Whether your child is a baby or a preschooler, they need to reach these milestones before they’ll be able to learn to talk. Ensure your one-year-old has all these foundations before expecting them to speak at a normal pace.

Parents don’t cause picky eating or create problem feeders, but parents can respond to these issues in a way that minimizes the likelihood of them persisting. When a parent can understand the cause of their child’s food refusal and set reasonable expectations, their child can begin to have positive feeding experiences.

It can feel like everything is an educational toy these days, but letters, colours, and numbers don’t mean a child will learn from the toy. The truth is that the best educational toys are often the simplest.

Play-based therapy lets the child take the lead from play to communication while the adult uses words when they observe the child is trying to direct attention to a certain thing. It’s not as intuitive as it sounds, though. Therapists work with parents to teach them how to use this form of play-based speech therapy at home. One thing is for certain, though… Play-based speech therapy helps your child learn how to communicate effectively from a young age and is a more efficient way to teach than the old school drill therapy.

A tongue tie (or ankyloglossia) is when a thick membrane connects the tongue to the floor of the mouth, making it more difficult for the person to move their tongue. A lip tie is when the upper lip is unusually tied to the gum line. In both cases, children can (but don’t always) have difficulties breastfeeding and/or speaking.

If you think your child may be autistic, it’s important to understand exactly what an autism diagnosis means and what traits to look for. Here, I'll explain what autism is, how to recognize the early signs, and what you should do if you think your child is on the spectrum.

Sometimes toddlers have a language delay, but at times ‘not listening’ is just due to the environment. Toddlers need to be set up to be successful! We need to use what we know about their little minds in order to engineer situations that make it easier for them to stay safe and play appropriately.

Our little ones need to learn concept words related to quantity before counting will have meaning for them. These words also have the added benefit of being more useful in everyday conversations than number names, so children are more likely to learn and use those terms accurately faster! Once children know these words, you can USE them to deepen their understanding of numbers.

Most parents totally trust their medical teams to do everything in their power to ensure the baby is healthy before sending them home for the first time, but unfortunately, sometimes tests get missed. Tests that have a huge impact on your child learning to communicate often get missed. Hearing tests often get missed.

Children’s skills in kindergarten vary a lot, and talking to professionals can help you know what your child needs to be successful. If you’re wondering if your child is ready for kindergarten, plan to have an in depth conversation with your school’s administrators. It can also be helpful to review the following milestones to know what your child should be able to do by kindergarten.

If you’re like many parents, you’re probably starting to wonder or worry about how your child will do in kindergarten next year. Sending your little one off to school is a big step for any parent, but it is especially scary if you’re concerned your child is not understanding as much as others their age or they are frequently misunderstood.

You might be wondering what babies could possibly get out of reading at such a young age, and what you should even be doing while you’re reading to them. Should you use alphabet and number books, or a story? Should you use ‘baby talk’? How long should you even be reading for? The most common one is always: When should I start?

Milestones are the skills that 90% of children can do at a particular age, and missing them could be an indication of a communication disorder that needs speech therapy. As a registered SLP, it is my job to work with parents to see if children are meeting milestones for social skills, ability to understand, using words, and speaking clearly as they grow up and learn to talk.

Now that you’re at (or near) a first birthday, words are likely at the forefront of your mind! If you’re wondering what’s expected, what’s concerning, and if your little one is developing on track, I’m here to answer those questions with the 12 month communication milestones. Milestones are skills that 90% of children are able to do by that age, and missing them could mean that a child needs to be seen by a speech-language pathologist

Many parents with babies often wonder... what words should I teach my child? What are the best words my child should learn to say first? Sometimes parents gravitate towards letters, numbers and colours - these concepts can seem more tangible, or parents might think that if they get an early start on these "academic concepts" their child will set up for "more success". But we're here to encourage parents to focus on functional words instead.

No matter what is happening in your lives, three is an age when children really start to have huge growth in their communication. Their ability to understand, use words, speak clearly, socialize, and use books will need to grow to keep up with everything they want to do and learn, as well as prepare them for more structured preschool learning!

Let’s talk about milestones, because they’re a big deal when you have a mini human! Doctors and specialists toss the word around all the time, but most parents (and even a few medical professionals) misunderstand what it means. Fair enough – it’s a misleading term so I want to clear up the confusion so you can know exactly what your doctors and therapists are talking about, and whether or not you should be concerned if your child is missing their milestones.