Gwinnett Speech Therapy | Athens Speech Therapy

As they grow older, your child will begin to develop skills like crawling, walking, smiling, and waving! These are called developmental milestones. Learn more about the proper development stage under each age— click here to download our developmental milestone chart!

3 Months: – Responds to adult interactions – Seeks to make eye contact with adults – Begins to “coo” and “gurgle” – Vocalizes to adult’s smile and talk – Responds to stimulation in and around the mouth
6 Months: – Responds to sounds other than voices – Recognizes own name – Begins to babble consonant-vowel combinations – Takes turns vocalizing – Vocalizations sound more “speech like” (babbling becomes more complex with practice) – Eats pureed foods from a small spoon – Holds a bottle independently
9 Months: – Gives objects upon request – Understands simple questions (“Want up?”) – Looks at pictures in a book – Much more complex vocalizations (sounds like a conversation) – Begins to say a few words – Cleans spoon with his/her upper lip – Begins to self feed using fingers – Begins eating soft table foods
12 Months: – Identifies objects in the environment – Follows one-step directions – Says more words spontaneously – Imitates new words – Uses toys and objects functionally (pushes a toy, attempts to brush own hair) – Drinks through a straw – Bites through crunchy cookies and crackers
18 Months: – Produces at least fifteen words – Uses consonants such as t, d, n, and h – Understands 50 words – Pretends with toys (pretends to feed a doll using a block for food) – Moves food in his/her mouth from side to side as they chew – Drinks out of open cup
24 Months: – Produces at least 50 words – Uses two-word phrases frequently – Follows a two-step related command (“pick up the ball and roll it to me.”) – Pretends in two-step sequences (pretends to give a doll a drink & wipe its mouth) – Feeds him/herself using a spoon
36 Months: – Produces at least 500 words – Answers “wh” questions (“what did you eat for lunch?) – Begins to use grammatical forms (plurals, past-tense verbs, pronouns) – Produces all speech sounds correctly except s, z, sh, ch, j, th, l, and r – 80% understandable – Consumes a variety of liquids and solids
4 Years: – Follows multi-part directions – Begins to play rhyming games (“what rhymes with bat?) – Can tell about experiences in the correct sequence – Produces all speech sounds correctly except r and “th” – 100% understandable – Eating advanced textures with minimal supervision from caregiver
5 Years: – Has a minimum expressive vocabulary of 1500 words – Can tell a story (includes a beginning, middle, and end) – Defines objects by their use and can talk about their features (size, shape, composition)