Early Language 0-3

The first three years of life are remarkable period of brain, language and communication development. Babies and toddlers learn language long before they speak their first words. They are building the foundations for talking, understanding, social connection, and later literacy skills.

Holistic Speech Pathology - Early Language - Speech Development Skills Assessment For Children 0-3 years In North Perth WA

How do you know if your child’s language is on track?

Developmental milestones can be used as a general guide to understand your child’s language development. Research indicates that children are typically:

  • Understanding words spoken by their parents at around 8 months
  • Saying their first words around 12 months
  • Using around 20 words at 18 months
  • Combining 2-3 words in simple sentences at 24 months

Late Talking

Late language emergence (or late talking) is diagnosed when children speak later than expected. Research indicates that that 13% of two-year olds are late to talk, 80% of these children will catch up by age 7 but 20% will have a persistent language disorder (Zubrick et al, 2007).

Strong early language skills help children to build secure relationships, express needs and emotions, learn and participate in play, develop early literacy and communicate confidently as they grow. If you are concerned about your child’s language development at this early age, it is recommended that a hearing assessment and speech pathology assessment is conducted.

Holistic Speech Pathology offers comprehensive assessment of language development in 0–3-year-olds to guide appropriate next steps. We support bilingual and multilingual speakers and recognise the importance of language development across all of a child’s languages.

More information about the research can be found here: Research Topic: Language Development

Book an assessment
Holistic Speech Pathology - Early Language - Language milestones babies and toddlers

Frequently Asked Questions

These are the common questions we receive. If you have any further questions not covered here, please contact us.

Developmental milestones can be used as a general guide to see if your child is on track. Based on research, these key milestones are useful in determining if your child requires an assessment.

Late talking (or late language emergence) is diagnosed when otherwise healthy toddlers do not meet age expectations for expressive and receptive language development.

Expressive language refers to the ways in which we get our message across to others, using gestures, speech or other methods.
Receptive language refers to our comprehension – how well we understand what others are communicating.

If your child is not reaching key milestones, a hearing and Speech Pathology assessment is recommended over a wait-and-see approach. Like all therapy, early intervention is best.

13% of Australian two-year olds are late to talk.

As we can’t predict which children fall into which group, we recommend a Speech Pathology assessment earlier, rather than later.

An assessment is an in-depth investigation of your child’s communication development. It involves gathering crucial information from parents and directly assessing your child through play and interaction. Standardised assessments are used to collect important data which is then analyzed to provide you with meaningful results.

The Kids Research Institute Australia

Have concerns about your child’s speech, language, literacy or fluency?

Start with a consultation to learn what the next steps are.

Book A Consultation