1.    What is a Speech/Language Pathologist?

Speech/Language Pathologist’s are professionally trained to prevent, screen, identify, test, diagnose, refer, provide intervention for articulation, fluency, voice, language, communication, swallowing and related disabilities.  In addition to engaging in activities to reduce or prevent communication disabilities, Speech/Language Pathologist’s also counsel and educate families or professionals about these disorders and their management.

 

2.    What speech and language should I expect of a four year old?

 

At age four, your child should:

-point to colors red, blue, yellow and green when you name them.

-identify crosses, triangles, circles and squares.

-follow commands even though objects are not present.

-understand “early in the morning,” “next month,” “next year,” “noontime.”

-speak of imaginary conditions such as “suppose that” or “I hope.”

-ask many questions although are more interested in how answers fit his/her own thoughts rather than just the explanation.

-has a sentence length of 4-5 words.

-ask “who?” and “why?”

-begin to use complex sentences.

-use contractions such as “it’s a” or “there’s a.”

-use past tense correctly

-copy a line and a circle.

-have a vocabulary of nearly 1500 words.

-use the following sounds correctly: m, n, ng, p, f, h, w, y, k, b, d, g.

-stay with one activity 11 to 12 minutes.

 

3.    What speech and language should I expect of a five year old?

 

At age five, your child:

-defines objects by their use (You eat with a fork)

-knows spatial relations like “on top,” “behind,” “far,” and “near.”

-knows his address.

-identifies a penny, nickel and dime.

-has a vocabulary of around 2000 words

-has a sentence length of 5-6 words.

-uses all speech sounds correctly with the possible exceptions of t, v, l, th, j, z and zh (as in “measure”)

-knows common opposites like “big/little” and “hard/soft”.

-understands “same” and “different.”

-counts ten objects.

-carries a plot in a story.

-uses future, present and past tense.

-stays with one activity for 12-13 minutes.

-questions for information

-distinguishes left and right hand in himself by not in others.

-uses all types of sentences, some of which will be complex, for example “I can go in the house after I take off my muddy shoes.”

 

 

4.    What sounds should my child be able to make when he/she talks?

 

At age 3 years = m, n, ng, p, f, h, w

At age 3 ˝ = y (as in yes)

At age 4 years = k, b, d, g, r

At age 4 ˝ = s, sh (as in shoe), ch (as in chair)

At age 6 = t, v, l, th (as in thin)

At age 7 = z, zh (measure), th (father), j (jump)

Norms from Mildred Templin, 1957

 

5.    How can parents help a child learn to talk?

 

Talk to the child.  Read to the child.  Encourage the child to talk, but don’t demand speech.  Make talking fun.

 

6.    Will hearing problems affect speech and language development?

 

Yes.  The first years of life are particularly important for learning speech and language.  Even mild hearing losses may cause children to miss much of the speech and language around them and result in critical developmental delays.  Parents should make sure that their children receive a regular hearing evaluation from and audiologist, particularly if there is a history of ear infections, frequent colds or other upper respiratory infections or allergies.

 

7.    What causes language disability?

 

            There are sometimes physical causes for a language disability, but most often there is no known physical cause.  Sometimes children are not exposed to enough language to learn rules.  Sometimes the child has no need to talk because parents respond to pointing and gestures instead of speech.  But most language disabilities occur without an identifiable cause.