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Development of Communication Skills

speech-pathology-22Children spend the first five years of their lives becoming experts in communication.

This involves the following six key areas:

  • Understanding language
  • Expressing thoughts and emotions Articulating speech sounds clearly
  • Speaking fluently
  • Voice quality
  • Social skills

Communication development from birth to 12 months:

  • responds when name is called
  • listens when spoken to
  • recognises words and names for familiar items and people
  • uses gestures to communicate
  • understands simple requests and commands
  • learns to repeat sounds and experiments with early speech sounds
  • by 12 months uses made up words (jargon) and begins to attempt first real words
  • responds to simple questions with yes/no (including nodding or shaking head)

Communication development from 12 months to 2 years:

  • comprehends around 300 words
  • is aware of his/her environment and of daily routines
  • follows 2-part commands
  • has a range of vocabulary of at least 50 words
  • begins to form two-word phrases
  • enjoys listening to simple stories and rhymes
  • use of jargon (made up words) decreases and mostly uses real words
  • moves from solitary play to playing alongside another child

Communication development from 2 to 3 years:

  • understands most things said to him/her
  • understands basic location words including ‘on’ and ‘under’
  • matches colours and shapes
  • correctly answers simple questions
  • rapid vocabulary growth: says about 250 words and understands about 700 words
  • sentences are 3 to 4 words long
  • begins to ask questions
  • starts to play cooperatively in small groups

Communication development from 3 to 4 years:

  • builds spoken vocabulary to about 900 words
  • follows 2-part directions talks in 4 to 6 word sentences
  • uses correct endings on words to represent different meanings e.g. two dogs, jumping, walked, Mum’s jumper
  • asks questions: Who? What? Where? When? Why?
  • uses a variety of speech sounds correctly (children may still have difficulty with sounds such as s, z, sh, ch, f, v, r, th)
  • speech can be understood by familiar adults

Communication development from 4 to 5 years:

  • follows 3-part directions
  • understands complex story structures
  • talks in longer sentences of 5 or more words
  • uses most grammar correctly able to answer most question types
  • uses words that show an emerging awareness of time and sequence e.g. yesterday, today, then, lunchtime, before, after
  • explains feelings and ideas
  • masters more difficult speech sounds (it is still acceptable to make errors when saying sh, ch, r, v, th)
  • speech can be understood by strangers

Speech Pathology

Does my child need Speech Therapy?

Development of Communication Skills

Does my child have a Communication Difficulty?

Development of Literacy Skills

< back to Speech Pathology

 

Speech Pathologists at ATS

Candice Bass
B.App.Sc.(Sp. Path.) CPSP

Cassandra Dunn
B.Hlth.Sci, MSLP, CPSP

Maree Shakeshaft
B.App.Sc.(Sp. Path.), Grad.Dip.(Comm. Man.) CPSP

Penny Tebbutt
B.App.Sc.(Sp. Path.) CPSP

Tiffany Yeo
B.App.Sc.(Sp. Path.) CPSP

 

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2020 School Starters Group

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EMAIL
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