DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS

 

	SPEECH AND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS
	FRIENDSHIP BUILDERS
12-18	Spontaneously uses 40-80 words
	Starts to use recognizable words "wawa" "babba" "dada"
	Use sounds from the following sound families: /p, b, t, d, k, g, m, n, y, w/
	Indicates wants and needs by pointing/gesturing and engages in pretend play
	Produces subjective and objective pronouns (I, it)
	Follows a 2-step direction without gestures "go get"
	Answers yes/no questions, possibly with a head nod or shake
	Refers to self by name, engages in parallel play, and exhibits verbal turn taking
	Points to distant objects outside
	Says social words like "hi, bye-bye, thank you, please."
	Requests items by name "more milk" and protests by vocalizing "no!"
	Asks and Answers "what's that" and "where" with rising intonation
	Says "all gone" and asks for more
	Points to 12 objects when named
	Repeats actions that made someone laugh and imitates adult behaviors in play
	Talks to self during play
18-24	Speaks 40-80 words
	Use sounds from the following sound families: /p, b, t, d, k, g, m, n, y, w/
	Produces personal pronouns (my, me, mine, you, your)
	Points to familiar objects in a picture
	Imitates gestures involving objects (rolls car)
	Follows three directions "go upstairs, get your shoes and coat"
	Names three pictures
	Puts two words together "go car"
	Verbally requests snacks and/or drinks "I want cookie"
	Imitates animal or environmental sounds
	Uses intelligible speech 50% of the time
	Imitates a 4 word phrase
	Asks what, where, who questions with rising intonation
2-3 years	Expressive vocabulary of 200-300 words and combines 2 words together
	Has approximately 75% intelligibility
	Produces the pronouns: "your, she, he, yours, we"
	Clearly produces /p, b, m, t, d, k, g, n, w, h, w/ in words
	Rapid sound expansion. Say "cat" (not tat) "dog" (not gog)
	Airflow sounds emerge: /s, z, sh, f, v, h/
	Asks and answers who, what, and where questions
	Uses early pronouns I, you, me, his, hers in speech
	Vocalizes for all needs "I want more"
	Says yes and no in speech
	Understands in, out, on, under, one, many, together, away
	Understands number concepts of one and two and size differences such as big/little.
	Begins to understand time concepts of soon, later, wait
	Demonstrates the use of an object's function
	Points to and names 5 pictures when asked
	Follows three step directions "go upstairs, get your shoes and coat"
	Understands verbs and most adjectives color and size
	Combines nouns and verbs "boy is running"
	recites a few nursery rhymes and holds up fingers to tell age
	Controls volume of voice and briefly joins in play
3-4 years	Expressive vocabulary of 300-1000 words and combines 3 words together with 80% clarity
	Separates from primary caregivers easily.
	Understands quantity more, less, empty, a lot, big, tall
	Understands directions same, both
	Understands up, down, in, on next to, besides, between, behind, in front
	Identifies all colors and 5 shapes
	Points to an object that is different from the others
	Follows two-step commands without cues.
	Asks and answers why, how and where questions
	Responds to "What do you see, hear, smell?" Expresses ideas and feelings.
	Talks about recent experiences. Takes turns and plays cooperatively.
	Clearly produces /p, b, m, t, d, k, g, n, w, h, w, f,ing/ in sentences
	Adult like speech. Clusters are stabilized (spt, spr, str). Words should not be simplified.
4-5 years	Has a 2500 expressive word vocabulary.
	Final sounds acquisitions: /v, s, z, sh, ch, l, r, j/
	Has approximately 90% intelligibility
	Follows three-step directions without cues.
	Uses 4-5 word sentences.. Uses imaginary conditions, such as "What if…" or "I hope."
	Uses words to invite others to play.
	Understands comparatives big, bigger, biggest and opposites
	Understands time concepts first, then, days of the week
	Asks and answers why and how questions
	Asks "Do you want to..?" "Are we going to…?" "Can you…?"
	Understands and expresses figurative language (idioms, jokes, humor)
	Uses could, would, might, maybe, should in speech
	Tells what common objects are made of and their functions
5-6 years	Understands opposites including left/right
	Understands numbers up to 20
	Answers how and when questions
	Uses adjectives for describing
	Uses yesterday and tomorrow
	Uses prepositions through, nearest, corner, middle
	Names ordinal numbers such as first, second, third
	Uses irregular plurals (feet, mice) and irregular past tense (ran, slept)
	Describes common objects and events
	Tells the weather
	Uses complete, coherent sentences
	Speaks audibly, sharing ideas and information
	Stabilization of all sounds including /v, s, z, sh, ch, l, r, j, th/
	Understands categories
	Has approximately 100% intelligibility