As pediatric speech/language pathologists, we often encourage parents to use “first-then” statements to help build a child’s language skills. For example, “First shoes on and Then outside” or “First clean-up and Then snack time”. There are lots of First/Then examples over our lifetime…first we crawl and then we walk, first we learn our alphabet and then we learn to read and write, first we go to school and then we get a job. This got me thinking that there may be some helpful First/Then milestones to keep in mind when considering where a child is at in his/her speech and language development.
- First, a child needs to understand a word. Then comes saying the word on its own. In other words, a child will be able to point to the monkey in the picture or find the monkey toy when asked where it is before they will begin using the word, monkey, in his/her own talking.
- First forms of communication to emerge are facial expressions, vocalizations, and gestures. Then come spoken words.
- First, a child thinks everyone’s thoughts and awarenesses are the same as his/hers. Then, as the child’s cognition and language expands, he/she begins to understand that other people can have different perspectives and ideas than his/her own. This is known as “theory of mind”.
- First, a toddler will point to objects to get you to name things. Then comes his/her ability to name things that you are pointing to. If your child is not yet naming things that you point to in a book, try noticing when he/she points to things and when the child does, name those objects.
- If you want your child to copy/imitate what you say and do, first give him/her lots of opportunities to notice that you are imitating and copying what he/she is saying and doing. Then comes the child’s ability to imitate you.
- First, a child is only able to talk about the “here and now” (i.e., what he/she sees right now and what is happening in the present moment). Then, as the child’s language skills grow, he/she begins to think and talk about things that are out of sight, things that have previously happened, or things he/she anticipates will happen.
- When it comes to speech sound development, first to emerge are lip sounds /p/, /b/, /m/ and then later come /r/, /s/, and /l/.
- At first, a child plays in ways that can be described as exploratory or cause effect (e.g., pushing buttons, dumping out and putting in, shaking). Then comes simple pretend (e.g., putting a figure in the car and pretending to drive, feeding a dolly, using a prop as a phone to call someone) followed by complex dramatic play and collaborative games with rules and turn-taking.
- First, a child will begin to question using rising intonation (e.g., Mommy?, Go bye-bye?). Then come simple what, where, and who questions followed by when, why, and how.
- First, your child is dependent upon you to help calm down. Then, after learning from your models and coping strategies, children begin to be able to calm themselves. This is called emotional or self-regulation.
Yes, learning to communicate is a big task but just like any big task, breaking it down into smaller steps makes it seem less daunting. So, First, get to know your child’s “just right” level (i.e., not too hard, not too easy) and Then you are on your way to helping your child learn and find success at whatever level he/she is at.
