Jason, who is 15-months-old, says “oof, oof” for “dog” but points and grunts to request things he wants. Haley is 14-months-old and carries on long conversations with her childcare workers that consist solely of nonsense syllables. Maya has 25 words in her vocabulary at 16 months. Alec is still waiting for his first word, even though he is 15-months-old. Do any of these children have a language delay?

Probably not. The good news is that “normal” encompasses a wide range of children’s language development between one and two years of age. Children acquire many skills during these months--walking, socializing, solving problems, manipulating smaller objects, and yes, learning to speak. As long as each child reaches these milestones within the same approximate time period, the order they appear in does not matter.

Just as one child will say his first word before taking his first steps, another child may not utter her first word for several months after learning to walk. One recent study that looked at “late talkers” refused to even consider the number of words the children had in their vocabulary because it was regarded as too variable to be helpful.

If you think about it, babies communicate long before they can use words. A baby who looks at you and then covers her eyes has told you she wants to play “peek-a-boo.” Another who turns his head to avoid a spoonful of oatmeal is telling you “no.” Babies express their requests by looking at an item, reaching, pointing and/or vocalizing. A baby may babble to get you to respond to her, or for the sheer fun of making and hearing those sounds.

While you may look for most children to begin to speak words within their second year, the rate at which they acquire this vocabulary is greatly varied. Still, some babies do not utter their first word by 12 months and take longer than others to start to use spoken language. They tend to fall into three categories: babblers, quiet ones, and grunters.

The Babbler This is a social baby who loves to hear herself talk. She can carry on whole conversations with you, with appropriate rises and falls of pitch, just as if she were discussing what happened over the weekend. The only problem is that you do not understand a word she says, or maybe just one word in 10. These nonsense syllables with conversational variations in tone are called “jargon,” and most babies do it to a degree as they are learning to talk. Even when a baby has several words in her vocabulary, she may still use jargon as a form of vocal play.

The Quiet One Almost every childcare worker will have had experience with a child who was a “late talker,” a baby who said nothing for what seemed like forever and then blossomed overnight into speaking full sentences. One research hypothesis asserts that this child is a “cautious” learner, someone who understands much or all that is said to him, but does not talk because he does not want to get the grammar wrong. It is very difficult to pinpoint toddlers at this age who will develop language and who will need help. Sometimes, even though nothing abnormal may be going on with his speech development, this may still be a child who should be evaluated by a speech-language therapist for either help or reassurance that everything is fine.

The Grunter What an efficient communicator! This child sees the item he wants, leads you or points to it, and grunts. He also grunts to get your attention, and gets his points across with gestures and vocalizations. You know he can babble, he has made other sounds in vocal play, he may even have a few words, but he neglects to use them when he wants something. Many children who do this grow up to be effective communicators with fine vocabularies. For most children, it is a phase that will be outgrown.

The following tips are helpful for stimulating language in all children:

• Reduce the length of your own sentences. A young child is more likely to recognize and imitate words from “You want up?” than from the longer “Do you want to get up now?”
• Offer choices. For a child who has some words but still grunts and points more often, this may be especially useful. Ask “Do you want milk or juice?” rather than, “Do you want some milk?”
• Play dumb. When a toddler points and grunts at an object, shrug your shoulders as if you are confused and say, “I do not understand; do you want your ball?”
• Accept a gesture instead of a word and use gestures with your own words. According to Linda Acredolo, Ph.D. and Susan Goodwyn, Ph. D., researchers and authors of the book Baby Signs, a child will use a gesture for a word only until she can say the word reliably, although Goodwyn notes that there are transition periods where the child will use both words and signs together. Acredolo likens the process to crawling--“When a baby crawls, it does not decrease her interest in walking, but makes her more excited to walk. In the same manner, a baby who is successful at using signs to communicate will be more motivated to learn to talk.”
• Try to avoid telling a child to “say” something. It is a more effective communication cue when a child points or grunts at something simply to model the word--“Cup--you want the cup.” The phrase “Use your words” may also be used if you know the child has the word in her vocabulary.

The trick to using all of these techniques is moderation. While you want to encourage a child to use her words, you do not want to overwhelm her to the point that she shuts down. These techniques eventually become second-nature; and the caregiver who uses them can be the most effective model for helping families to learn these same strategies for use at home resulting in children who cannot wait to use their words to tell you what they want.

You should talk to the families of the children in your care about seeking a referral to an American Speech-Language Hearing Association certified speech-language therapist for an evaluation if you notice a child who:

• Does not vocalize or babble at all by 12 months.
• Seems to get stuck getting a word out or gropes and struggles when trying to imitate.
• Does not have at least a few words by 18 months and seems to have difficulty understanding what you say.
• Does not respond to loud noises that he cannot see.

The speech-language therapist has the skills and knowledge to identify the source of the child’s difficulties in developing language and, if necessary, to intervene and treat the problem. Contact your local health department or childcare health consultant for help in locating a speech-language therapist. Many therapists will visit childcare programs for evaluations as well as to offer information to childcare staff.

Toddie Downs, M.A., CCC-SLP
Pediatric Speech-Language Therapist

American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA), 10801 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852; 800-638-8255; www.asha.org/public/speech

Baby Signs, 871 Cotting Ct., Ste. 1, Vacaville, CA 95688; 800-995-0226; www.babysigns.com

National Center on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, 31 Center Dr., MSC 2320, Bethesda, MD USA 20892-2320; 800-241-1044; www.nidcd.nih.gov

Signing With Your Baby, PO Box 593, St. Joseph, MO 64502; www.signingbaby.com

Child Development Institute, www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/language_development.shtml

Kids Health, kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/behavior/not_talk.html