Key indicators of speech and language

It is very important to keep a track of your child's speech and language skills. According to Dr. Koyeli Sengupta, a Developmental Pediatrician from UMMEED child development center, Mumbai shares how at times parents have missed tracking these milestones especially after the birth of their first child. The first typical speech and language milestones in the first two to three years of a child's life are crucial. Development follows a specific sequence. Speech and language is part of what we call as communication. It includes receptive skills as well as expressive skills. Children learn to understand what is being said around them and learn to express or talk what they want or what they feel. At the age of 6 months, babies start to babble, which is an expressive form of language building. These initial sounds take the shape of words at 1 year of age and children usually have a vocabulary of 10-12 words or word like forms like doggy for dog or doodoo for milk. By the age of 1 and half years, their vocabulary may grow by 12-18words more going up to 40-50 words by 2 years of age and they start joining two words and forming two word phrases like 'want ball' 'go out' etc. This progresses to much more complex phrases by the age of 3 years.  Understanding or receptive skills include simple one step instructions like sit here, go there, take this , give me the spoon by 1 year of age. By 2 years of age, they are able to follow two part instructions such as bring me your toy and napkin or  go to the room and keep the bat and ball.. As they grow older, they are able to follow more and more complex instructions. However,  parents need to take note that these are general milestones and hence there may be a little difference in the way communication develops in every child. So parents just need to be patient and as long as these overall milestones fall in place in the initial three years, they need not worry. However, in case if the child is showing significant delay in achieving these milestones, a professional assessment can be helpful in ruling out autism or any other developmental delay.