Written by the DrSensory editorial team. Sources are named below. · How we write and who reviews it · Last updated August 13, 2026

1. Does your child point at things — to ask for something, or to show you something?

Yes, bothOnly to ask for thingsNot really

2. Does your child use gestures — waving, clapping, giving a high-five, showing or giving you objects?

Yes, several of theseOne or twoNot yet

3. When you call your child's name, do they look at you?

UsuallySometimesRarely

4. Does your child respond to simple words and phrases, like "go bye-bye" or "no"?

UsuallySometimesRarely

5. Has your child started saying any words — like mama, dada, hi, or bye?

Yes, severalOne or twoNone yet

6. Has your child ever lost words or gestures they used to use?

NoI am not sureYes

7. Does anyone in the family have a history of speech or language difficulty?

NoYesNot sure

8. Has your child's hearing been tested?

Yes, recentlyYes, at birth onlyNo

1. Roughly how many different words does your child use and understand?

50 or moreAbout 20 to 50Fewer than 20None yet

2. Does your child put two or more words together — like "more water" or "go outside"?

Yes, regularlyOccasionallyNot yet

3. Can your child follow a two-step direction without you gesturing — "get the spoon, and put it on the table"?

UsuallySometimesRarely

4. Does your child point to show you things, not just to request?

YesSometimesNot really

5. Does your child use words to ask for help?

YesSometimesNot yet

6. Has your child ever lost words or gestures they used to use?

NoI am not sureYes

7. Does anyone in the family have a history of speech or language difficulty?

NoYesNot sure

8. Has your child's hearing been tested?

Yes, recentlyYes, at birth onlyNo

1. Does your child use word combinations often?

Yes, most of the timeSometimesRarely or not yet

2. Does your child ask questions — "why" and "how"?

YesStarting toNot yet

3. Can you understand your child most of the time?

YesAbout half the timeRarely

4. When you give an instruction without gesturing, does your child follow it?

UsuallySometimesRarely

5. Does your child seem to understand much less than other children their age?

NoI am not sureYes

6. Has your child ever lost words or gestures they used to use?

NoI am not sureYes

7. Does anyone in the family have a history of speech or language difficulty?

NoYesNot sure

8. Has your child's hearing been tested?

Yes, recentlyYes, at birth onlyNo

A note on being understood by strangers

Parents ask about this more than anything else, and it is deliberately not scored above. ASHA describes children aged two to three this way: “Speech is becoming clearer but may not be understandable to unfamiliar listeners or to people who do not know your child.”

The marker for being understood by most people is age four — ASHA's wording is “by age 4 years, your child speaks so that people can understand most of what they say.” Before that, familiar adults understanding far more than strangers is expected rather than a warning sign.

Sources

1. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Communication milestones, birth to 1 year. asha.org
2. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Communication milestones, 13 to 18 months — pointing and gesture. ASHA publishes no vocabulary count for this band, which is why this check does not ask for one. asha.org
3. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Communication milestones, 19 to 24 months — source of “uses and understands at least 50 different words”, “puts two or more words together” and the two-step direction. asha.org
4. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Communication milestones, 2 to 3 years — source of the unfamiliar-listener wording and “asks why and how”. asha.org
5. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Communication milestones, 3 to 4 years — source of the age-four intelligibility marker. asha.org

Disclaimer. This is not a diagnosis. It compares what you are seeing against what ASHA says most children do, which is a guide rather than a schedule. If something concerns you, that is reason enough to ask.