In this section:
- Ages and stages of speech, language and communication skills for 5 to 18 years
- When is it a language disorder?
- Developmental Language Disorder
Ages and stages
Children develop their speech, language and communication skills at different rates. However, knowing what is typical development can help you identify possible speech and language difficulties early.
Speech and Language UK have a handy set of ages and stages guidelines which can help you with this.
Below are some guidelines on how children typically develop their talking and understanding of words and sentences between these age ranges.
Some children struggle with learning to talk and understand words.
If you notice any of these things, talk to your child’s school or contact your local speech and language therapy helpline for advice. This is a confidential phone call with an experienced speech and language therapist. During the call, you will be given the opportunity to talk through your concerns and questions regarding your child’s development.
By 7 years old
Everyone develops skills at different rates, but typically children will be able to do the following:
- Focus on one thing longer without being reminded
- Follow and remember a story that is told over several days
- Understand long instructions, for example, ‘Put our toys back in the cupboard, go upstairs and find your swimming things’.
- Learn that the different words can mean the same thing, such as ‘minus’ and ‘take away’.
- Talk for lots of different reasons, such as to share complex ideas, to solve problems or to tell jokes.
- Use long sentences and put the correct endings on their words. For example ‘My teddy likes sitting on a bed because beds are softer’.
- Use words like ‘so’ and ‘because’ to join their sentences together. For example, ‘It’s my birthday so I’m staying up late’.
- Can take turns to talk in conversations with adults and children in lots of different situations, either with one person or in a group.
- Talk clearly so that unfamiliar people can understand them almost all of the time. They might still make mistakes in tricky words, like saying ‘spash’ instead of ‘splash’.
- Talk quite smoothly and don’t repeat the first sound in words or get ‘stuck’ trying to get a word out.
Possible signs to look out for that they may be struggling with learning to talk and understanding words include:
- Find it hard to learn and understand the meanings of words.
- Finds it hard to understand conversations about things in the past or future.
- Struggles to understand sentences that can mean more than one thing, such as ‘pull your socks up’.
- Only follows part of an instruction you give them, usually the beginning or end.
- Uses short sentences, often with words missing or in the wrong order.
- Finds it hard to make up stories.
- Struggling with learning at school but their teacher is unsure why.
- Struggling to make and keep friends.
By 11 years old
Everyone develops skills at different rates, but typically children will be able to do the following:
- Use sentences to link their ideas together, make predictions and draw conclusions.
- Use sentences that normally have between 8 and 10 words (although often their sentences can be much longer).
- Can make up a complicated story including lots of information about the characters and what happened.
- Can talk using more advanced words, such as ‘massive’, ‘enormous’ or ‘huge’ instead of ‘big’.
- Understand other points of view and show that they agree or disagree.
- Keep a conversation going by giving reasons and explaining choices.
- Start conversations with adults and children they don’t know.
- Understand long requests with lots of information in them. For example, ‘Please find the stripey bag at the top of my wardrobe and put it in the big cupboard in the kitchen’.
- Talk clearly so that everyone can understand them all the time.
- Talk quite smoothly and don’t repeat the first sound in words or get stuck trying to get a word out.
Possible signs to look out for that they may be struggling with learning to talk and understanding words include:
- Struggles to join in group conversations. This may be because they can’t keep up with the pace of the conversation or because they are unsure how to join in.
- Find it hard to make up stories.
- The child’s stories may be muddled, making them difficult to follow.
- The child may find it hard to learn and understand the meanings of words.
- Struggles to understand conversations about more complicated topics, especially about things in the past or future.
- Finds it hard to guess what will happen next.
- May be struggling to learn at school. They could find it hard to understand what it is they are supposed to be doing, even though they have been told.
By 14 years old
Everyone develops skills at different rates, but typically a young person will be able to do the following:
- Talk in longer sentences; usually 7-12 words or more.
- Join sentences together using a range of joining words, such as ‘meanwhile’, ‘however’, ‘except’ so that they can explain more complicated ideas.
- Be able to use sarcasm and know when others are being sarcastic to them.
- Be able to change topics well in conversations.
- Use more subtle and witty humour.
- Show some understanding of idioms, such as “put your money where your mouth is!’’.
- Know that they talk differently to friends than to teachers. They are able to adjust the way they are talking easily depending on who they are talking to.
- Understand and use slang terms with friends. They keep up with rapidly changing ‘street talk’.
Possible signs to look out for that they may be struggling with learning to talk and understanding words include:
- Difficulty giving specific answers or explanations.
- Difficulty telling their ideas in the right order.
- Is better at understanding individual instructions than group instructions.
- Finds it difficult to understand hidden meanings. For example, they wouldn’t understand that someone wants to close the window or turn up the heating when they say, ‘It’s a bit chilly in here!’.
- Finds long and complicated instructions hard to understand.
- Has trouble learning new words.
- Takes a long time to organise what they are going to say or write.
- Takes what others say literally. For example, they don’t understand that someone could take longer than one minute if they say, “I’ll be back in a minute”.
- Has difficulty taking turns in conversations.
- Talks to teachers and friends in the same way instead of adjusting their style of talking based on who they are talking to.
By 17 years old
Everyone develop skills at different rates, but typically a young person will be able to do the following:
- Follow long and complicated instructions.
- Know when they haven’t understood something. They will ask to be told again or will ask for something specific to be explained.
- Easily swap between ‘classroom’ talk and ‘break-time’ talk, adjusting their talking style based on who they are talking to.
- Tell long and very complicated stories.
Possible signs to look out for that they may be struggling with learning to talk and understanding words include:
- Has difficulty giving specific answers or explanations.
- Difficulty telling their ideas in the right order.
- Is better at understanding individual instructions than group instructions.
- Finds it difficult to understand hidden meanings. For example, they wouldn’t understand that someone wants to close the window or turn up the heating when they say, ‘It’s a bit chilly in here!’.
- Finds long and complicated instructions hard to understand.
- Has trouble learning new words.
- Takes a long time to organise what they are going to say or write.
- Takes what others say literally. For example, they don’t understand that someone could take longer than one minute if they say, “I’ll be back in a minute”.
- Has difficulty taking turns in conversations.
- Talks to teachers and friends in the same way instead of adjusting their style of talking based on who they are talking to.
From 18 years
Everyone develop skills at different rates, but typically a young person will be able to do the following:
- Be able to follow complex directions.
- Know when and why they don’t understand, and ask for help in a specific way: ‘Can you explain that to me again? I got the beginning but I didn’t understand the last step’.
- Be skilled in using a range of arguments to persuade others.
- Read and understand a wide variety of topics.
- Fully understand sarcasm and be able to use it well: ‘Lovely weather again!’
- Follow instructions with complex words, such as: ‘clarify’, ‘estimate’, ‘outline’.
- Use a good range of descriptive words and expressions e.g. ‘dynamic’ ‘complimentary’ ‘succinct’.
- Be able to use difficult joining words to make complex sentences, for example, ‘provided that’, ‘similarly’.
- Be able to tell long and complex stories making sure the listener understands the thread of the story throughout.
- Use spoken sentences of 9 to 13+ words on average.
- Be able to stay on one topic of conversation for long periods and move smoothly from one topic to another.
- Be able to switch easily between informal and formal styles of talking depending on the audience, for example, ‘Off to work now for a meeting with my boss. Seeing my mates after… Better watch my mouth with Sam’s mum – was a bit rude last time’.
Possible signs to look out for that they may be struggling with learning to talk and understanding words include:
- Has difficulty giving specific answers or explanations.
- Has difficulty telling their ideas in the right order.
- Is better at understanding individual instructions than group instructions.
- Finds it difficult to understand hidden meanings. For example, they wouldn’t understand that someone wants to close the window or turn up the heating when they say, ‘It’s a bit chilly in here!’
- Finds long and complicated instructions hard to understand.
- Has trouble learning new words.
- Takes a long time to organise what they are going to say or write.
- Takes what others say literally. For example, they don’t understand that someone could take longer than one minute if they say, “I’ll be back in a minute”.
- Has difficulty taking turns in conversations.
- Talks to senior colleagues or staff and their friends in the same way, instead of adjusting their style of talking based on who they are talking to.
Language disorder
Language disorder is a condition where:
- a child’s language difficulties are persisting beyond the age of 5 years and having a significant impact on their communication and or learning in everyday life
- past research indicates they are unlikely to catch up spontaneously
If the language disorder is associated with another known condition it is referred to as language disorder associated with X, where X is the known condition. A child may have a language disorder associated with autistic spectrum disorder, for example.
Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)
Children who have more persistent difficulties with language than other areas of learning and development, which are not likely to resolve by 5 years of age, and which are not associated with another condition, can be described as having Developmental Language Disorder (DLD).
These children may:
- develop communication skills in a different way to other children
- not make the expected progress, despite targeted intervention
What is DLD?
Developmental language disorder (DLD) is a brain difference that makes talking and understanding language difficult. It’s referred to as ‘the most common learning disability that no one has heard of’.
DLD can be described as a significant ongoing difficulty with talking or understanding what other people say, for which there is no obvious cause. It is a neurodevelopmental condition.
How is DLD diagnosed?
DLD is diagnosed by a speech and language therapist.
A child can be diagnosed with DLD if their language difficulties:
- are likely to carry on into adulthood
- are having a significant impact on their progress at school, or on their communication and well-being in everyday life
- mean they are unlikely to catch up without help
- cannot be explained by other conditions such as deafness or learning disabilities
How common is DLD?
Studies have shown that in five-year-olds, DLD affects about two children in every classroom (about seven per cent). This means that it is more common than autism.
What problems does DLD cause for a child?
The kind of difficulties a child or young person experience will vary depending on their age and stage of development.
In general, they will have difficulty:
- understanding spoken language
- putting their thoughts into words and sentences
For some children and young people, only using language is affected.
They may:
- find it difficult to understand and learn the meaning of words
- find it difficult to follow instructions
- find it difficult to answer questions
- struggle to learn or remember words they want to use
- struggle to join words together in a way that makes sense to others
- sound muddled; it can be difficult to follow what they are saying
- find it hard to join in and follow what is going on in the classroom and in the playground
The chart below from RADLD is called the DLD Bubble and shows the range of difficulties DLD can cause.
What is the impact of DLD?
DLD can affect all areas of life, including:
- learning
- communicating
- developing literacy skills
- making and keeping friends
- having a healthy mental and emotional wellbeing
Children with DLD may find it difficult to achieve academic success at school. Sometimes, children withdraw and become passive. Sometimes, difficulties and anxieties linked to DLD can be wrongly interpreted as misbehaviour.
DLD is a long term condition and difficulties can persist into and throughout adulthood.
RADLD has factsheets about Developmental Language Disorder available in several different languages.
What can I do to support a child with DLD?
Some things that are often helpful for children and young people with DLD are to:
- make things as visual as possible – use gestures, signing, pictures, drawing, diagrams, videos and showing to help your child to understand
- encourage your child to use visual strategies to get their message across
- use simple and repetitive language – expect to repeat things many times before your child learns to understand and use the language you are teaching
- make sure your child is given lots of time – they need time to process what is said to them and they need time to process what they want to say
- as your child gets older, support them in feeling confident in explaining their needs and asking for help
- if your child is diagnosed, attend a parent group called ‘DLD Together’ to learn more about DLD and what this means for your child.
The chart below from Moor House Institute gives some useful general strategies
DLD from a child’s point of view
The video below from Speech and Language UK gives you an insight as to how children view their own experience of DLD.
DLD for older children and young people
The DLD and Me website is a useful resource for older children and teens, as well as offering advice to parents and teachers. The video below gives an insight as to how a young person views their own experience of DLD.