If you are a parent, it is good to be familiar with the basic benchmarks for hearing, speech, and language development in the infant, toddler, and school-aged child. The benchmarks serve as guidelines for pediatricians and other health and education professionals with which to monitor the child’s progress or delay, and offer help if necessary. The first post in this three-part series will cover the basic benchmarks for infants.
The acquisition of speech, hearing, and language skills in children is typically most active when the brain is rapidly maturing, from birth to three years old. Of course, while children vary in the way they take in and respond to the many sights and sounds around them, researchers have noted a natural “timetable” of emerging communication activities. Here are just a few of the first-year milestones and when they usually start to occur:
Birth to 3 Months
- Makes pleasant sounds like cooing;
- Makes different cries for different needs;
- Startles when loud sounds are made near them;
- Quiets or smiles when spoken to;
- Starts to recognize a familiar voice.
4 to 6 Months
- Chuckles and laughs;
- Makes speech-like babbling and gurgling sounds;
- Vocalizes excitement and displeasure;
- Responds to changes in your tone of voice;
- Notices toys that make sounds.
7 to 12 Months
- Speaks one or two words, such as hi, dada, mama;
- Imitates different speech sounds;
- Listens when spoken to;
- Begins to respond to requests;
- Turns and looks in direction of sounds.
If You Have Concerns
If you have any concerns about your child’s hearing, speech, or language development, you should speak to your child’s pediatrician, who may refer you to a speech-language pathologist (SLP). The SLP will first speak to you about your child’s overall activities and specific verbal and gestural behaviors, and then can suggest different play activities to help your child further develop his or her listening and speaking skills.
In my next post, I will describe the continuing communication development of one- to three-year-olds.
For More Information
For more information, you may visit the following websites. In addition, the Mount Sinai Health System provides speech-language pathology services at multiple hospital locations.
- The National Institute of Health/National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
- The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
To find an excellent doctor who is right for you, please call our Physician Referral Service at 866.804.1007.