let's talk

Several of you have asked questions in class lately about speech, so I thought I would add a few figures here for your reference. By 18-20 months the average child is saying 15-20 words. Between two and two-and-a-half years old, this will increase to 50+ words and the use of two word sentences. Around her third birthday, she will have an expressive vocabulary of over 300 words, and should be understood by a non-family memeber 75-80% of the time. Please keep in mind that these are guidelines, not rules. Each child is different and learns at their own pace, and most children will focus on one area of development at a time. In other words, if your child is really working hard to learn to walk or crawl, you might not see a lot of interest in communication. As always, if you have concerns about your child's language development, you should dicuss them with your pediatrician or a speech pathologist.