Leigh
11-30-2005, 10:15 PM
Here is a Communicative Development Inventory: Words and Gestures that is used to assess children for their pre-language and language skills. Proper analysis of this should be made by a professional speech and language pathologist for interpretation, but it can give a parent some indication as to how their child is doing for these skills.
If you have any concerns regarding your child's speech or lack of it, you should seek a screening clinic for speech and language, talk to your pediatrician, or nurse practicioner. This is not meant to be a full screening assessment, only an indicator for parents.
A. First Signs of Understanding
Before children begin to speak, they show signs of understanding language by responding to familiar words and phrases. Below are some common examples. Does your child do any of these?
1. Respond when name is called? (e.g. by turning and looking at source)
2. Respond to "no no" (by stopping what he/she is doing, at least for the moment).
3. React to "there's Mommy/Daddy by looking around for them.
B. Phrases
In the list below, please mark the phrases that your child seems to understand.
Are you hungry?
Are you tired/sleepy?
Be careful.
Be quiet
Clap your hands.
Change diaper.
Come here/come on.
Daddy's/Mommy's home.
Do you want more?
Don't do that.
Don't touch.
Get up.
Give it to Mommy.
Give me a hug.
Give me a kiss.
Go get _____.
Good girl/boy.
Hold still.
Let's go bye bye.
Look/ look here.
Open your mouth.
Sit down.
Spit it out.
Stop it.
Time to go night night.
Throw the ball.
This little piggy.
Want to go for a ride?
C. Starting to Talk
1. Some children like to "parrot" or imitate things that they've just heard (including new words that they are just learning, and/or parts of sentences, for example, repeating "work now" after mother says "Mommy's going to work now.") How often does your child imitate words? Never___ Sometimes___ Often___
2. Some children like to go around naming or labeling things, as though proud of knowing the names ans wanting to show this. How often does your child do this? Never___ Sometimes___Often___
D. Vocabulary Checklist
The following is a list of typical words in young children's vocabularies. For words your child understands but does not yet say, place a mark in the first column (understands). For words that your child not only understands but also uses, place a mark in the second column (understands and says). If your child uses a different pronunciation of a word (for example "raffe" for "giraffe" or "sketti" for "spaghetti") mark the word anyway. Remember, this is a "catalogue" of words that are used by many different children. Don't worry if your child knows only a few right now.
1. Sound effects and Animal Sounds
Understands Understands and says
baa baa
choo choo
cockadoodledoo
grr
meow
moo
ouch
quack quack
uh oh
vroom
woof woof
yum yum
2. Animal Names (real or toy)
Understands Understands and says
animal
bear
bee
bird
bug
bunny
butterfly
cat
chicken
cow
deer
dog
donkey
duck
elephant
fish
frog
giraffe
goose
horse
kitty
lamb
lion
monkey
mouse
owl
penguin
pig
pony
sheep
squirrel
teddy bear
tiger
turkey
turtle
3. Vehicles (real or toy)
(at this point I will just list the items, you make your "understands" and "understands and says" columns, ok? :)
airplane, bicycle, bus, car, firetruck, motorcycle, stroller, train, truck.
4. Toys
ball, balloon, block, book, bubbles, doll, pen, toy.
5. Food and drink
apple, banana, bread, butter, cake, candy, carrots, cereal, cheerios, cheese, chicken, coffee, cookie, drink, eg, fish, food, ice cream, juice, meat, milk, noodles, orange, pea, pizza, raisin, spaghetti, toast, water.
6. Clothing.
beads, bib, boots, button, coat, diaper, dress, hat, jacket, jeans, necklace, pajamas, pants, shirt, shoe, shorts, sock, sweater, zipper.
7. Body Parts.
arm, belly button, cheek, ear, eye, face, foot, finger, hair, hand, head, knee, leg, mouth, nose, owie/ boo boo, tooth, toe, tongue, tummy.
8. Furniture and Rooms.
bathroom, bathtub, bed, bedroom, chair, couch, crib, door, drawer, garage, high chair, kitchen, living room, oven, play pen, potty, refrigerator, rocking chair, sink, stairs, stove, table, tv, window.
9. Small Household Items.
blanket, bottle, bowl, box, broom, brush, clock, comb, cup, dish, fork, glass, glasses, hammer, keys, lamp, light, medicine, money, paper, penny, picture, pillow, plant, plate, purse, radio, scissors, soap, spoon, telephone, toothbrush, towel, trash, vaccuum, watch.
10. Outside Things and Places To Go.
backyard, beach, church, flower, garden, home, house, moon, outside, park, party, pool, rain, rock, school, shovel, sky, slide, snow, star, store, sun, swing, tree, water, work, zoo.
11. People.
aunt, baby, babysitter, babysitter's name, boy, brother, child, daddy, girl, grandma, grandpa, lady, man, mommy, child's own name, people, person, sister, teacher, uncle.
12. Games and Routines.
bath, breakfast, bye or bye bye, dinner, don't hello, hi, lunch, nap, night night, no, patty cake, peekaboo, please, shh/shush/ hush, thank you, wait, wanna/ want to/ yes.
13. Action Words.
bite, blow, break, bring, bump, clean, close, cry, dance, draw, drink, drive, eat, fall, feed, finish, get, give, go, help, hit, hug, hurry, jump, kick, kiss, look, love, open, play, pull, push, put, read, ride, run, say, see, show, sing, sleep, smile, splash, stop, swim, swing, take, throw, tickle, touch, watch, walk, wash, wipe, write.
14. Words About Time.
day, later, morning, night, now, today, tomorrow, tonight.
15. Descriptive Words.
all gone, asleep, bad, big, blue, broken, careful, clean, cold, cute, dark, dirty, dry, empty, fast, fine, gentle, good, happy, hard, hot, hungry, hurt, little, naughty, nice, old, pretty, red, scared, sick, sleepy, soft, thirsty, tired, wet, yucky.
16. Pronouns.
his, her, I, it, me, mine, my, that, this, you, your.
17. Question Words.
how, what, when, where, who, why.
18. Prepositions and Locations.
away, back, down, in, inside, off, on, out, there, under, up.
19. Quantifiers.
all, another, more, none, not, other, same, some.
PART 2 Actions and Gestures
A. First Communicative Gestures.
When infants are first learning to communicate, they often use gestures to make their wishes known. For each item below, mark the line that describes your child's actions right now.
Not yet Sometimes Often
1. Extends arm to show you something he/ she is holding.
2. Reaches out and gives you a toy or some object that he/she is holding.
3. Points (with arm and index finger extended) at some interesting object or event.
4. Waves bye bye on his/her own when someone leaves.
5. Extends his/her arm upward to signal a wish to be picked up.
6. Shakes head "no".
7. Nods head "yes".
8, Gestures "hush" by placing finger to lips.
9. Requests something by extending arm and opening and closing hand.
10. Blows kisses from a distance.
11. Smacks lips in a "yum yum" gesture to indicate that something taste good.
12. Shrugs to indicate "all gone" or "where did it go".
Games and Routines
Does your child do any of the following?
Yes No
1. Play peekaboo
2. Play patty cake.
3. Play so big.
4. Play chasing games.
5. Sing.
6. Dance.
Actions with Objects
Does your child do or try to do any of the following?
Yes No
1. Eat with a spoon or fork.
2. Drink from a cup containing liquid.
3. Comb or brush own hair.
4. Brush teeth.
5. Wipe face or hands with a towel or cloth.
6. Put on hat.
7. Put on a shoe or sock.
8. Put on a necklace, bracelet, or watch.
9. Lay head on hands and squeeze eyes shut as if sleeping.
10. Blow to indicate something is hot.
11. Hold plane and make it "fly".
12. Put telephone to ear.
13. Sniff flowers.
14. Push toy car or truck.
15. Throw a ball.
16. Pour pretend liquid from one container to another.
17. Stir pretend liquid in a cup or pan with a spoon.
Pretending to Be a Parent.
Here are some things that young children sometimes do with stuffed animals or dolls. Please mark the actions that you have seen your child do.
Yes No
1. Put to bed.
2. Cover with blanket
3. Feed with bottle.
4. Feed with spoon.
5. Brush / comb its hair
6. Pat or burp it.
7. Push in stroller/ buggy
8. Rock it.
9. Kiss or hug it.
10. Try to put shoes or sock or hat on it.
11. Wipe its face or hands.
12. Talk to it.
13. Try to put a diaper on it.
Imitating Other Adult Actions (using real or toy implements)
Does your child do or try to do any of the following?
Yes No
1. Sweep with broom or mop.
2. Put key in door or lock.
3. Pound with hammer or mallet.
4. Attempt to use saw.
5. "Type" at a typewriter or computer keyboard.
6. "Read" (opens book, turns page)
7. Vaccuum.
8. Water plants.
9. Play musical instrument
10. "Drive" car by turning steering wheel.
11. Wash dishes.
12. Clean with cloth or duster.
13. Write with a pen, pencil, or marker.
14. Dig with shovel.
15. Put on glasses.
Pretend Objects.
During play, children sometimes use an object as a replacement for another. For example, a child wishing to feed a teddy bear might pretend that a block is an apple. A child might pretend that a bowl is a hat. Have you seen your child make substitutions of this kind? Yes___ No____
That concluded the assessment.
I want to add that "words" for many young children do include the SOUNDS they make. If your child is for example making the following sounds/words.... bee, dis, wow, up, ba ba, pa, ne ne, buh buh... then that counts as 8 different "words" or distinct sounds. What you do is watch your child and if they always say "puh puh" when they point to the same toy, then that is their "word" for that item. It can show a basis for speech and language when they are babbling, jargoning, and even just making consitent sounds like that. If your child is not hitting the milestones for their age group yet is making sounds take heart that they may be just late bloomers or that with early intervention they will blossom into talkers.
This assessment was being used for a 20 month old child.
If you have any concerns regarding your child's speech or lack of it, you should seek a screening clinic for speech and language, talk to your pediatrician, or nurse practicioner. This is not meant to be a full screening assessment, only an indicator for parents.
A. First Signs of Understanding
Before children begin to speak, they show signs of understanding language by responding to familiar words and phrases. Below are some common examples. Does your child do any of these?
1. Respond when name is called? (e.g. by turning and looking at source)
2. Respond to "no no" (by stopping what he/she is doing, at least for the moment).
3. React to "there's Mommy/Daddy by looking around for them.
B. Phrases
In the list below, please mark the phrases that your child seems to understand.
Are you hungry?
Are you tired/sleepy?
Be careful.
Be quiet
Clap your hands.
Change diaper.
Come here/come on.
Daddy's/Mommy's home.
Do you want more?
Don't do that.
Don't touch.
Get up.
Give it to Mommy.
Give me a hug.
Give me a kiss.
Go get _____.
Good girl/boy.
Hold still.
Let's go bye bye.
Look/ look here.
Open your mouth.
Sit down.
Spit it out.
Stop it.
Time to go night night.
Throw the ball.
This little piggy.
Want to go for a ride?
C. Starting to Talk
1. Some children like to "parrot" or imitate things that they've just heard (including new words that they are just learning, and/or parts of sentences, for example, repeating "work now" after mother says "Mommy's going to work now.") How often does your child imitate words? Never___ Sometimes___ Often___
2. Some children like to go around naming or labeling things, as though proud of knowing the names ans wanting to show this. How often does your child do this? Never___ Sometimes___Often___
D. Vocabulary Checklist
The following is a list of typical words in young children's vocabularies. For words your child understands but does not yet say, place a mark in the first column (understands). For words that your child not only understands but also uses, place a mark in the second column (understands and says). If your child uses a different pronunciation of a word (for example "raffe" for "giraffe" or "sketti" for "spaghetti") mark the word anyway. Remember, this is a "catalogue" of words that are used by many different children. Don't worry if your child knows only a few right now.
1. Sound effects and Animal Sounds
Understands Understands and says
baa baa
choo choo
cockadoodledoo
grr
meow
moo
ouch
quack quack
uh oh
vroom
woof woof
yum yum
2. Animal Names (real or toy)
Understands Understands and says
animal
bear
bee
bird
bug
bunny
butterfly
cat
chicken
cow
deer
dog
donkey
duck
elephant
fish
frog
giraffe
goose
horse
kitty
lamb
lion
monkey
mouse
owl
penguin
pig
pony
sheep
squirrel
teddy bear
tiger
turkey
turtle
3. Vehicles (real or toy)
(at this point I will just list the items, you make your "understands" and "understands and says" columns, ok? :)
airplane, bicycle, bus, car, firetruck, motorcycle, stroller, train, truck.
4. Toys
ball, balloon, block, book, bubbles, doll, pen, toy.
5. Food and drink
apple, banana, bread, butter, cake, candy, carrots, cereal, cheerios, cheese, chicken, coffee, cookie, drink, eg, fish, food, ice cream, juice, meat, milk, noodles, orange, pea, pizza, raisin, spaghetti, toast, water.
6. Clothing.
beads, bib, boots, button, coat, diaper, dress, hat, jacket, jeans, necklace, pajamas, pants, shirt, shoe, shorts, sock, sweater, zipper.
7. Body Parts.
arm, belly button, cheek, ear, eye, face, foot, finger, hair, hand, head, knee, leg, mouth, nose, owie/ boo boo, tooth, toe, tongue, tummy.
8. Furniture and Rooms.
bathroom, bathtub, bed, bedroom, chair, couch, crib, door, drawer, garage, high chair, kitchen, living room, oven, play pen, potty, refrigerator, rocking chair, sink, stairs, stove, table, tv, window.
9. Small Household Items.
blanket, bottle, bowl, box, broom, brush, clock, comb, cup, dish, fork, glass, glasses, hammer, keys, lamp, light, medicine, money, paper, penny, picture, pillow, plant, plate, purse, radio, scissors, soap, spoon, telephone, toothbrush, towel, trash, vaccuum, watch.
10. Outside Things and Places To Go.
backyard, beach, church, flower, garden, home, house, moon, outside, park, party, pool, rain, rock, school, shovel, sky, slide, snow, star, store, sun, swing, tree, water, work, zoo.
11. People.
aunt, baby, babysitter, babysitter's name, boy, brother, child, daddy, girl, grandma, grandpa, lady, man, mommy, child's own name, people, person, sister, teacher, uncle.
12. Games and Routines.
bath, breakfast, bye or bye bye, dinner, don't hello, hi, lunch, nap, night night, no, patty cake, peekaboo, please, shh/shush/ hush, thank you, wait, wanna/ want to/ yes.
13. Action Words.
bite, blow, break, bring, bump, clean, close, cry, dance, draw, drink, drive, eat, fall, feed, finish, get, give, go, help, hit, hug, hurry, jump, kick, kiss, look, love, open, play, pull, push, put, read, ride, run, say, see, show, sing, sleep, smile, splash, stop, swim, swing, take, throw, tickle, touch, watch, walk, wash, wipe, write.
14. Words About Time.
day, later, morning, night, now, today, tomorrow, tonight.
15. Descriptive Words.
all gone, asleep, bad, big, blue, broken, careful, clean, cold, cute, dark, dirty, dry, empty, fast, fine, gentle, good, happy, hard, hot, hungry, hurt, little, naughty, nice, old, pretty, red, scared, sick, sleepy, soft, thirsty, tired, wet, yucky.
16. Pronouns.
his, her, I, it, me, mine, my, that, this, you, your.
17. Question Words.
how, what, when, where, who, why.
18. Prepositions and Locations.
away, back, down, in, inside, off, on, out, there, under, up.
19. Quantifiers.
all, another, more, none, not, other, same, some.
PART 2 Actions and Gestures
A. First Communicative Gestures.
When infants are first learning to communicate, they often use gestures to make their wishes known. For each item below, mark the line that describes your child's actions right now.
Not yet Sometimes Often
1. Extends arm to show you something he/ she is holding.
2. Reaches out and gives you a toy or some object that he/she is holding.
3. Points (with arm and index finger extended) at some interesting object or event.
4. Waves bye bye on his/her own when someone leaves.
5. Extends his/her arm upward to signal a wish to be picked up.
6. Shakes head "no".
7. Nods head "yes".
8, Gestures "hush" by placing finger to lips.
9. Requests something by extending arm and opening and closing hand.
10. Blows kisses from a distance.
11. Smacks lips in a "yum yum" gesture to indicate that something taste good.
12. Shrugs to indicate "all gone" or "where did it go".
Games and Routines
Does your child do any of the following?
Yes No
1. Play peekaboo
2. Play patty cake.
3. Play so big.
4. Play chasing games.
5. Sing.
6. Dance.
Actions with Objects
Does your child do or try to do any of the following?
Yes No
1. Eat with a spoon or fork.
2. Drink from a cup containing liquid.
3. Comb or brush own hair.
4. Brush teeth.
5. Wipe face or hands with a towel or cloth.
6. Put on hat.
7. Put on a shoe or sock.
8. Put on a necklace, bracelet, or watch.
9. Lay head on hands and squeeze eyes shut as if sleeping.
10. Blow to indicate something is hot.
11. Hold plane and make it "fly".
12. Put telephone to ear.
13. Sniff flowers.
14. Push toy car or truck.
15. Throw a ball.
16. Pour pretend liquid from one container to another.
17. Stir pretend liquid in a cup or pan with a spoon.
Pretending to Be a Parent.
Here are some things that young children sometimes do with stuffed animals or dolls. Please mark the actions that you have seen your child do.
Yes No
1. Put to bed.
2. Cover with blanket
3. Feed with bottle.
4. Feed with spoon.
5. Brush / comb its hair
6. Pat or burp it.
7. Push in stroller/ buggy
8. Rock it.
9. Kiss or hug it.
10. Try to put shoes or sock or hat on it.
11. Wipe its face or hands.
12. Talk to it.
13. Try to put a diaper on it.
Imitating Other Adult Actions (using real or toy implements)
Does your child do or try to do any of the following?
Yes No
1. Sweep with broom or mop.
2. Put key in door or lock.
3. Pound with hammer or mallet.
4. Attempt to use saw.
5. "Type" at a typewriter or computer keyboard.
6. "Read" (opens book, turns page)
7. Vaccuum.
8. Water plants.
9. Play musical instrument
10. "Drive" car by turning steering wheel.
11. Wash dishes.
12. Clean with cloth or duster.
13. Write with a pen, pencil, or marker.
14. Dig with shovel.
15. Put on glasses.
Pretend Objects.
During play, children sometimes use an object as a replacement for another. For example, a child wishing to feed a teddy bear might pretend that a block is an apple. A child might pretend that a bowl is a hat. Have you seen your child make substitutions of this kind? Yes___ No____
That concluded the assessment.
I want to add that "words" for many young children do include the SOUNDS they make. If your child is for example making the following sounds/words.... bee, dis, wow, up, ba ba, pa, ne ne, buh buh... then that counts as 8 different "words" or distinct sounds. What you do is watch your child and if they always say "puh puh" when they point to the same toy, then that is their "word" for that item. It can show a basis for speech and language when they are babbling, jargoning, and even just making consitent sounds like that. If your child is not hitting the milestones for their age group yet is making sounds take heart that they may be just late bloomers or that with early intervention they will blossom into talkers.
This assessment was being used for a 20 month old child.