Hearing & Speech Milestones

Milestones Related to Speech and Hearing

Startles to sudden loud sounds
Is soothed and quieted by some soft sounds such as mum saying “shhh” or a cat purring
Looks towards speaker or towards a sound source
Wakes up when there are loud voices and sounds
Smiles in response to familiar voices
Seems to know carer’s voice and quiets down if crying
Watches your face when you speak
Vocalizes pleasure and displeasure sounds (raspberry sounds, laughs, giggles, squeal, coos, cries, fusses)
Begins to incorporate changes in pitch in cooing (intonation)

Responds to own name, phone ringing, or someone's voice, even when not loud
Respond to loud, sudden sounds
Understands words for common things such as "cup" or "shoe" and sayings such as, "bye-bye"
Starts to respond to requests such as "come here"
Looks at things or pictures when someone talks about them
Enjoys games such as ‘peek-a-boo’ and ‘pat-a-cake’
Makes babbling sounds, even when alone
Tries to communicate by actions or gestures
Attempts to imitate familiar sounds and simple words; may use a few single words meaningfully such as “mamma”, “dada”, “no”

Says two to three words to label a person or object (pronunciation may not be clear).
Tries to imitate simple words
Look around when called from behind
Turns head in any direction to find an interesting sound or towards the person speaking
Begins to produce a variety of non-repetitive syllables such as “ba-ma” or “ba-go”
Pays attention to a book or toy for about two minutes
Follows simple directions accompanied by gestures
Answers simple questions nonverbally
Points to objects, pictures, and family members

Says eight to ten words (pronunciation may still be unclear)
Enjoys being read to
Follows simple commands without gestures such as "get your shoes and come here"
Points to simple body parts such as “nose”
Points to pictures when asked
Understands simple words such as “eat”, “sleep” and action words such as “run” or “jump”
Says more words as each month passes
Correctly pronounces most vowels and n, m, p, h, especially in the beginning of syllables and short words. Also begins to use other speech sounds.
Asks for common foods by name
Makes animal sounds such as “moo”
Starting to combine 2-to-3-words to talk about and ask for things such as “more milk”
Begins to use pronouns such as “mine”
Understands simple "yes-no" questions such as "Are you hungry?"
Understands simple phrases such as "in the cup" or "on the table"
Understands "not now" and "no more"
Chooses things by size such as big or little

Understands about 50 words at 24 months
Can say around 40 words at 24 months
Knows some spatial concepts such as “in”, “on”
Knows pronouns, such as “you”, “me”, “her”
Knows descriptive words such as “big”, “happy”
Speaks in two to three word phrases
Speech is becoming more accurate, but may still leave off ending sounds.
Answers simple questions
Begins to use more pronouns such as “you, “I”
Uses question inflection to ask for something e.g., “My ball?”
Begins to use plurals, such as “shoes” or “socks” and regular past tense verbs, such as “jumped”

Groups objects, such as food, clothes, etc
Identifies colors
Uses most speech sounds, but may distort some of the more difficult sounds, such as l, r, a, sh, ch, y, v, z, th. (May not fully master these sounds until age seven or eight.)
Uses consonants in the beginning, middle, and end of words. Some of the more difficult consonants may be distorted, but attempts to say them
Strangers are able to understand much of what is said
Able to describe the use of objects, such as “fork” or “car”
Has fun with language. Enjoys poems and recognizes language absurdities, such as “Is that an elephant on your head?”
Expresses ideas and feelings rather than just talking about the world around him or her
Uses verbs that end in “ing”, such as “walking”, “talking”
Answers simple questions such as “What do you do when you are hungry?”
Repeats sentences