** A child experiencing stuttering at any time, should be investigated by a professional immediately**

Sound Developmentin children varies greatly. However, studies have determined a pattern by which typical children gain mastery of the sounds in English. Click here to view an illustration of these patterns.  

Language Development in children also varies. Compare the following age-based skills to your child's language abilities to determine if further assessment is warranted.

By 12 months of age

• Says first word, often 'Mama' or 'Dada' with specific meaning.

• Imitates sounds that have either speech or nonsense meaning.

• Uses voice to gain attention, make requests and to protest.

• Follows simple commands such as "give me ___", identifies body parts when asked.

• Looks at familiar people and things when mentioned in conversation ? either with child or overheard by child, responds to own name.

By 24 months of age

• Uses phrases with two words more often than single words, uses three-word phrases occasionally; vocabulary of 50-100 words.

• Using some pronouns such as he, she, me, you and it.

• Follows directions without clues, follows two-step directions given together.

• Chooses one toy or thing from a group of five when asked without pointing.

• Understands new words quickly.

By 36 months of age

• Shows interest in why and how things work, tries to fix things that are broken.

• Points out parts of a whole object such as a door on a car, a tail on a horse.

• Answers questions that ask Who, What, When, Where, Why and How.

• Follows directions with three steps and those using attributes such as colour and size.

• Speaks in sentences and uses action words.