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When to Seek Help

  • Not smiling or playing with others 

  • Not babbling 

  • Making only a few sounds 

  • Not using gestures (waving, pointing) 

  • Saying only a few words 

  • Not putting words together 

  • Saying fewer than 50 words by 2 year old 

  • Having trouble playing and taking turns 

  • Having problems with reading and writing 

  • Repeating the first sounds in words 

  • Speaking in short, fragmented phrases 

  • Difficulty imitating speech sounds 

  • Using a slow rate of speech 

  • Slurred speech

Red Flags for Children
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Speech Sounds

Your child should be producing the following speech sounds by each age:

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McLeod, S. & Crowe, K. (2018). Children’s consonant acquisition in 27 languages: A cross-linguistic review. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. doi:10.1044/2018_AJSLP-17-0100.
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  • Irritability during meal time

  • Refusing to eat

  • Drooling

  • Taking a long time to eat 

  • Refusal to accept a variety of textures of food

  • Food or drink spilling out of mouth while eating

  • Coughing or gaging during meal times

  • Difficulty breathing with eating and drinking. 

  • Pain or discomfort swallowing

Feeding & Swallowing Red Flags 
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  • Reduced speech clarity 

  • Reduced vocal quality, pitch or range

  • Reduced confidence in self expression or verbal ability 

  • Difficulty or taking increased time to process information (i.e. conversation, recipes, directions, etc)

  • Forgetting common words when speaking “The word is on the tip of my tongue…”

  • Increased level of forgetfulness

  • Mixing up words when speaking. I.e. saying “cup” instead of “shoe”

  • Frequent coughing on food or liquids

  • Prolonged chewing 

  • Pain during swallow 

  • Drooling

  • Recurring pneumonia or chest infections 

  • Asking the same questions repeatedly 

  • Misplacing items in inappropriate places i.e. putting the TV remote in the refrigerator

  • Getting lost while walking or driving in a familiar area 

Red Flags for Adults
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If you have any questions or concerns regarding speech & language, feeding / swallowing, memory or more,
sign up for a free consultation today!
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