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The development of a child’s speech follows certain stages, as there are some basic milestones in their language development.

However, each child may have their own pace of development. However, when significant deviations are observed, it is necessary to be assessed by a specialist.

12 months

At the age of 12 months, the child begins to use the first words such as “mama – dada” and tries to imitate various sounds. He recognizes words for everyday objects such as glass and begins to respond to simple verbal commands such as “come here”. In addition, he interacts with his relatives with a smile and eye contact.

2 years

At the age of 2 years, the child develops his vocabulary, uses two words together such as “mama water”, follows more complex commands, understands simple questions and points to objects and pictures. Articulation at this age may not be clear.

3 years

At the age of 3, he uses 3 words together, uses articles, pronouns, the plural, understands concepts such as big – small and simple stories.

4 years

At the age of 4, the child’s speech approaches adult speech in terms of grammar and syntax and his speech is intelligible.

5 years

A 5-year-old child understands complex instructions, uses complex sentences and can tell a story.

A child’s hearing, speech comprehension and speech develop from the first trimester of life and abnormal development of these should be noticed primarily by the pediatrician who is monitoring the child.

A child has a speech delay when the language they use does not correspond to their chronological age and the child’s speech and language develop at a slower rate.

The child is slow to speak, has difficulty understanding speech and expressing themselves. All levels of speech may be affected, such as phonology, syntax, grammar and vocabulary.

Referral to a pediatric otolaryngologist for an audiological examination is considered necessary when the infant does not respond to auditory stimuli or when the child at the age of 12 – 18 months has not developed any speech or does not carry out simple commands.

When the parent or pediatrician is concerned that the child’s language development is significantly lagging behind peers, it is important to have an evaluation by a developmental psychologist to examine the child’s psychomotor development.

His speech must be in line with the rest of his development and the child’s general development is taken into account.

The parent can contact a speech therapist from the age of 2.5 – 3 years for an evaluation of the child if he is concerned about the development of his speech.

Initially, counseling can be given to the parents to enhance the child’s linguistic development and, if deemed necessary, the child begins speech therapy.

However, there are also cases where while the child develops speech without delay, difficulties are observed in grammar, in syntactic structure, the child may have a poor vocabulary, have difficulty recalling words, cannot organize his speech and cannot tell a story or an event he experienced.

When such difficulties are observed, it is important to undergo a speech therapy assessment from the age of approximately 4 – 5 years, as these language difficulties can have an impact on their language expression and subsequent learning process.

Very often we encounter children who have difficulty speaking clearly and their speech is not understandable.

Most commonly, children may have difficulty with the sounds ρ, σ, θ, δ. From the age of 4 – 4.5 years, if the child is difficult to understand or does not produce some sounds correctly, a speech evaluation can be performed by a speech therapist. The start of speech therapy depends on the type and number of phonemes that the child does not produce correctly.

However, it is essential that the child’s articulatory difficulties have been restored before attending elementary school.

The smooth development of a child’s speech is crucial for their linguistic development and expression. Therefore, early diagnosis of a child’s difficulties is important not only for addressing language difficulties, but also for the child’s emotional and social development.