When do we need Speech Pathology services?
When working with children and families, Speech Pathology services are one of the topics that are frequently discussed. Parents often feel confused about what Speech Pathologists do, how they can help children and if their child could benefit from Speech Pathology support.

Parents are often unsure if their children are meeting expected milestones? And if they should be concerned? To understand and answer these questions, it is important to consider how neurotypical and neurodivergent developmental patterns can differ.

What do Speech Pathlogists Do ?
Speech Pathologists work with:
● Speech (articulation of sounds)
● Language understanding and use
● Pragmatics (e.g., social communication)
● Fluency (e.g., stuttering)
● Voice quality
● Feeding and swallowing

They support both neurotypical children and neurodivergent children (e.g., autism, ADHD,
Down syndrome, developmental language disorder, and other differences)

Milestones
Speech and language milestones (As per Speech Pathology Australia guidelines) offer a general guide for neurotypical development:
● By 12 months: Babbles, responds to name, understands /uses gestures, understand
about 10 words, recognise familiar people/objects (e.g., mum, teddy)

● By 18 months: understands about 50 words/short phrases, follows simple instructions
(e.g, throw the ball), pointing to familiar objects when named, can say about 6-20
single words, copies lots of words/noises, can name a few body parts, uses objects in
pretend play

● By 2 years: follows simple two-part instructions, respond to simple wh questions such
as what and where, can point to several body parts/pictures in books when named, can
say more than 50 single words, can put two words together, use tone of voice to ask a
question, can say no when they do not want something, use most vowel sounds and a
variety of consonants (e.g., m, n, p, k, h, w, t, d)

● By 3 years: follows more complex two-part instructions, understand simple wh
questions such as what, where and who, understands same/different concepts, sorts
items into groups when asked such as food/toys, recognise basic colours, say four to
five words in a sentence, uses a variety of words for names/actions/locations/descriptions, asks some wh questions, have conversations but may not take turns/stay on topic

● By 4 years: answer most questions about daily tasks, understands most wh questions
including those about a story they have heard, understand some numbers, use words such as ‘and’/’bit’ and ‘because’ to make longer sentences, describe recent events such
as morning routines, ask lots of questions, use personal pronouns, can count to five and
name a few colours

● By 5 years: can follow three-part instructions, understand time related words such as
before/after, start thinking about the meaning of words when learning, begin to
recognise some letters/sounds/numbers, using well-formed sentences to be
understood by most people, take turns in increasingly longer conversations, tell simple
short stories with a beginning/middle/end, use past and future verbs correctly and use
most speech sounds but still may have difficulties with ‘s’/’r’/’l’ and ‘th’ However, neurodivergent children may follow a different timeline,

For example:
● An autistic child could be a late talker and use other means of communication (e.g.,
gestures/pointing/behaviour)
● A neurodivergent child could also be a Gestalt Language Processor (e.g., learn language
by memorising/repeating intonation, phrases, scripts)
● An ADHD’er may have strong language skills but may struggle with attention or
organization skills which can be evident when conversing with others
● A child with apraxia may know what they want to say but have trouble coordinating the
mouth movements to say it

When do you need support?
No matter a child’s neurotype, you might consider Speech Pathology input if:
● They are not making progress in communication over several months.
● They don’t respond to sounds or their name.
● They get frustrated often when trying to communicate resulting in meltdowns at
home/kinder/school or in the community
● You notice significant differences in how they express themselves compared to peers
and it impacts their ability to connect with others.
● They have trouble eating or swallowing safely.
● They have a diagnosis (like autism or developmental delay) and haven’t had a
communication evaluation yet

How Does Early Intervention Help?
Whether your child is neurotypical or neurodivergent, early support can:
● Improve quality of life and emotional well-being
● Build the capacity of your child’s support network (e.g., family members/teachers/allied
health professionals)
● Help them connect more easily with others
● Allow them to learn how to advocate for their needs/wants
● Empower you as a parent to support their growth confidently

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