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Expert Q&A
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| By Mindy Hudon Speech and Language Pathologist | ||
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At what level should my 13-month-old be at in regards to speech and language skills?
At 12 to 16 months, your toddler's understanding of new words is growing rapidly. A toddler can point to pictures in a book when you ask him, point to a few body parts (i.e. head, belly, toes), follow simple commands ("Get the car.") and respond to simple questions ("Where's the kitty?").
A toddler will understand more words than he will actually say. He may only be saying one or two words, most likely words he hears frequently such as, "more, ball, or baby." As he listens to his parents and caregiver's speech, he will start to imitate more words. He will use "jargon" (unintelligible talk with adult like inflection patterns) frequently, and then start to combine true words with jargon to communicate a message.
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