If you’re concerned that your child might not be meeting regular speech and language milestones, then you should take a look at these check points to determine if your child might be showcasing any of the symptoms/behaviors which indicate that they could benefit from therapy.   If you still have concern after reviewing the list, then feel free to contact us to schedule an evaluation.

Infants:

• Lack of eye contact or gaze
• Difficulty feeding or swallowing
• Difficulty with head control or other motor movements
• Extremely fussy or very quiet baby
• Difficulty regulating sleep patterns
• Medical issues such as reflux, prematurity, asthma, ear infections

Toddlers and Preschoolers:

• Excessive drooling
• Highly unintelligible
• Starts to talk and then stops
• Child omits the end sounds of words
• Is not producing /m, p, b, t, d/ – 2 year olds
• Is not producing /k, g, f, n/ – 3 year olds
• Is not producing /sh, ch, j, v/ – 4-5 year olds

Receptive Language:

• Child seems to not hear you
• Child will only respond to things phrased in a certain way (ex., “juice” but not “drink”)
• Little affect or understanding of feelings
• Responds very well to visual cues or gestures, rather than speech
• Echoes what they hear but are not spontaneous in productions
• Trouble with following directions
• Trouble in new situations (daycare, preschool)
• May have behavior problems (frustrations, trouble with transitions)

Expressive Language:

• Lack of true words to communicate
• Lots of pointing, grunting, or crying when attempting to communicate what they want
• Child echoes but is not spontaneous with words
• Cannot maintain topic at hand for any period of time
• Child will start to play with a toy, but is not able to expand the play or move to anything new (e.g., performs the same action over and over)
• Difficulty coming up with names of items or people (word retrieval)

Sensory Integration Issues:

• Child may avoid touch or being touched
• Picky about food, texture, and touch
• Stuffing food in pockets of cheeks
• Difficulty drinking from a straw
• Child may bump into things often or seems not notice where he is walking
• Under reactive to environment
• Often looks like attentional or behavior issues