By Ms Merlin, Speech Therapist, Vellore

A few myths that revolve around speech development include “boys talk later than girls”, “late talkers eventually grow out of it”, “a little honey in the morning helps with speech development”, etc.

An early identification of a speech and language disorder can help in early intervention which in turn results in mainstream schooling at the right age.

Here are a few tips to help parents differentiate between a late bloomer and language delay:

Birth to 5 Months

  • Coos
  • Vocalizes pleasure and displeasure
  • Makes noise when talked to

6 to 11 Months

  • Understands “no”
  • Babbles (says ba-ba, or ma-ma)
  • Tries to communicate by gesture
  • Tries to repeat your sounds
  • Says their first word

12 to 17 Months

  • Answers simple questions nonverbally
  • Says 2 to 3 words to label a person or object
  • Tries to imitate simple words
  • Has a vocabulary of 4 to 6 words

18 to 23 Months

  • Vocabulary of 50 words, pronunciation is often unclear
  • Asks for common foods by name
  • Makes animal sounds
  • Starts combining words e.g. “more milk”
  • Uses 2-word phrases

You don’t have to wait and see if you think there might be a problem. You don’t have to guess if you think your child will catch up. You can have your child assessed by a Speech Language Pathologist who will assess how well your child understands, speaks and uses gestures. Trust your instincts — it’s always better to be sooner than sorry.