The CDC and American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHS) have announced new checklists when it comes to children’s developmental milestones. Providing parents and caregivers an updated roadmap of what to anticipate and look for the it comes their child’s early years. It can also indicate a sign of a potential developmental disorder or delay.

These new checklists come at a critical time, as recent polls conducted reported seeing considerably more children with language and social difficulties, compared to before the Covid pandemic. Informing parents of the new milestones is critical to identifying developmental disorders earlier.

“ASHA’s new milestones will help parents and caregivers know what’s typical within each age range and how their children are progressing,” said Lemmietta McNeilly, PhD, CCC-SLP, ASHA Chief Staff Officer, Speech-Language Pathology. “If parents notice that their child isn’t demonstrating particular groups of skills, that’s a signal that the child may benefit from an evaluation by an audiologist or speech-language pathologist. We encourage families to seek help right away if they’re at all concerned about their child’s development. Ideally, intervention will occur when the brain is most flexible—which is between birth and 3 years. However, it’s never too late for children to benefit from audiology or speech-language pathology services.”

Communication Milestones

Examples of ASHA’s communication milestones for children ages birth to 5 years include the following:

  • Quiets or smiles when you talk (birth to 3 months).
  • Vocalizes different vowel sounds—sometimes combined with a consonant—like uuuuuummm, aaaaaaagoo, or daaaaaaaaaa (4 to 6 months).
  • Babbles long strings of sounds, like mamamama, upup, or babababa (7 to 9 months).
  • Points, waves, and shows or gives objects (10 to 12 months).
  • Follows directions—like “Give me the ball,” “Hug the teddy bear,” “Come here,” or “Show me your nose” (13 to 18 months).
  • Puts two or more words together—like “more water” or “go outside” (19 to 24 months).
  • Says their name when asked (2 to 3 years).
  • Tells you a story from a book or a video (3 to 4 years).
  • Recognizes and names 10 or more letters and can usually write their own name (4 to 5 years)

If you suspect your child has a speech or language impediment of any kind, it is important to contact a speech therapist for information.