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DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES

Here we list common developmental milestones in terms of social skills and receptive/expressive language. Please note that these are approximations – every child is unique and may variate slightly from these milestones. Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re glad to help!

SOCIAL SKILLS

  • Look when name is called
  • Imitate other children and adult-actions
  • Initiate turn-taking activities or routines
  • Point to, show or give objects to others
  • Respond to other children’s vocalizations
  • Use vocalizations more frequently during interactions
  • Use words to protest
  • Watch other children in play and join them briefly
  • Have difficulty sharing
  • Begin more imaginative play by copying actions of adults
  • Show empathy toward other children (respond to their emotions)
  • Establish and maintain eye contact with a peer or adult when communicating
  • Take turns and share with children during play
  • Use greetings (Hi Rachel!) and farewells (Bye bye Mommy) with peers and adults
  • Make requests
  • Respond to questions
  • Use communicative functions such as role-playing, joking, teasing
  • Have a vivid imagination
  • Ask for help
  • Prefer to play with other children rather than play alone
  • Maintain a conversation over many turns
  • Begin negotiating with peers and adults
  • Enjoy imaginative play
  • Play games with simple rules (e.g., Hide and Seek, Candy Land)
  • Begin to tell (and understand) jokes and riddles
  • Express wants, needs and thoughts with peers and adults
  • Distinguish right from wrong
  • Resolve conflicts
  • Understand humor
  • Engage in back and forth communication
  • Modify speech according to listener’s needs
  • Play and negotiate with others
  • Demonstrate well organized play
  • Retell events and follow routines with ease
  • Recognize a socially offensive message and reword it in a polite form
  • Contribute appropriately to adult conversations

RECEPTIVE AND EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE

UNDERSTANDING LANGUAGE VERBALLY COMMUNICATING
  • Quiets to a familiar voice
  • Startles to loud sounds
  • Shows awareness of speaker
  • Attends to speaker’s mouth or eyes
  • Coos when happy
  • Vocalizes two different sounds
  • Produces hunger cry
  • Makes sound in back of throat
UNDERSTANDING LANGUAGE VERBALLY COMMUNICATING
  • Turns head or moves eyes in direction of sounds or voices
  • Responds to toys that make sounds
  • Responds to changes in voice
  • Babbles (/m/, /b/, /p/)
  • Laughs and giggles
  • Vocalizes in response to singing
UNDERSTANDING LANGUAGE VERBALLY COMMUNICATING
  • Enjoys games like Peek-a-boo
  • Identifies body parts on self
  • Follows simple commands
  • Looks at person saying their name
  • Uses 1-2 words
  • Imitates different sounds
  • Sings along to familiar songs
  • Uses speech to get attention
UNDERSTANDING LANGUAGE VERBALLY COMMUNICATING
  • Points to body parts when asked
  • Follows routine commands
  • Points to pictures in books
  • Listens to simple stories, songs and rhymes
  • Says more words each month
  • Begins using 2 word phrases
  • Uses different consonant sounds
  • Uses sentence like intonational patterns
UNDERSTANDING LANGUAGE VERBALLY COMMUNICATING
  • Follows 2 step directions
  • Understands yes/no and wh-questions
  • Comprehends size concepts, basic quantity concepts, location words
  • Shows interest in why and how things work
  • Has a word for almost everything
  • Uses 2+ words when communicating
  • Asks questions (why?)
  • Speech is understood by familiar listeners most of the time
UNDERSTANDING LANGUAGE VERBALLY COMMUNICATING
  • Identifies objects by color
  • Identifies some shapes
  • Identifies objects by category (foods, animals, clothing)
  • Understands words for family (brother, grandmother, aunt)
  • Relates past experiences
  • Communicates in 4+ words sentences
  • People outside of the family understand the child’s speech
UNDERSTANDING LANGUAGE VERBALLY COMMUNICATING
  • Follows complex directions
  • Comprehends order concepts (first/next/last)
  • Hears and understands most of what is said at home and in school
  • Talks without repeating sounds or words most of the time
  • Names letters and numbers
  • Communicates at the conversational level with peers and adults