Parents worries about their child's language development need appropriate guidance to avoid hasty moves and possible mistakes. Every child develops at their own pace. However, there are cases where either the linguistic expression or the speech of a child develops much slower.

Let's see in detail what the typical language development of children is and in which cases it would be a good idea to visit a speech therapist.

What do we look for up to 2-2.5 years

• If the child has not started speech production at 18 months. In case there are no selective signs of communication such as screams, movements, babbling, glare, and no interest in communicating with his surroundings or responding to his name, it is advisable to visit a pediatrician for a detailed evaluation of all developmental stage of our child.
• If the child is approaching 2 years and his or her understanding seems to be insufficient. That is, when he cannot execute double commands that we tell him, he does not mimic the sounds with us and when he does not share his joy at the game or plays at all.
• If the child has acquired some language skills and is suddenly "back" in development. That is, when he stops pointing or using words he used to say.

What do we look forward to for 4.5 years

• If our child is 3 years old and is not understood by others, only very close people (mother, father, grandmother etc.). That is, when we hear many mistakes in speech, such as confusing syllables within the word (eg good morning -> camel) or eating syllables or phonemes.
• If at the age of 4 we recognize constant errors in the joint of the child. That is, when the child steadily replaces some phonemes with others (eg θ with f, δ with b, etc.) or does not articulate them at all (p, λ).
• Even if at the age of 4 we recognize many unstable articulation errors. That is, when we hear sounds that look cute to us in different words, without always repeating others (eg brother instead of brother, carp instead of car, chair instead of chair, etc.)
• If our child is 4 years old and his vocabulary is behind that of other children his age. That is, when it has not mastered the concepts of words and finds it difficult to name them, even though they are used daily, such as colors, shapes, everyday objects. When it is difficult to express and describe his / her experiences from school and his / her writing is limited to the use of subject-verb-object sentences or even confuses all 3 genders.

What do we look forward to 5-5.5 years

• If our child is now 5 years old and his vocabulary is still limited. That is, he cannot find the appropriate words he needs to express himself and uses words such as "such" or "that" in his place. It is difficult to describe objects and tell stories or personal experiences, and their speech is poor with intentions, pronouns, and adverbs.

It is worth noting that speech, but mainly language, continues to evolve during school age. However, a good level of speech and language skills when a child starts school is a powerful weapon for a successful learning path.

Our child should be linguistically, cognitively and socially ready at the beginning of elementary school so that he / she can integrate more smoothly and be able to focus on the learning process and avoid any difficulties in reading and writing.

In closing, if parents recognize the above difficulties in speech, speech and communication, it is best to consult a speech therapist who will guide them and advise them exactly what their child needs or will simply advise them on what they can do themselves and not necessarily integrate the child into a treatment program.

The role of parents in the process of speech therapy and good cooperation with the therapist is equally important, so that we can see immediately the progress of the child and share with him the joy of improvement!