When a child has difficulty communicating, many parents ask “will my child grow out of it?” In general, the answer is “maybe.” There is a predictable pattern to speech and language development; however, there is also a wide range of average. When children exhibit delayed communication skills that seem to be outside the average range, SLPs can recommend strategies to help support their communication development.
General guidelines suggest that:
one year old children should be speaking in at least single words,
two year old children should be speaking in at least two word phrases and
three year old children should be speaking in three word sentences.
As a general rule, a stranger should be able to understand:
25 per cent of what a 1 year old child says,
50 percent of what a 2 year old child says,
75 percent of what a 3 year old child says and
90 per cent or more of what a 4 year old child says.
Parents know their children better than anyone. We know the importance of early intervention, so if you are concerned about your child's communication skills, SLPs recommend that you do not 'wait and see', but consult with an SLP.
For more information regarding what you should expect of your preschool child's communication development, please:
contact your community health speech-language pathologist through your public health office.