Language Milestone of typical developmental children

Age
language social / emotional / cognition
Hearing and Speech Begins to develop a social smile
• Smiles at the sound of your voice (Speech • Enjoys playing with other people and may cry
sounds become when playing
conditioned reinforcers) stops (Mands)
• Begins to babble (Direct and automatic • Becomes more expressive and communicates
reinforcement) more with face
3 months
• Begins to imitate some sounds (Echoic) and body (Possible Mands)
• Turns head toward direction of sound (Speech • Cries differentially for pain, hungar, &
sounds discomfort. From
functioning as SDs) RHSC milestones (Mands)
• Imitates some movements and facial
expressions (Imitation)
• Responds to own name (Listener Skills)
• Begins to respond to “no” (Listener Skills)
• Can tell emotions by tone of voice
• Responds to sound by making sounds (Early
7 months
echoic attempts)
• Uses voice to express joy and displeasure
• Babbles chains of sounds (Automatic
reinforcement)
• Pays increasing attention to speech Social and Emotional
• Responds to simple verbal requests (Listener • Cries when mother or father leaves (Mands)
skills) • Enjoys imitating people in his play (Imitation)
• Responds to “no” (Listener skills) • Repeats sounds or gestures for attention
• Uses simple gestures, such as shaking head for (Mand/echoic/imitation)
1 year
“no” (Mand) Cognitive
12
• Babbles with inflection (changes in tone) • Looks at correct picture when the image is
months
(Automatic reinforcement) named (Listener skills)
• Says “dada” and “mama” (Mand/tact) • Imitates gestures (Imitation)
• Uses exclamations, such as “Oh-oh!”
(Mand/tact)
• Tries to imitate words (Echoic)
• Points to object or picture when it's named for Social
him (Listener skills) • Imitates behavior of others, especially adults
• Recognizes names of familiar people, objects, and older children
and body parts (Social imitation)
(Listener skills) Emotional
2 years • Says several single words (by 15 to 18 months) • Begins to show defiant behavior (Mands)
24 (Mands/tacts) Cognitive
months • Uses simple phrases (by 18 to 24 months) • Begins to sort by shapes and colors (Matching-
(Mands/tacts) to-sample)
• Uses 2- to 4-word sentences (Mands/tacts)
• Follows simple instructions (Listener skills)
• Repeats words overheard in conversation
(Echoic)
 Follows a two- or three-part command (Listener
skills)
• Recognizes and identifies almost all common
objects and pictures (Listener/tact)
• Understands most sentences (Listener skills)
• Understands placement in space (“on,” “in,”
“under”) (Listener skills)
• Uses 4- to 5-word sentences
(Mand/tact/intraverbal)
3 years • Can say name, age, and sex (Intraverbal)
36 • Uses pronouns (I, you, me, we, they) and some
months plurals (cars, dogs, cats)
(Mand/tact)
• Strangers can understand most of her words
(Response form improvements)
• Has mastered some basic rules of grammar
(Mand/tact/intraverbal/listener)
• Speaks in sentences of five to six words
(Mand/tact/intraverbal)
• Speaks clearly enough for strangers to
understand
• Tells stories (Intraverbal)
4 years
48
months
• Recalls part of a story (Intraverbal)
• Speaks sentences of more than five words
(Mand/tact/intraverbal)
• Uses future tense (Intraverbal)
5 years • Tells longer stories (Intraverbal)
60 • Says name and address (Intraverbal)
months
Social
• Imitates adults and playmates (Social imitation)
• Understands concept of “mine” and
“his/hers” (Listener skills)
Emotional
• Expresses a wide range of emotions (Some are
Mands)
• Objects to major changes in routine (Mands)
Cognitive
• Matches an object in her hand or room to a
picture in a book (Matching-tosample)
• Plays make-believe with dolls, animals, and
people
• Sorts objects by shape and color (Matching-to-
sample)
• Completes puzzles with three or four pieces
(Matching-to-sample)
• Understands concept of “two” (Listener skills)
Social
• Negotiates solutions to conflicts
(Mand/intraverbal)
Cognitive
• Correctly names some colors (Tacts)
• Understands the concept of counting and may
know a few numbers (Math)
• Tries to solve problems from a single point of
view (Mand/intraverbal)
• Begins to have a clearer sense of time
(Intraverbal)
• Follows three-part commands (Listener skills)
• Recalls parts of a story (Intraverbal)
• Understands the concepts of “same” and
“different” (Listener skills)
• Engages in fantasy play
Emotional
• Sometimes demanding, sometimes eagerly
cooperative (Mands)
Cognitive
• Can count 10 or more objects (Math)
• Correctly names at least four colors (Tact)
• Better understands the concept of time
(Listener/intraverbal)
• Knows about things used every day in the home
(money, food,
appliances) (M/T/L/IV)