It can be confusing when your child seems to understand everything you say but isn’t using many words themselves. They might follow familiar instructions, know exactly where their shoes are when you ask, or find creative ways to show you what they want, but talking just doesn’t seem to be happening as quickly as you expected.
For some children, talking simply develops a little later. Others may benefit from some extra support. The tricky part is that it isn’t always possible to tell from the number of words a child uses alone.
Understanding and talking are different skills
Children’s communication development involves more than just saying words.
Receptive language is what a child understands. Expressive language is how they communicate their own ideas, wants and needs.
A child may understand much more language than they can say. You might notice that your child can:
- follow familiar instructions
- recognise the names of people, toys or everyday objects
- understand familiar routines
- respond when you talk about something they know
But when they want to tell you something, they may rely more on pointing, gestures, sounds, facial expressions or taking you to what they want.
These are all forms of communication, and looking at the whole picture can tell us more than simply counting how many words a child uses.
Do late talkers always need speech therapy?
No.
Some children who start talking later than expected do catch up without needing ongoing speech pathology intervention. Others continue to have difficulties with speech or language and benefit from some extra support.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a perfect way to look at a young child who is late to talk and know exactly what their communication will look like in a year or two.
That doesn’t mean every late talker needs therapy. It means that if you are concerned, it can be useful to talk with a speech pathologist about the whole picture, not just the number of words your child can say.
For some families, the most useful next step may simply be learning some strategies to encourage communication during everyday activities at home.
What else should I look for?
When speech pathologists think about a young child’s communication, they’re interested in much more than spoken words.
Some things that may be useful to notice include:
- Gestures: Does your child point, wave or use other gestures to communicate?
- Sharing: Do they show or bring you interesting things, or point something out for you to look at together?
- Connection: Do they seem interested in communicating, playing or connecting with other people?
- Sounds: Does your child experiment with lots of different speech sounds, or do they use a fairly limited range?
- Understanding: How well do they understand familiar words, questions and instructions?
- Communication: How does your child let you know what they want, need, notice or enjoy?
No single item on this list tells us whether a child has a communication difficulty or needs therapy. Children develop differently, and these skills need to be considered together.
If something about your child’s communication doesn’t feel quite right to you, however, you don’t need to wait until you are certain there’s a problem before asking for advice.
What can I do to support communication at home?
There are simple ways you can create more opportunities for communication without turning everyday life into a therapy session.
Follow their interests
Notice what has your child’s attention and talk about that. If they’re fascinated by a truck driving past, talk about the truck rather than trying to redirect them to something you want them to name.
Keep your language simple
Use short, natural phrases your child can hear repeatedly.
For example, if your child points to bubbles, you might say:
“Bubbles!”
“More bubbles.”
“Pop!”
You don’t need to ask them to repeat the words after you.
Comment more, question less
We naturally ask young children lots of questions: “What’s that?”, “What colour is it?”, “What does the cow say?”
Try balancing some of those questions with comments about what your child is doing or looking at.
Instead of asking, “What are you building?”, you might say, “Big tower!” or “That block goes on top.”
This gives your child language to listen to without requiring them to respond.
Pause and give them time
Adults can be quick to fill silence, particularly when we know what our child wants.
Try pausing for a few seconds and watching what your child does. They might look at you, gesture, make a sound or attempt a word.
Those communication attempts matter too.
Respond to communication, not just words
Pointing, gestures, sounds, facial expressions and looking between you and an object can all be meaningful ways of communicating.
Responding to those attempts helps keep the interaction going while spoken language continues to develop.
When should I seek support?
There doesn’t have to be a clear-cut problem before you ask for advice.
You might consider talking with a speech pathologist if you’re concerned about how much your child is talking, if they use few gestures or speech sounds, if you’re noticing difficulties with understanding or connecting with others, or simply if you’re unsure whether their communication is developing as expected.
Seeking advice doesn’t automatically mean your child needs a full assessment or ongoing therapy.
At Coastal Kids, we start with a short intake appointment. This gives us a chance to learn about your child, hear what’s concerning you and work with you to decide what kind of support makes sense right now.
For some families, that might mean a few sessions focused on helping parents learn practical ways to support their child’s communication at home.
For others, an assessment may be helpful to understand their child’s communication skills in more detail.
And for some children, we may recommend getting started with ongoing speech pathology support.
The aim isn’t to put every child through the same pathway. It’s to work with you to decide what support, if any, is the best fit for your child and family right now.
Not sure what your child needs?
If you’re wondering whether your child’s communication is developing as expected, you’re welcome to get in touch.
We can talk through what’s happening and help you work out an appropriate next step.
