Banter Speech & Language

Sydney speech pathologists helping adults and children speak for themselves.

first words

‘When will my late talker start to talk?’ Our most FAQ from concerned parents

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“When will my late talker start to talk?”

Our most frequently asked question from concerned parents.

Over the years, we’ve posted lots of evidence-based information about this important topic on our website. See our related articles at the end of this post.

But we made this infographic for families to highlight some of the key points.

To read more, check out the full article here.

Related articles:

Hi there, I’m David Kinnane.

Principal Speech Pathologist, Banter Speech & Language

Our talented team of certified practising speech pathologists provide unhurried, personalised and evidence-based speech pathology care to children and adults in the Inner West of Sydney and beyond, both in our clinic and via telehealth.

Banter Evidence Snapshot: Point it out: 10 reasons to use gestures around your kids

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To read our full article, check out: Why I tell parents to point at things to help late talkers to speak

For other Banter Evidence Snapshots, see here.

Hi there, I’m David Kinnane.

Principal Speech Pathologist, Banter Speech & Language

Our talented team of certified practising speech pathologists provide unhurried, personalised and evidence-based speech pathology care to children and adults in the Inner West of Sydney and beyond, both in our clinic and via telehealth.

How do babies and toddlers choose their first words?

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As a speech pathologist, I’m probably a bit biased. But watching a typical child’s language and speech sound systems blossom is – truly – a wonder to behold.

When magic happens: first words

Language and speech sounds are not the same thing. Babies and toddlers can babble meaninglessly. They can also communicate specific messages in detail without speech, e.g. with gestures. But speech and language come together when kids begin to connect their speech sounds with words they want to say.

For most parents and other carers, this is a pretty special time. I still remember the golden moment when my first child said “dadda” (/daedə/) – and seemed to mean me!

Apart from the memories, first (and later) words matter because vocabulary size is a good indicator of overall language development. Larger vocabulary sizes also correlate with greater phonological (speech sound) skills. Early symptoms of developmental language disorders, include late talking (Hagan et al., 2008). In particular, a lack of word combinations at 24 months is a significant predictor of language impairment (Rudolph & Leonard, 2016).

So how do language and speech come together to produce first words?

Words

Most young children say their first word between the ages of 12 and 18 months. About 6 months after a child says her first word, she can usually say around 50 words; and by 4 years of age, she can typically say around 2,500-3000 words (Fenson et al., 2007; Stoel-Gammon, 2011). These are of course averages: there is huge individual variation in vocabulary sizes for 1 year olds and toddlers (Fenson et al., 2000).

Speech sounds

Kids practice making speech sounds with babble. By 12 months of age, many English-speaking kids can say the following sounds at the start of babbled syllables and/or words:

  • some sounds made by pressing the lips together (e.g. /b/ and /m/). These are called bilabial sounds;
  • some sounds made with the tongue up on the “alveolar ridge” behind the top teeth (e.g. /d/ and /n/). These are called alveolar sounds;
  • some sounds made at the back of the mouth (e.g. /g/ and /h/). These are called “velar” and “glottal sounds”; and
  • a range of vowels (Robb & Bleile, 1994).

Most utterances at this age (words and non-words) are only one syllable long or repeated syllables (Bauman-Waengler, 2000); and many toddlers leave the last consonant off words ending in consonants (“final consonant deletion”) (Davis et al., 2017). Mistakes are common: only about 70% of a typically developing 2-year-olds’ consonants are correct (Stoel-Gannon, 1987).

Fast forward a bit. By 4 years of age, most typically developing English-speaking kids are generally intelligible to unfamiliar adults, and can say:

  • all vowels;
  • almost all consonants at the start and end of words (common exceptions include /s/, /r/, “th” as in thin, and “th” as in “this”);
  • lots of “clusters” of consonants (e.g. /tw, kw, sp, st, bl/ etc.); and
  • one, two and three syllable words (e.g. Smit el al., 1990; Shriberg, 1993).

As with language, there is a high degree of variation in the number of speech sounds spoken by individuals, as well as the order in which speech sounds are acquired (see here for more detail).

So how do babies and toddlers choose their first words?

We don’t know!

There are scores of theories, many with cartoonishly-long academic names. But, broadly, most theories describe one of two main ideas:

  1. Children choose words to say based on the sounds and syllables structures they are capable of saying. This explains why so many kids start with one- or two-syllable words starting with bilabial or alveolar speech sounds, like “mama”, “baby”, “ball” and (yes) “dadda”. We’ll call this the “speech sound dominance theory”.
  1. Children choose words to say based on – um – the words they want to say! For example, a child might attempt “cookie” even though she can’t say /k/ or two-syllable words, because it describes something she really wants. Or she might say “no” first for the simple reason that many toddlers love to communicate rejection with a (screamed) “no” . We’ll call this the “word dominance theory”.

Having read some of the research going back to the ground-breaking work of Leonard in the early 1980s, I favour the speech sound dominance theory. Clinically, it helps me to explain to parents why:

  • so many kids show a preference for words starting with bilabial and alveolar speech sounds across many languages;
  • so many first words are simple consonant-vowel and consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel combinations (e.g. “ma”, “ba”, “mama”, “dadda”);
  • some late-talkers respond well to treatment that focuses on words starting with sounds they can say (so-called “phonological flooding”); and
  • final consonant deletion is so common with toddlers’ speech.

But, as with many things speech science-related, it pays to keep an open mind.

New research

On first reading, a small, recent US study of six children (aged 8 months to 2 years, 11 months) appears to lend further support to the speech sound dominance theory. But, on a closer reading, it suggests that the answer is not clear cut. (See citation below.)

Professor Barbara Davis and colleagues of the University of Texas at Austin found that, overall, the kids favoured words that started with a sound they could say. For kids with small vocabularies, there was some evidence for the word dominance theory in sounds at the ends of words. However, this finding was complicated by the tendency of young children to leave out final consonants: together, the kids in the study left out 63% of the final consonants in target words ending with a consonant!

Clinical bottom line

I’m not changing my mind for now: I still favour the speech sound dominance theory from a clinical perspective. But, having read Davis’ research, I now appreciate that the interaction between language and speech sounds is complex and may go both ways when it comes to first words. As the researchers note, there is plenty of exciting research still to do on this important topic!

Related articles:

Principal source:

Davis, B., van der Feest, S., & Yi, H. (2017). Speech sound characteristics of early words: influence of phonological functions across vocabulary development. Journal of Child Language, 2017. Published online: 4 December 2017.

Image: https://tinyurl.com/ydg2sooc

Hi there, I’m David Kinnane.

Principal Speech Pathologist, Banter Speech & Language

Our talented team of certified practising speech pathologists provide unhurried, personalised and evidence-based speech pathology care to children and adults in the Inner West of Sydney and beyond, both in our clinic and via telehealth.

Why I tell parents to point at things to help late talkers to speak

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Most kids gesture before they talk.  For example, they:

  • point at things they want parents to look at;
  • shake their heads to say “no”; and
  • tilt their hands to their mouth to tell us they want a drink.

When assessing potential late talkers, speech pathologists look at the child’s gestures because they can signal imminent changes in spoken language.  Gesture use is a good predictor of later language development – particularly later vocabulary development – and can help identify children at risk of longer term language delays.

Why kids’ gestures are so important to language development

Typically developing 14-16 month olds use more gestures than words in their communication.  After kids start saying their first words, they continue to use gesture, combining words and gestures:

  • first, they point at things and name them (e.g. they might say “bear” while pointing at a teddy bear).  These are called complementary gestures; and
  • later, they learn to point at things and add additional information with their words (e.g. they might point at a book and say “read”).  These are called supplementary gestures because, with the word, they convey two ideas.

The age at which children start using supplementary gestures predicts the age at which they will start combining words (e.g. Iverson, et al., 2005).

Even after kids start combining words, they continue to use gestures with their speech to communicate sentence-like meanings.  For example, a child might use a gesture for “push” while saying “I play pram” – communicating the equivalent of the more complex sentence “I am playing with the pram by pushing it”.

So, in short, gesture happens before speech, develops with speech, and predicts future changes in speech.  Late talkers who don’t gesture much are at a higher risk of longer-term language delays than late talkers who gesture a lot.

Why parents’ gestures are so important to language development

Typically developing 12 month olds can easily follow an adult’s pointing gesture to a target object (e.g. a toy) (e.g. Butterworth, & Grover, 1988).  Most parents gesture when they talk to their young children.  Compared to the way they normally gesture in adult conversation, parents modify their use of gestures with young children.  For example, parents use lots of complementary gestures (like the bear/bear example above).  They also use higher rates of simple gestures (e.g. points).  So it seems most parents use a kind of “gesture motherese” with their young children, just as they often subconsciously adapt their spoken language when talking to their children – so called motherese.

Research published over the last two decades tells us that:

  • parent gestures (like pointing) and gesture combinations (complementary and supplementary gestures) might help children to understand and acquire new words and sentences (Kelly, 2001); and
  • parents who gesture more tend to have children who gesture more themselves, compared to children of parents who gesture less (e.g. Namy et al., 2000).

Of most interest clinically, it turns out that parent gestures – particularly pointing – not only promote gesture production in children, but can also predict children’s subsequent vocabulary development (e.g. Pan et al. 2005).

Point it out 10 reasons to use gestures around your kids

Clinical bottom line

Parents and other adults working with a late talker can influence the child’s language development positively by gesturing more often with simple gestures.  For example, pointing at things as you name them can help children who are not talking at all to understand and say their first words. Similarly, pointing at things and adding information about them (e.g. pointing at a dog and saying “sitting”) can help children who are speaking in single words to start combining words.

My practical tip: when working with a late talker who is not speaking or speaking only in single words, consciously increase your use of simple gestures – especially pointing – to help the child to learn new concepts and language skills.

Related articles:

Principal source: Ozcaliskan, S., & Dimitrova, N. (2013). How Gesture Input Provides a Helping Hand to Language Development. Seminars in Speech & Language, 34(4), 227-235.

Image: http://bit.ly/1i73YVl

Hi there, I’m David Kinnane.

Principal Speech Pathologist, Banter Speech & Language

Our talented team of certified practising speech pathologists provide unhurried, personalised and evidence-based speech pathology care to children and adults in the Inner West of Sydney and beyond, both in our clinic and via telehealth.

Late talkers: how I choose which words to work on first

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Choosing words to teach* late talkers is hard – for both parents and speech pathologists! But there’s some great research out there to guide decision-making, if you know where to look.

As a Hanen-certified speech pathologist, I’ve just completed a very practical seminar on word choice for late talkers presented by Cindy Earle, the Program Director for Hanen’s Target Word program.

For the benefit of parents and others caring for late-talking children, I thought I’d share my key takeaways:

1. What do we mean by a “late talker”?

The research definition of a ‘late talker’ is a child aged between 18 and 30 months who:

Hanen’s clinical definition is much the same, but includes children who have fewer than 100 words. I prefer this definition because it captures more children who might be at risk and who might benefit from early intervention.

2. Why does late-talking matter? Should we be concerned about it?

To answer the second question first: yes.

We know that roughly half of late talkers ‘catch up’ to their peers by the time they go to school. But, unfortunately, we don’t yet know which ones! For the ‘other half’, the late onset of language is a good predictor of long-term language problems – particularly with syntax, vocabulary, and verbal memory (Rice, 2008; Rescorla, 2009).

3. Known risk Factors

We discuss known red flags for language delays here.

4.  Predictors of change/improvement

This was my first big takeaway from Cindy’s talk.  Drawing on studies by Olswang and colleagues (1998) and Wetherby (2000), Earle identified the following factors as ‘predictors of change’ for late talkers’ language development:

  • quietness/noisiness;
  • consonant repertoire (i.e. how many consonants the child can say);
  • pretend play skills;
  • comprehension;
  • gestures;
  • imitation;
  • the kinds of words the child uses (if any);
  • social skills; and
  • time.

5. Getting specific about language goals for late talkers

‘Talking’ is of course the main goal for parents and carers of late talkers. But teaching children random words without a plan or goal is not the way to do it. Knowing about the above ‘predictors of change’ allows us to get more specific about what might help the child get there ASAP, based on where they are at at the time of assessment:

  • noisiness, e.g. the child will vocalise with each turn;
  • imitation, e.g. the child will copy single words;
  • single words, e.g. the child will use single words spontaneously; or
  • combinations e.g. the child will combine words.

6. So, here’s what I think about when choosing words for a late talker

At the outset of therapy, I like to discuss and agree 10-15 target words with the families of late talkers I work with. To come up with the list, we consider the following six factors:

(a) Does the child understand the word?

There’s no point trying to teach a child to say a word he or she doesn’t understand.

(b) Does the word start with a sound the child can say?

The technical term for this is ‘in phonology’. We know that children are more likely to experiment with words that start with a sound in their existing repertoire of speech sounds. That’s why getting a speech sound sample is so important when we assess late talking children, even if they are only babbling and not saying any ‘true words’.

(c) Is the word motivating for the child to say (not just understand)

Some kids are very interested in a favourite bedtime toy, pet, TV character, etc. To maximise motivation for talking, I always try to include words that refer to the child’s ‘favourite things in the world’ – even – eek! – if it involves the motion picture Frozen. (Let It Go, David!)

(d) Can we use gestures to supplement the word?

Gesture science can get a bit technical and jargon-laden: I plan to tackle this important topic in a future blog post (or two!). But, for the purposes of this article, we know that certain gesture-speech combinations help some late talkers to combine words (McEachern & Haynes, 2004).

If we’re trying to help a late talker combine words, teaching him/her gestures that supplement (rather than just echo) his/her words can help. For example, teaching a child to point at things and to say applicable words like ‘go’ or ‘fast’ or ‘big’, can provide children with a bridge to developing multi-word utterances (e.g. ‘car go’, ‘fast dog’, ‘big tree’).

(e) Verbs, verbs, verbs

We’ve covered this point before. But it bears repeating:

In English, you need at least one verb (action word) to make a complete sentence (e.g. ‘go’ or ‘fish swim’). So teaching children the names of things and people (e.g. ‘mama’, ‘car’) and positions (e.g. ‘up’) is not enough. If we want to help late talkers combine words into sentences, we MUST include verbs.

For this reason, I always choose at least four ‘all purpose’ verbs in my initial word list for late talkers:  e.g. go, do, play, make, come, get.  The fancy name for this practice is ‘verb-focused intervention’ (e.g. Hadley & Olsen, 2005).

(f) Words that occur throughout the day

Just like with verbs, we don’t want to spend our time on words that won’t come up a lot during the day. One trick is to look for things that the child loves to do a lot of during the day.  This varies from child to child. Observe the child doing it, then come up with words that will give you plenty of time to use them several times a day.

Bottom line

Correct word choice is very important when helping a late talker. Early intervention is the best strategy.

If you’re the parent or carer of a late talker – or potential late talker – we recommend you get in touch with a certified practising speech pathologist for a chat and, if warranted, to organise a language assessment.

Related articles:

Key source: Earle. C. (2015). Choosing Initial Vocabulary Targets for Children who are Late Talkers. A Hanen e-Seminar. Hanen Centre. (Attended by the writer on 13-17 July 2015.)

* For you fellow Chomsky/Pinker fans out there, please note that I’m using the word ‘teach’ loosely here – I could have said ‘naturalistic indirect language stimulation based on principles of interactive communication’ to make the point that we don’t actually teach language to children: we just help them help themselves. But life’s too short!

Image: http://bit.ly/1JsaZWB

Hi there, I’m David Kinnane.

Principal Speech Pathologist, Banter Speech & Language

Our talented team of certified practising speech pathologists provide unhurried, personalised and evidence-based speech pathology care to children and adults in the Inner West of Sydney and beyond, both in our clinic and via telehealth.

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