All Entries Tagged With: "toddlers learning to talk"

Talking Before Speaking? Using Sign Language to Increase Communication Skills in Late Talking Toddlers

Using sign language to help toddlers learn to communicate is the fastest and easiest way I know to reduce frustration in the entire family.  When I got my degrees as a speech-language pathologist in the late 80’s and early 90’s, this was still a new idea.  Often when I suggested this to families then, they were hesitant and suspicious.  Did their child have a hearing loss that no one had [...]

Are My Child’s Language Skills Normal? Compare your child to the standards listed below.

Age Ranges

Minimal Expectations
(If your child cannot perform these skills by the end of the age range, an immediate referral to an early intervention program or speech-language pathologist is warranted.)

Typical Expectations
(Most children can perform these skills by the end of the age range.  In other words, this is “typical” or “normal” development.)
 

0-3 months

-Communicates with cries, [...]

What Doesn’t Work - Unproductive Strategies For Helping Toddlers Learn To Talk

(Edited with the addition of #9 on March 18. 2008.) 
Here’s what I’ve learned, the hard way unfortunately, about behaviors that do not help babies and toddlers learn to talk.  All of these are helpful for not only parents, but also professionals working with young children.  Most of these are common sense, but worth repeating.
1.  The adult interacting with the child is (yawn) boring.
As even two-year-olds know, interacting with a [...]