Screening 2-and 3-year-old children's communication skills

What is it about?

This paper looks at how we screen toddlers’ (2- and 3-year-olds) communication skills. Toddlers who have difficulty with their communication development can go on to have speech sound and/or language disorders. However, it can be challenging to know which toddlers will need support in the future. We reviewed 101 studies and found 114 unique tools that were reported to be used to screen 2- and 3-year-olds' communication skills. We found screening occurred more commonly with 2-year-olds, compared to 3-year-olds, and that most tools screened children’s first words (expressive vocabulary and/or the ability to use 2 or 3 words together). When tools looked at children’s speech sound development, most tools examined how easy it is to understand children in conversation (intelligibility). Screening was mainly performed using tools that asked parents questions about their child’s communication skills, rather than directly testing the child’s speech and language abilities. We need to consider the age at which early years screening happens, because existing tools are largely missing 3-year-old screening or they’re screening skills that may miss the speech and language features in 3-year-old development. For children who are starting to use sentences to communicate, we should consider what skills being screened and how they are being tested. Using parent report questions may miss speech and language difficulties that start to be seen around 3 years of age.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

This research highlights a gap in how we screen toddlers' speech and language skills beyond first words. Children who have difficulties with speech and language in the early years may experience a speech sound and/or language disorder in the future. This can impact their listening and speaking skills, and they can have difficulties with learning at school. Around 3 years of age, children are starting to use longer, adult-like sentences and saying the sounds in words more correctly. If screening tools used with 3-year-old children mainly focus on how many words the child says, or how easily they can be understood when they talk, then we may miss children who have speech and language difficulties. It is important to identify children at risk of ongoing speech and language difficulties as early as possible, so they can receive support to develop their communication skills.