What Parents have Reported About Their Child's Comunication on our Measures
We have established a collaborative relationship with over 200 community healthcare and childcare providers and agencies in Leon County in 1998.
As of December 1998, we have gathered about 600 Checklists and conducted follow-up evaluations on 264 children. We began offering the menu of service options to families in July, 1998 and in 6 months have provided parent education classes at the Public Library, infant/toddler play groups, and individualized intervention to about 70 families. We are currently gathering data on child and family outcomes to document the effectiveness of our early intervention program.
We have gathered information from hundreds of children in the Tallahassee area thanks to the help of many health care and childcare providers. Following is a summary of the preliminary developmental patterns found based on parent report with the one-page Checklist and 4-page Caregiver Questionnaire. We are interested in knowing what skills should be expected in most children at different ages in order to set criteria for early detection. The word "most" is used to mean at least 80% of the parents report that their child has this skill.
- Early communication is rooted in the expression of emotion and use of eye
gaze. Even before 8 months, most parents report that they know when their child is happy versus upset. By 8 to 9 months of age, most parents report that their child looks at them to see if they are watching when playing with toys and that their child smiles while looking at them. Sharing emotion and attention is a critical milestone in learning to talk.
- Children learn the power of communication before they learn to talk. Most parents report that their child can let them know that he/she needs help or wants an object out of reach by 8 to 9 months. By 12 months most parents report that their child can get them to notice interesting objects. Communicating to get others to do things and to draw others' attention to things are important milestones in learning to talk.
- Children use gestures before they use words. Children learn the following conventional gestures, usually in the order listed: giving, pushing away, raising arms, showing, reaching, waving, pointing, shaking head no, nodding head yes. Most parents report that their child gives objects, shows objects and waves by 10 to 11 months. By 12 months, most children point to objects and use at least 6 of the conventional gestures listed. Shaking and nodding head are equivalent to the words no and yes, and usually develop along with children's first spoken words. By 19 to 20 months, most children nod their head to indicate yes.
- A child's ability to use sounds is the strongest predictor of language skills a year later. Most children use sounds to get attention or help by 8 to 9 months. Many sounds at this age are only vowel sounds, but most parents report that their child uses 1 or 2 consonants and sometimes strings consonant sounds together by 8 to 9 months. The 10 earliest sounds to develop, listed in developmental order, are: m, n, b, d, g, w, l, y, s, and sh. When given a list of these 10 sounds, most parents report that their child uses at least 3 sounds by 12 months, 4 sounds by 15 to 16 months, and 6 sounds by 19 to 20 months.
- Children usually understand more words than they can say. The first word that children usually recognize is their name. Most parents report that by 8 to 9 months their child often looks or turns toward them when they call their child's name. Parents can reliably report how many words their child understands if given a list of words to choose from. When given a list of the 36 most common early words that children understand, most parents report that their child can understand (without gestures) at least 4 words by 12 months, 18 words by 15 to 16 months, and 30 words by 21 to 22 months.
- Children usually use their first word around their first birthday and can use dozens before their second birthday. Most parents report that their child uses 1 to 3 words by his/her first birthday. Parents can reliably report how many words their child uses if given a list of words to choose from. When given a list of the 36 most common early words that children use, most parents report that their child uses 1 word by 12 months, 5 words by 13 to 14 months, 10 words by 17 to 18 months, and 21 words by 21 to 22 months. These are not necessarily all the words the child uses, but a quick and reliable way to index word use. As children's vocabulary grows, they begin to combine words and are on their way to constructing sentences. The average age that children begin to combine words is 19 months. Most parents report that their child puts two words together by 21 to 22 months.
- Knowing how to use objects helps children learn the names of objects. Many of the most common first words are names for objects that the child uses. Knowing what to do with an object, first to use it functionally (e.g., drinking with a bottle), and then in play (feeding a stuffed animal with a bottle), helps children learn names for objects. A child's use of objects is also an important predictor of language development. When given a list of 10 common objects (i.e., cup, bottle, comb/brush, spoon, bowl, toothbrush, washcloth, ball, toy vehicle, and telephone) most parents report that their child uses 1 object by 8 to 9 months, 3 objects by 12 months, 7 objects by 15 to 16 months, and 9 objects by 21 to 22 months. Like word use, this is not a measure of all the objects the child can use, but a way to index object use easily. Most parents report that their child can stack 2 blocks by 15 to 16 months, and 3 or 4 blocks by 21 to 22 months. Most parents indicate that their child pretends with toys by 17 to 18 months (e.g., feeding a stuffed animal or putting a figure in a vehicle).
