Speech

Curious about your child’s speech and language development and what is appropriate? This chart provides some milestones.

Stuttering of the first syllable, hoarseness and disinterest in communicating are not part of normal development. Repeating the first word is part of normal development.

The ability to produce speech sounds, known as phonetic development, also occurs over time. Some speech sounds, such as v, r and th are not expected to be pronounced correctly until a child is 5, 6 or even 8 years old. See this Phonetic Development chart.

If you are concerned about your child’s speech or development, you should talk to:

• Your pediatrician
• Connecticut’s Birth to Three program, if under the age of three
• Southington Public Schools Special Education department, if three or older

For more information about these services, check out the Special Needs section of our Resource Directory.

The ECCS hosted a workshop on 4/2/2019 titled “Early Language Development & Language Expansion in Preschoolers” with speaker Meredith Bandish, MA/CCC-SLP.

• Presentation: Early Language Development: Delayed? Disordered? or Developmentally appropriate? It covered:
  – Language milestones during preschool years (2-5)
  – Red-flags for delayed and disordered language development
  – Speech sound production
  – Intervention in the typical classroom setting
  – The referral process – school-based vs. medically-based
• Handouts – “How do I Make this Sound?”, “Language Development” and book lists

Want to learn more? Here are some other resources:

• • Developmental Milestones from University of Michigan Health System
  • Speech Language Milestone Chart – ProEd
  • Typical Speech and Language Acquisition in Infants and Young Children by Caroline Bowen
  • Receptive Language Development by Caroline Bowen
  • Expressive Language Development by Caroline Bowen
  • www.starfall.com Free online phonemic awareness games and apps for idevices
  • www.speakingofspeech.com   – “materials exchange” for speech and language materials
  • www.superduperinc.com
  • www.familylearning.org.uk – Free online phonics games
  • www.lifeprint.com/– American Sign Language website; easy alphabetical reference for many signs
  • CT Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Program