There are many aspects of children's communication that work together to help them develop into happy, social individuals who are able to learn and make the most of their opportunities. Sometimes children develop specific difficulties with a particular aspect of communication (such as speech sound difficulties) and sometimes they may have difficulties in more than one area of communication. Many children go on to develop typical communication skills as they enter school, and others need support to help them achieve this.
Communication needs may form part of overall developmental difficulties as part of diagnoses such as Down's Syndrome or Autism Spectrum Disorder, or may be linked to overall learning delay or difficulties with attention.
Below is a summary of general information relating to the main aspects of communication, and where typical errors or difficulties may arise.
Speech
As children are learning to talk, it is common for them to make speech sound errors. Usually these follow a pattern, and many children make the same mistakes which they 'grow out of' in time. For example, saying 'tat' instead of 'cat' is a normal error for a child of 2 or 3 to make. Typically over time children make less and less mistakes, and usually by the time they start school they will be intelligible to others. They may still be making a few mistakes, but these won't usually interfere with them getting their point across.
Parents sometimes become concerned once their child reaches 3 or 4 if they are still unintelligible to unfamiliar (and sometimes familiar) people. Here is a guide for when children are typically able to produce the following sounds in words:
Of course all children develop at different rates, so this is just a rough guide. If you are concerned it may be worth getting a speech and language therapy assessment.
If there is concern about a child's speech development, and a Speech and Language Therapist does an assessment, they will usually show the child a series of pictures. They will then record the way the child produces these sounds, and look for patterns or evidence of the nature and underlying cause of any difficulties. Alongside assessing speech, a therapist may also assess language skills, to see if there are any other communication needs alongside potential speech difficulties.
Speech difficulties are usually described in terms of 'delay' or 'disorder'. Delayed speech refers to when a child is developing speech along the normal pattern, but is doing it a bit slower than usual. Disordered speech refers to when the patterns of mistakes are not typical. Disordered speech can sometimes be linked to conditions such as Developmental Co-ordination Disorder (often referred to as Dyspraxia), where there may be difficulties with motor planning for speech.
If an assessment, and discussion with parents and/or professionals shows there are speech difficulties, a Speech and Language Therapist will be able to advise and may recommend a block of sessions to work on activities to develop the necessary speech sounds. This will often involve practising listening to sounds, as well as making them.
Language
When thinking about language skills we are talking about the words a child knows and is able to use (their vocabulary) and also the way in which they put words together to form phrases and sentences (using syntax and grammar). Speech and Language Therapists often talk about 'receptive language skills' and 'expressive language skills'. Receptive language skills refers to a child's ability to listen to, process, retain and follow information and instructions at an age appropriate level. Expressive language skills refers to how they are able to use the words they know to communicate with others. Of course, we would expect children of different ages to have different levels of skill in these areas. Below is a rough guide of how much language we would be hoping to hear from children of different ages between 0-5 years:
Early language development has a significant impact on children's learning once they begin school. Speech and language difficulties have an impact on literacy and numeracy skills, and also on social communication development.
Social skills and play
Children display their social skills through the way in which they play and interact with others. The development of play skills is often a really good indicator of a child's social awareness and skills. Below is a guide to the stages of play:
Other aspects of social skills which may be areas of difficulty are non-verbal communication. This can include eye-contact, facial expression, body language and personal space.
Communication needs may form part of overall developmental difficulties as part of diagnoses such as Down's Syndrome or Autism Spectrum Disorder, or may be linked to overall learning delay or difficulties with attention.
Below is a summary of general information relating to the main aspects of communication, and where typical errors or difficulties may arise.
Speech
As children are learning to talk, it is common for them to make speech sound errors. Usually these follow a pattern, and many children make the same mistakes which they 'grow out of' in time. For example, saying 'tat' instead of 'cat' is a normal error for a child of 2 or 3 to make. Typically over time children make less and less mistakes, and usually by the time they start school they will be intelligible to others. They may still be making a few mistakes, but these won't usually interfere with them getting their point across.
Parents sometimes become concerned once their child reaches 3 or 4 if they are still unintelligible to unfamiliar (and sometimes familiar) people. Here is a guide for when children are typically able to produce the following sounds in words:
- 2-3 years: p, b, m, n, t, d
- 3-4 years: k, g, f, s, y, h (in addition to the above)
- 4-5 years: sh, ch, j, z, l, v (in addition to the above)
- 5 onwards: r, th (in addition to the above)
Of course all children develop at different rates, so this is just a rough guide. If you are concerned it may be worth getting a speech and language therapy assessment.
If there is concern about a child's speech development, and a Speech and Language Therapist does an assessment, they will usually show the child a series of pictures. They will then record the way the child produces these sounds, and look for patterns or evidence of the nature and underlying cause of any difficulties. Alongside assessing speech, a therapist may also assess language skills, to see if there are any other communication needs alongside potential speech difficulties.
Speech difficulties are usually described in terms of 'delay' or 'disorder'. Delayed speech refers to when a child is developing speech along the normal pattern, but is doing it a bit slower than usual. Disordered speech refers to when the patterns of mistakes are not typical. Disordered speech can sometimes be linked to conditions such as Developmental Co-ordination Disorder (often referred to as Dyspraxia), where there may be difficulties with motor planning for speech.
If an assessment, and discussion with parents and/or professionals shows there are speech difficulties, a Speech and Language Therapist will be able to advise and may recommend a block of sessions to work on activities to develop the necessary speech sounds. This will often involve practising listening to sounds, as well as making them.
Language
When thinking about language skills we are talking about the words a child knows and is able to use (their vocabulary) and also the way in which they put words together to form phrases and sentences (using syntax and grammar). Speech and Language Therapists often talk about 'receptive language skills' and 'expressive language skills'. Receptive language skills refers to a child's ability to listen to, process, retain and follow information and instructions at an age appropriate level. Expressive language skills refers to how they are able to use the words they know to communicate with others. Of course, we would expect children of different ages to have different levels of skill in these areas. Below is a rough guide of how much language we would be hoping to hear from children of different ages between 0-5 years:
- 0-6 months: begin to make cooing, gurgling sounds, make noises to get attention, turn to sounds, watch your face when you talk.
- 6-12 months: start to understand phrases like 'bye bye' and 'up', recognise names of familiar objects such as 'car', begin babbling strings of sounds, take turns in 'conversation' by making sounds after an adult has spoken to them.
- 12-18 months: understand a few simple words such as 'drink' and 'shoe', point to things when asked, use 20 simple words such as 'daddy', 'ball', 'cup', copy things that adults say and gestures that they make.
- 18-24 months: concentrate for longer, understand between 200-500 words, follow simple instructions such as, "where is your shoe?" use 50 or more single words.
- 2-3 years: listen to and remember simple stories with pictures, follow instructions such as, "make teddy jump", use verbs as well as nouns, ask questions, add plurals to words, use up to 300 words, put 4-5 words together in sentences, may stammer at times as their language skills try to keep up with their ideas.
- 3-4 years: listen to longer stories and answer questions about what they have heard, use colour, number and time related words, answer 'who', 'what', 'where' and 'why' questions, begin to enjoy make believe and jokes.
- 4-5 years: follow instructions without needing to stop what they are doing, take turns in longer conversations, understand sequences with 3 or 4 parts, question what words mean.
Early language development has a significant impact on children's learning once they begin school. Speech and language difficulties have an impact on literacy and numeracy skills, and also on social communication development.
Social skills and play
Children display their social skills through the way in which they play and interact with others. The development of play skills is often a really good indicator of a child's social awareness and skills. Below is a guide to the stages of play:
- Unoccupied play: the child is not playing, just observing.
- Solitary play: the child is playing alone, focused on what they are doing, and is uninterested in what others are doing. This is most typical in children under 3.
- Onlooker play: the child watches what others are doing but doesn't join in. May comment on what they see. This is most common in 2-3 year olds.
- Parallel play: child plays alongside (but not with) others, sometimes mimicking what they are doing. This is usually seen in 2-4 year olds.
- Associative play: the child plays with others but there is no organisation or plan to the activity. This is usually seen in 3-4 year olds.
- Cooperative play: the child is able to participate in a game or activity organised with other children, e.g. where roles are assigned (such as mummies and daddies), this is the beginning of 'team work'. This is usually seen in 4 year olds onwards.
Other aspects of social skills which may be areas of difficulty are non-verbal communication. This can include eye-contact, facial expression, body language and personal space.
If you have any concerns about any aspects of a child's communication skills then get in touch for a chat and to see how we might be able to help.