Parents and carers often ask whether there’s a big difference between speech, language and communication.

Knowing these differences will be very helpful if you have a child with a developmental delay. Take a look below:

Speech

This includes the way we articulate spoken words and sounds.

Is your child 3;5 years and using any of the following sound errors?-

Coe for comb – final consonant deletion

Ed for bed – initial consonant deletion

Ta for car – velar fronting

Dough for go – velar fronting

Fis for fish – alveolar fronting

Bingers for fingers – stopping

Big for pig – context sensitive voicing

As a general rule, if your child is 3 years-old and strangers can’t understand them, then it would be a great idea to contact a speech and language pathologist for an assessment.

Receptive Language

This is our understanding of language and ability to follow instructions.

 Two years old

Does your two-year-old follow this instruction?

‘Put teddy on the bed’ (with choice of teddy, dolly, chair and bed)

Three years old

Does your three-year-old follow this instruction?

‘Make dolly walk on the bed’ (with choice of teddy, dolly, chair and bed)

Expressive Language

These are the words and sentences we use in conversations. We have grammatical rules that we use to build sentences.

Some developmentally delayed language errors may include:

‘Me not want that’

‘I’ve catched the ball’

Children should be speaking in sentences almost like an adult by 5-years old.

Communication

Non-verbal communication skills include: waving, smiling, shaking your head, stamping your feet and even laughing.

See more Frequently Asked Questions here