This is the age when your child’s speech begins to soar. Here are some simple strategies to boost his language skills.
Introduction
Few childhood milestones are as thrilling as your baby’s first word — an event lovingly recorded in baby books and immortalized in family lore. But a toddler’s acquisition of language can also be a source of anxiety. “So many parents worry about whether their child’s verbal development is normal,” says Leslie Rescorla, Ph.D., director of the Child Study Institute at Bryn Mawr College, in Pennsylvania. “Most of the time, happily, their fears are baseless.”
When it comes to speech acquisition, there is a wide range of “normal,” and the vast majority of children — even relatively silent types — fall comfortably within that range. While many 12-month-olds can say a few single words (“mama,” “dada,” “up,” and “more” are among the most common, according to Marilyn Agin, M.D., coauthor of The Late Talker), many others don’t start speaking until they’re 15 to 18 months old. Most, Dr. Rescorla says, utter their first words between 13 and 18 months.
By the time toddlers reach their second birthday, about 70 percent of them have mastered 50 to 250 words — mostly nouns, verbs, and adjectives — which they can string together in simple, two- or three-syllable sentences (“Want milk,” “Doggie play”). A rare few are verbally adept enough to manage such complex statements as “When Daddy gets home, can I play ball?”.
That said, a sizable minority of children — some 10 to 12 percent — lag behind over the course of this year. Your child is considered a late talker if, by age 2, he says fewer than 50 words or does not use any two-word combinations. Being a late talker is no cause for alarm — kids typically catch up by age 5 — but you should mention it to your pediatrician, Dr. Rescorla advises.
More worrisome is a lag in “receptive” language, or what your child comprehends. “Most 1-year-olds can follow simple instructions — ‘Find your shoe,’ for example,” Dr. Rescorla says. “If your 18-month-old doesn’t seem to understand much, you should consult your doctor.”
Don’t be concerned if your toddler’s verbalizations are unintelligible to everyone but you. At 18 months, Dr. Agin estimates, only 25 percent of what your child says can be understood by an outsider (as opposed to the 95 percent that you grasp). “Articulation ability varies a great deal,” Dr. Rescorla adds. “Don’t worry until your child is 3.”
from the April 2003 issue of Parents magazine
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Toddler Talk – April 2003 Parents Magazine
Posted: April 2, 2003 by cherab
This is the age when your child’s speech begins to soar. Here are some simple strategies to boost his language skills.
Introduction
Few childhood milestones are as thrilling as your baby’s first word — an event lovingly recorded in baby books and immortalized in family lore. But a toddler’s acquisition of language can also be a source of anxiety. “So many parents worry about whether their child’s verbal development is normal,” says Leslie Rescorla, Ph.D., director of the Child Study Institute at Bryn Mawr College, in Pennsylvania. “Most of the time, happily, their fears are baseless.”
When it comes to speech acquisition, there is a wide range of “normal,” and the vast majority of children — even relatively silent types — fall comfortably within that range. While many 12-month-olds can say a few single words (“mama,” “dada,” “up,” and “more” are among the most common, according to Marilyn Agin, M.D., coauthor of The Late Talker), many others don’t start speaking until they’re 15 to 18 months old. Most, Dr. Rescorla says, utter their first words between 13 and 18 months.
By the time toddlers reach their second birthday, about 70 percent of them have mastered 50 to 250 words — mostly nouns, verbs, and adjectives — which they can string together in simple, two- or three-syllable sentences (“Want milk,” “Doggie play”). A rare few are verbally adept enough to manage such complex statements as “When Daddy gets home, can I play ball?”.
That said, a sizable minority of children — some 10 to 12 percent — lag behind over the course of this year. Your child is considered a late talker if, by age 2, he says fewer than 50 words or does not use any two-word combinations. Being a late talker is no cause for alarm — kids typically catch up by age 5 — but you should mention it to your pediatrician, Dr. Rescorla advises.
More worrisome is a lag in “receptive” language, or what your child comprehends. “Most 1-year-olds can follow simple instructions — ‘Find your shoe,’ for example,” Dr. Rescorla says. “If your 18-month-old doesn’t seem to understand much, you should consult your doctor.”
Don’t be concerned if your toddler’s verbalizations are unintelligible to everyone but you. At 18 months, Dr. Agin estimates, only 25 percent of what your child says can be understood by an outsider (as opposed to the 95 percent that you grasp). “Articulation ability varies a great deal,” Dr. Rescorla adds. “Don’t worry until your child is 3.”
from the April 2003 issue of Parents magazine
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