Receptive Language in 18 Month Old

I won't type this in 'all caps', but seriously-- **do not worry about this**. I have worked with kiddos and babies for a long time. Over the years, people have become extremely worried that their babies aren't 'catching on' fast enough. The whole concept of developmental milestones is supposed to be more of a loose guide, with a tolerance of one or two months on each end (from my understanding and from what I've witnessed over the years, most kids do fall into this spectrum, some earlier and some quite a bit later); instead, pediatricians and parents get worried if their babies aren't exactly where the chart says they are supposed to be.

Read to your child, when you can, from simple books with very simple text. Often, just identifying the things in your world is the very best way to provide rich language exposure. One of the things I do with babies and toddlers is narrating our life. This prepares them for transitions, involves them in what's happening to them, and offers up lots of whole language. "It's time to change your diapers. Here, I'm going to get a diaper out for you. Do you want to hold it? You are holding the diaper in your hands. Here we are at the changing table. Let's lie down. Time to take off the wet diaper..." etc. etc. etc. Describing what's happening in real time gives meaning, even if they can't repeat things back.

Another fun thing to do is to take a 'tour' around your house, holding the child at times to look into a cupboard "Here are the plates. A tall stack of plates. These plates are blue." or "Here is the window. Let's look out the window. I see a big tree, right there. The tree is so tall."

Lastly, I don't know all that many 16 month olds who could pick out the appropriate flash card for the question you mentioned. Most kids at that age would just want to grab the card and explore it, put it in their mouth or bend it, or put it into something. It sounds like if your child makes the connection of wanting a drink and going to to get a cup, he's fine! :)

He sounds awesome and bright. Oh, and right on target. ::thumbs up::

Your little one sounds perfectly fine for his age.

I think this is one area that to many parents over think. It's easy to do, but as a mom with a child who did have severe learning and language issues I can say that every child is different. A lot of time what is asked in early interventions is not 'realistic'. Most children can only do what you describe at that age.

These links are not medical links but are helpful. There are so many others online to just compare your child with but remember they develop on their own at their own rate. My first one was 6 weeks early too and by one year old he was pretty much caught up according to doctors. They told me by 12 months they are pretty much not 'preemie' anymore.
http://www.babycenter.com/0_milestone-chart-13-to-18-mont...

http://www.babyzone.com/toddler/toddler-month-by-month/to...

The fact that he does things like head to the right location when you mention something -- to his room for a diaper change, to the kitchen for a drink, and so on -- is great. Not only does he understand what you are saying, he is taking the next step and acting based on his past experience of what your statements mean will happen next. This is totally on track and very good. He understands that when he hears statement X, then action Y in place Z is what always follows. Can you see how that's good?

I bet that if you sit down with him and some books and you point and say, "That boy has a ball" and so on, after a few times when you say, "Where's the boy with the ball?" he'll point right to it. If not, it'll happen very soon. Don't focus too hard on getting him to "perform on command," though.

The very best things you can do for him at this age: Read to him a LOT, even the simplest picture books, and some books that may seem a bit advanced for him. And talk to and around him a lot as well, even if you feel you're doing a running babble on insignificant things. Children need to hear words a great deal at this age even if they do not fully understand the words being used.

He's doing just fine.

Have you asked him? You don't have to get out flashcards or anything like that, but maybe "read" the pictures in his favorite picture book. "Who has a ball?" "Who is drinking?" "Where is the dog?" "Do you see the clouds?"

If he does know, it'll ease your mind. If he doesn't, it's good practice.

Plus, it's a fun way to look at books with a kid. As they grow, they might notice things in the pictures you don't - you can look for books with increasingly complicated or detailed illustrations.

I think he's doing fine.

My son was five weeks Preemie. My son is Autistic. At 16 months, he was making complete sentences and such. Then my ex left, and he didn't speak until he was three. I had him evaluated at the SELF building in our county, then had him go to school there for three years.

I always read to him, played storybook records(yeah, I'm old-fashioned), and classical music on the radio. I still do. That said, standard evaluations put my son behind all of his milestones.

He is in first grade now. The school just did their STAR reading testing. He scored 2.7, which is the equivalent of reading second grade level. He went up from Kindergarten reading level in seven months. He's still behind in his milestones according to standard testing.

What does this tell you?

It tells me that the standards are skewed heavily to make parents push their kids way too hard.

Something about "No Child Left Behind" stinks.

I for one, will let my son be a little boy while he is a little boy, and to hell with milestones.

Just my 2 cp.

He sounds fine. You can't take one or two examples of tests done by early intervention and think that they might be issues that apply to your child. I am sure your friend had other concerns that maybe she is not telling you about.