Your Child's Communication Journey: Supporting Speech Development at Home

Due to the high demand of speech pathology services nationwide, we understand it can feel frustrating when appointments cannot be offered straight away and that there may be a wait until your child can be supported by a clinician.

If you are concerned about your child's communication development, it can be difficult to wait for support. The good news is that there are many simple strategies families can use at home to encourage communication, language development, and social interaction while waiting for speech pathology services to commence.

Whilst these strategies are not a replacement for indivualised assessment and intervention, they can help by supporting your child's speech and communication development at home, and prepare you for your first appointment with a speech pathologist.

Understanding Communication Milestones

A helpful first step is to familiarise yourself with age-appropriate communication milestones and begin keeping notes about your child's communication skills. Communication includes much more than speech and talking. It also encompasses language development, social communication, play skills, voice, fluency, and how a child communicates their wants and needs.

Speech Pathology Australia provides a useful guide outlining the communication skills children typically develop at different ages. The guide can be accessed via the below link:

Speech Pathology Australia: Communication Milestones

When a speech pathologist engages with your family, they will ask a variety of questions to gather information about your child's communication.

Questions will include:

• What sounds is the child using? Below is a snapshot of the age in which children beginning using each sound.

• What words is the child using? How many words does the child have (<50 or >50)?

• Is the child about to follow directions?

• Does the child answer questions (e.g., who, what, where)?

• Can the child understand concepts? For example, “put the book in the bag”

• How does the child interact with others? Do they play alone, play alongside others, play interactively with others?

• Does the child narrate their play?

• How does the child tell you they are hungry/thirsty/ need toilet? Do they tell you with words, point, grab your hand and lead you?

• Does the child get frustrated when they are not understood? What does this look like? What do they do to repair communication breakdown?

• Has my child’s hearing been tested recently?

Supporting Speech Development with a Language-Rich Environment at Home

If you are concerned your child is not meeting communication milestones outlined on the Speech Pathology Australia website, you can create a language-rich environment in your home to promote new language and talking, while waiting for specialised speech pathology intervention. This can include:

• Narrate your actions. Talk about what you are doing, modelling language to your child. This can include cooking, driving, cleaning. “Mummy is cutting the apple. Chop chop chop”

• Use short, clear sentences that match your actions

• Use functional words in daily routines. For example during breakfast model words such as: eat, drink, more, please, finished

• Provide options for your child to choose from; "would you like milk or water?”

• Read, Read, Read! Books are a great way to foster joint attention and language. Use pictures to expand understanding and language

• Provide time and opportunity for your child to process your language and respond. Using sentence leads such as "it’s a…." or "I wonder where…." creates space for your child to respond without them feeling like it is a test.

• Provide time for your child to respond, avoid asking multiple questions or 'quizzing’ your child. Avoid: "What is it? Say 'cat". Where is the cat? Find it. Where is it?"

• Attend community events such as read and rhyme at a local library or social play group. These spaces promote language and early social communication.

Managing Speech Mistakes

If your child is producing words incorrectly or is difficult to understand, it is important you do not fixate on errors and tell them it is ‘wrong’. Instead, you want to recast/ remodel correct pronunciation, rather than correcting mistakes.

For example:

Child: “Tow”

Adult: “Yes, that’s a big cow!” 

The adult has re-casted the error from ‘tow’ to ‘cow’ and expanded the child’s language.

Supporting your child's communication development does not require specialised equipment or formal therapy activities. Some of the most valuable opportunities for learning occur during everyday interactions, play, reading, meals, and family routines.

While waiting for speech pathology services, focusing on connection, communication, and creating a language-rich environment can help build strong foundations for future development. Keeping notes about your child's communication skills and any areas of concern can also help you feel more prepared for your first appointment.

If you remain concerned about your child's communication development, we encourage you to continue seeking professional support. When your appointment becomes available, your speech pathologist can use the information you have gathered to develop recommendations and strategies tailored to your child's individual needs.