Pathways of Speech & Language Development

MARCH 30, 2022
Babies may not understand our words at first, but they understand our tone of voice, listen to our sounds and associate them with whatever they are experiencing at that moment (bath, feeding, play). Your baby is learning about the sounds (speech) that make words (language) when you talk to them.
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Diagram of speech and language development.

See something. expand_more
Learn something. expand_more
Learn the word. expand_more
Learn the sound. expand_more
Say the word. expand_more

Recognizing Speech Delay

As infants grow into toddlers, they understand more words than they use. 

Sometimes parents and even health professionals may wait to see if a child will ‘grow out of it’, but many won’t. You can use the communication checklist to find the speech and language developmental milestones for your child (birth to age four) to help you decide if your child has a delay. 

Early identification and treatment of speech and language delays will help your child prepare for junior kindergarten. 

Top Strategies for Early Communication

This video presents four important strategies, or tips, for the development of early communication skills in babies and young children. We discuss how to use the strategies and why they are important, and provide picture and video examples that show the strategies being used.
A version of this article was originally published on www.toronto.ca.