Speech / Language

Children 12-18 months generally are able to do the following:

Receptive Language:

• Follows simple, one-step verbal instructions (e.g.,  “Give it back to me”, Put it back”, “Come here.”) 
• Correctly identifies images in a book when named
• Begins to respond to “No” and “stop” 
• Follows motions during songs 
• Points to some body parts when named

Expressive Language:

• Says “no” with meaning 
• Repeats words overheard in conversations 
• Shakes head to mean yes or no 
• Uses a combination of words, jargon and gestures to communicate
• Begins to use approximations or parts of words to indicate familiar objects (e.g., “ba” for bottle)

Speech Intelligibility:

• Uses 2 word sentences such as: “Help, please.” 
• Says several single words (e.g., mama or dada or baba)