When do you need us?

Children develop skills at different rates, but by 3 years usually children will:

Listen to and remember simple stories with pictures.
Understand longer instructions, such as 'make car jump' or 'where's mummy's slipper?'
Understand simple 'who', 'what' and 'where' questions.
Use up to 300 words vocabulary
Join 4 or 5 words together to make short sentences, such as 'want more cookies' or ‘he took my bat’.
Ask lots of questions. They will want to find out the name of things and learn new words.
Use action words as well as nouns, such as ‘run’, ‘fall’, ‘sleep’, ’drink’, etc.
Start to use simple plurals by adding‘s’, for example ‘shoes’ or ‘cars’.
Often have problems saying more difficult sounds like sh, ch, th and r. However,
People that know them can mostly understand them.
Now play more with other children and share things.
Most of the sound are clearly articulated.
Speech is clearly audible and louder

If you feel above following things are not done by your child or lacking somewhere you must consult us as soon as possible.

Symptoms

Doesn't say "mama" or "dada"
Doesn't use gestures such as waving, shaking his/her head, or pointing
Doesn't practice using at least a couple of consonants (like p or b, for example)
Doesn't understand and respond to words such as "no" and "bye-bye"
Isn't pointing out things of interest such as a bird or airplane overhead
Doesn't say single words by 15 months
Doesn't babble as if talking

By 18 months:
Doesn't point to at least one body part when asked
Isn't somehow communicating to you when she needs help with something or pointing to what she wants
Doesn't say at least 6 words

Between 19 and 24 months:

Doesn't have a rapidly growing vocabulary (about one new word a week)

By 24 months:
Doesn't respond to simple directions
Doesn't pretend with her dolls or herself (like brushing her hair or feeding her doll)
Doesn't imitate the actions or words of others
Can't point to named pictures in a book
Can't join two words together
Doesn't know the function of common household objects (like a toothbrush or fork)

By 25 months:
Doesn't use any two- to four-word simple sentences
Can't name a few body parts
Has difficulty completing familiar nursery rhymes
Doesn't ask simple questions

By 30 months:
Can't be understood by anyone in her family

By age 3:
Doesn't use any pronouns (I, you, me)
Can't be understood by strangers most of the time
Can't speak in short phrases
Can't understand short instructions
Has no interest in interacting with other children
Has extreme difficulty separating from a parent
Has very unclear speech
Still stutters frequently (has true difficulty producing a sound or word) and has facial grimacing

Causes of Speech Delay

When Do Kids Develop Speech and Language Skills?

The stages of speech and language development are the same for all kids, but the age at which kids develop them can vary a lot.
During routine well-child checkups, doctors look to see if kids have reached developmental milestones at these ages: