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How Does Your Child Hear and Talk?

By: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (2005)

Every child is unique and has an individual rate of development. This chart represents, on average, the age by which most children will accomplish skills in hearing, understanding, and talking.

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Children typically do not master all items in a category until they reach the upper age in each age range. Just because your child has not accomplished one skill within an age range does not mean the child has a disorder. However, if your child has not accomplished the majority of items in an age range, seek the advice of a professional, such as a speech-language pathologist or audiologist.

	Hearing and Understanding	Talking
Birth-3 Months	Startles to loud sounds. Quiets or smiles when spoken to. Seems to recognize your voice and quiets if crying. Increases or decreases sucking behavior in response to sound.	Makes pleasure sounds (cooing, gooing). Cries differently for different needs. Smiles when sees you.
4-6 Months	Moves eyes in direction of sounds. Responds to changes in tone of your voice. Notices toys that make sounds. Pays attention to music.	Babbling sounds more speech-like with many different sounds, including p, b and m. Vocalizes excitement and displeasure. Makes gurgling sounds when left alone and when playing with you.
7-12 Months	Enjoys games like peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake. Turns and looks in direction of sounds. Listens when spoken to. Recognizes words for common items like cup, shoe, juice. Begins to respond to requests ("Come here," "Want more?").	Babbling has both long and short groups of sounds such as "tata upup bibibibi." Uses speech or non-crying sounds to get and keep attention. Imitates different speech sounds. Has 1 or 2 words (bye-bye, dada, mama) although they may not be clear.
1-2 Years	Points to a few body parts when asked. Follows simple commands and understands simple questions ("Roll the ball," "Kiss the baby," "Where's your shoe?"). Listens to simple stories, songs, and rhymes. Points to pictures in a book when named.	Says more words every month. Uses some 1-2 word questions ("Where kitty?" "Go bye-bye?" "What's that?"). Puts two words together ("more cookie," "no juice," "mommy book"). Uses many different consonant sounds of the beginning of words.
2-3 Years	Understands differences in meaning ("go-stop," "in-on," "big-little," "up-down"). Follows two requests ("Get the book and put it on the table.").	Has a word for almost everything. Uses 2-3-word "sentences" to talk about and ask for things. Speech is understood by familiar listeners most of the time. Often asks for or directs attention to objects by naming them.
3-4 Years	Hears you when call from another room. Hears television or radio at the same loudness level as other family members. Understands simple, "who?," "what?," "where?," "why?" questions.	Talks about activities at school or at friends' homes. People outside family usually understand child's speech. Uses a lot of sentences that have four or more words. Usually talks easily without repeating syllables or words.
4-5 Years	Pays attention to a short story and answers simple questions about it. Hears and understands most of what is said at home and in school.	Voice sounds clear like other children's. Uses sentences that give lots of details (e.g. "I like to read my books"). Tells stories that stick to topic. Communicates easily with other children and adults. Says most sounds correctly except a few like l, s, r, v, z, ch, sh, th. Uses the same grammar as the rest of the family.

Where to get help

If you think your child may have a speech, language, or hearing problem, you can contact a certified professional:

Audiologist
Audiologists are hearing care professionals who specialize in prevention, identification, and assessment of hearing and related disorders and provide treatment, rehabilitative services, and assistive devices.
Speech-language pathologist
Speech-language pathologists help people develop their communication abilities as well as treat speech, languages, swallowing, and voice disorders. Their services include prevention, identification, evaluation, treatment, and rehabilitation.

ASHA-certified speech-language pathologists and audiologists have completed their master's or doctoral degree and have earned ASHA's Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC).

You can find a speech-language pathologist or audiologist who can help your child at:

Public and private schools
Colleges and universities
Private practices

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