Speech Therapy for Toddlers

"I think my child needs speech therapy..."

Has that thought ever crossed your mind? How do you know if they need speech therapy or if they are on track? 

If you’re worried about your child's speech or language, the first step would be to consult with your pediatrician, or you can reach out to a private practice that specializes in speech language pathology, like Cedar Lane Speech. They can help you determine if your child is meeting his or her communication milestones. Another thing they might do is have your child’s hearing screened. If a child has fluid in their ears, or is just having trouble hearing, that can affect their speech and language development.

Don't have time to see your pediatrician? We are all very busy people. Here's a quick break down of developmental communication milestones:
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• Age 1:         The child should have spoken their first words and be using single words
• Age 2:         The child should have a vocabulary of about 200 words and be using 2-word phrases (“mama help”, “car go”)
• Age 3:         The child should have a vocabulary of about 300 words and be using 3 word phrases 

Still have concerns? 
 
Remember, every child is different. Kids can choose not to talk and still understand language OR they’ve figured out that speech is HARD. Every child is truly unique. Toddlers’ brains develop at a rapid rate. There is so much learning and development happening, especially before the age of 3. If your child isn’t talking yet, don’t be hard on yourself!! Speech and language delays are most likely not related to parenting styles. 
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So how do you know if speech therapy is needed?

If your child has not added any words and has less than 50 words by 18 months, we would typically want to do a speech evaluation. You can get a speech referral by requesting an order from your doctor, reaching out to a private practice (i.e. Cedar Lane Speech) or by contacting your state’s resources. Help Me Grow is an example of a national resource. Parents can refer their child to Help Me Grow without a doctor’s order. If you’re on the edge or aren’t that concerned, it’s best to act early as the critical period for language development is 1-3 years of age.
 
Okay, so speech therapy for toddlers is a thing. But what is it exactly?
 
Speech therapy is performed by a speech and language pathologist. A speech language pathologist (SLP) works with all ages (birth-death) and can work on a variety of things like, speech sound articulation, language, social skills, voice, fluency/stuttering, cognition and even feeding and swallowing. Even though they are called speech therapists, they can work on more than speech! Speech therapy for toddlers typically focuses on language development.
 

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