming from (? Hearing) REQUEST ASSISTANCE FROM SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY
GUIDELINES FOR REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE FROM SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY AGE 2 YEARS Small number of words i.e. 10-50 Speech intelligible to close family Understands words and simple phrase without clues REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE NOT NECESSARY Good pretend play. Able to concentrate for short spells Possibly jargon/babble and few words (less than 10) Responds to instructions MONITOR Little pretend play Poor attention Very few or no words No apparent comprehension or inability to assess this REQUEST ASSISTANCE FROM SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY SPEECH SOUNDS TO EXPECT: p, b, t, d, n, m
GUIDELINES FOR REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE FROM SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY AGE 2 ½ YEARS Comprehension appropriate for age (i.e. understands many single words and some simple instructions) Large single word vocabulary (50 plus words and beginning to link words together) Intelligible to close family in a known context REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE NOT NECESSARY 10-30 plus single words and parents report making progress (no concerns re: comprehension of language) Intelligible speech to family but not to others MONITOR Poor comprehension of language Few or no words although other skills are good (e.g. attention/play) Unintelligible to mother/close family even in a known context REQUEST ASSISTANCE FROM SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY SPEECH SOUNDS TO EXPECT: W Ends of words may be omitted GUIDELINES FOR REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE FROM SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY
AGE 3 YEARS Uses appropriate sentences of 3 or more words Welcomes and responds to suggestions most of the time Odd words can still be hard to understand REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE NOT NECESSARY Uses sentences containing only 2 words (play/attention/comprehension good) Frequently unintelligible other than close family MONITOR Poor comprehension of language Only saying single words (or learnt phrases) although other skills are good (e.g. good comprehension/ play/ attention) Unintelligible most of the time to close family, even in context Limited pretend play Cannot attend for longer than a few minutes REQUEST ASSISTANCE FROM SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY SPEECH SOUNDS TO EXPECT: s, z, f GUIDELINES FOR REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE FROM SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY
Utterances are long and appropriate but some grammatical feature are still incorrect (e.g. past tense “comed” , “breaked”) Double consonants (e.g. sp, fl, tr) are not always accurate Lisp (th for s). Difficulty with R REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE NOT NECESSARY Usually intelligible to the family but immature speech MONITOR Severely unintelligible even in context. Any deletions (e.g. boa or oat for boat) Significant comprehension and /or expressive language difficulties Difficulties understanding instructions containing several key words or understanding question words (e.g. who, where, when) Unable to relate to short sequence of events REQUEST ASSISTANCE FROM SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY SPEECH SOUNDS TO EXPECT: Most sounds correct, ongoing difficulties with r, th GUIDELINES FOR REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE FROM SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY AGE 6 – 7 YEARS