Sara Buckingham is a registered Speech-Language Pathologist with over 15 years of experience, including with AHS, various preschools, the public school system, and privately. She has a private practice based out of Chestermere and provides both in-home and virtual visits. You can contact her at: sara@bluewaterspeechtherapy.ca, or through her Facebook page.
“How many words should my two-year-old be saying?” is one of the most common questions I hear. The short answer is, at least 50 and they should be combining words into 2-word phrases (i.e., “more milk”). The average 24-month-old child has over 200 words. This is the point where lots of parent’s eyes get wide and they start to panic. Don’t do that! They might have more words than you think, and if not, there are lots we can do to help.
We count a word as anything a child says with meaning the same time, every time. So, if they are pointing at a bottle and saying “buhbuh,” that’s a word. Mama, dada, ‘buh’ for ball, “muh” for more, “uh” for up. These are all words. Animal sounds, like “moo, baa, woof”? These count too! At 24 months, you might be the only person who understands what they are saying. That’s okay. Parents should be able to understand 50-75% of their child’s speech at this age, but unfamiliar listeners may understand less than that. If you aren’t sure how many words your child has but you’re worried it’s nowhere close to 50, start writing them down. Open a notes page on your phone or put a piece of paper on the fridge and start writing down the words you hear on a regular basis.
You might know right away that your child doesn’t have even close to 50 words. They might be in the pointing and grunting stage, or maybe they say “uh” for everything. If your child isn’t using at least 50 words at 24 months, they are considered a “late talker”, but there are so many things we can do to get late talkers to talk! I would encourage you not to take the “wait and see” approach. Everybody has a story about their brother, nephew, cousin, friend, who didn’t say a word until they were 3 years old and they’re a successful lawyer now. Yes, that happens. 70-80% of late talkers will catch up to their peers by kindergarten, but that means that 20-30% don’t. Also, research has found that these kids tend to have weaknesses in the areas of language, literacy, social skills, behaviour, and executive function that show up later in school. That’s why we want 2-year old’s talking!
Parents of late-talkers all have the same regret: Waiting. Trust your parental instincts and ask an SLP! My inbox is always open, even just for simple questions.
Here is a link to a handy checklist for the preschool years: http://www.humanservices.alberta.ca/documents/talk-box-talking-and-listening-checklist.pdf
Stay tuned to Macaroni Kid for future articles. My next article will be “Myths about Speech and Language in children.”
Sara Buckingham sara@bluewaterspeechtherapy.ca (403) 671-7261 Follow Sara on Facebook! |