BIRTH TO 3 YEARS

ONE YEAR

• Babbles long strings of sounds, like mimi upup babababa.
• Uses sounds and gestures to get and keep attention.
• Points to objects and shows them to others.
• Uses gestures like waving bye, reaching for “up,” and shaking his head no.
• Imitates different speech sounds. 
• Says 1 or 2 words, like hi, dog, dada, mama, or uh-oh. This will happen around his first birthday, but sounds may not be clear. 

TWO YEARS

Hearing and Understanding     

• Points to a few body parts when you ask.
• Follows 1-part directions, like "Roll the ball" or "Kiss the baby."
• Responds to simple questions, like “Who’s that?” or “Where’s your shoe?” 
• Listens to simple stories, songs, and rhymes.
• Points to pictures in a book when you name them.

Talking

• Uses a lot of new words.
• Uses p, b, m, h, and w in words.
• Starts to name pictures in books.
• Asks questions, like “What's that?”, “Who’s that?”, and “Where’s kitty?” 
• Puts 2 words together, like "more apple," "no bed," and "mommy book." 

THREE YEARS

Hearing and Understanding    

• Understands opposites, like go–stop, big–little, and up–down.
• Follows 2-part directions, like "Get the spoon and put it on the table."
• Understands new words quickly.
• Has a word for almost everything.
• Talks about things that are not in the room.
• Uses k, g, f, t, d, and n in words.
• Uses words like in, on, and under. 

Talking

• Uses two- or three- words to talk about and ask for things.
• People who know your child can understand him.
• Asks “Why?”
• Puts 3 words together to talk about things. May repeat some words and sounds. 

• Early intervention focuses on helping babies and toddlers learn the basic and brand-new skills that typically develop during the first 3 years of life.
   
• For toddlers who are "late talkers" or delayed in expressive language skills (e.g. saying or adding too few words to his or her vocabulary, or not  yet combining words when it is expected).  Toddlers may also be  demonstrating poor speech production and have other communication needs.
   
• Learn how to use effective, evidence based techniques to elicit language and discover how to create a language rich environment.