By the age of one, most children have the following skills:
Receptive Language:
- Respond to familiar sounds, e.g. telephone ringing, vacuum cleaner
- Understand simple commands, such as “no” and “want more?”
- Respond to their own name
- Understands words for more familiar objects (e.g. blankie, cup) or people (e.g. mummy, grandpa, etc.)
- Look towards an object or person when you point
Expressive Language:
- Babble using a range of consonant and vowel sounds (e.g. “bububu” & “gagagaga”)
- Say “dad”, “mumma” and few other words
- Try to make familiar sounds, such as car and animal noises
- Use gestures and sound to gain attention (e.g. pointing, reach for ‘up’)
Play:
- Will find a hidden toy
- Being to understand object use e.g. will briefly touch phone to ear
- Interact with you during games such as peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake
Literacy:
- Look at books for short periods of time
- Listen to stories and songs
Cause for concern:
- Little or no babbling
- Does not respond to familiar voices
- Shows little or no recognition of names of common people, objects, action words
If you have any concerns regarding your child’s language development, feel free to complete the checklist for a speech pathologist to review