Does my 1- 1.5 year old toddler need speech therapy?
Your baby just turned one! And now they are entering their toddler years. Are you starting to see any frustration when it comes to your toddler communicating their wants and needs? Maybe you are wondering if there are any tips and strategies that could be helpful to boost your little one’s language skills? A speech-language pathologist can conduct an evaluation and provide you with detailed information regarding your child’s speech and language development.
Every child is unique and develops at their own pace but there are some skills that we like to see kids acquire by 1-1.5 years of age. If they’re not acquiring these skills, a speech evaluation could help to identify ways to help your little one communicate their wants and needs more effectively. The information below is a quick snapshot of some skills you want to see your child acquire. If your child is missing a few of the skills, reach out to a speech therapist for guidance. Berry Speech Academy, located in Upper St. Clair (South Hills of Pittsburgh, PA) is currently accepting new clients!
Outlined below are some of the language skills that we like to see children acquire between 1-1.5 years old.
Use of gestures such as waving, pointing, clapping, reaching up for people
Use of sentence like intonation (unintelligible but sounds like a sentence adults would say)
Use of some echolalia (repeating what the adult says)
Use of 3-20 words (can be word approximations, signs, etc)
Babble and use word approximations (i.e. your child might say “bo” for “boat” but “boat” is emerging)
Request by pointing, vocalizing and/or using a word approximation
Follow 1-step directions
Point to recognized objects; point to 1-3 body parts
Pretend play is emerging (i.e. pretending to feed a stuffed animal)
Your toddler might enjoy putting objects in and out of a container
If your child is demonstrating these skills, continue to encourage and promote their development. Check out my other blog posts and start to encourage the skills for toddlers in the 1.5-2 year range.
If your child is struggling in a few of these areas, a speech evaluation may be beneficial to help identify areas to help boost their language skills.
If you need speech therapy in Pittsburgh, PA contact us at Berry Speech Academy. We currently offer clinic visits in Upper St. Clair (South Hills of Pittsburgh) and also offer in home evaluations and treatment in the North Hills of Pittsburgh.
