ASK PINNACLE · QUESTIONS, EXPLANATIONS & NEXT STEPS
Speech Therapy
Explore explanations, everyday questions and next steps connected with speech therapy.
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Therapy & support
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Therapy & support
How can I encourage my child to make eye contact?
Encourage eye contact gently by making your face rewarding to look at — get to your child's level, bring toys near your eyes, use anticipation songs, follow their interest, and celebrate natural glances rather than commanding 'look at me'. Some children take longer, and a developmental check can lovingly explore this. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I encourage my child to start talking?
Encourage talking by filling your child's day with responsive language — narrating, following their lead, pausing for turns, reading, and rewarding every attempt to communicate. Connection, not pressure, grows first words. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I help my child move from babbling to first words?
Children move from babbling to first words through warm, back-and-forth talk — narrating daily life, pausing to let your child respond, treating babble as meaningful, and naming what they reach for, usually producing first words between 10 and 15 months. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerHow to Help Your Child Move From Cooing to Babbling
Babies move from cooing to babbling through warm, responsive talking — face-to-face chatter, copying and stretching their sounds, narrating the day, singing and reading. Turn-taking "serve-and-return" play gives the practice that grows vowels into repeated consonant-vowel babble around 6–9 months. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I help my child move from pointing and gestures to using words?
Children move from gestures to words when adults respond to each point by naming what the child means, pause expectantly to invite a word, offer spoken choices, and use short, repeated words in playful daily moments — keeping gestures as a partner to words, never forcing speech. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerFrom short sentences to back-and-forth conversation
Children move from short sentences to true back-and-forth conversation through everyday, playful turn-taking: wait silently after speaking, follow your child's lead, expand what they say by one or two words, and mix comments in with questions so chats bounce back and forth. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I help my child move from single words to two-word phrases?
Children move from single words to two-word phrases once they have around 50 words, usually between 18 and 24 months. Parents can help by expanding what their child says, offering choices, pairing action and object words, and pausing to give time to respond — all through playful everyday moments. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I help my child move from two-word phrases to short sentences?
Children move from two-word phrases to short sentences when adults expand what they say — replying to "more milk" with "you want more milk" — and model phrases just one word longer than the child's, woven through narration, choices, books, songs and patient pauses. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I help my child tell the teacher what they need?
Help your child tell the teacher what they need by teaching simple, reliable ways to ask — short spoken scripts, picture or signal cards, and naming needs at home — then agreeing the same cues with the teacher so they work in class. Praise every attempt to build confidence. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I improve my child's communication skills at home?
You can strengthen your child's communication at home through warm, responsive everyday moments: follow their lead, get face to face, pause to give them a turn, respond to every attempt and gently add a word. The back-and-forth matters more than perfect words, and screens are no substitute for real faces. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I nurture my child's Communication development?
Nurture communication by weaving responsive, everyday talk into your child's day — following their lead, pausing for turn-taking, narrating activities, expanding their words, and reading and singing together. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I support AAC goals at home?
You support AAC at home by treating the device or board as your child's real voice — modelling it yourself, keeping it always within reach, honouring every communication attempt, and weaving low-pressure practice into daily routines alongside your therapist's goals. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I support communication development in my 12-to-18-month-old?
You support communication in a 12-to-18-month-old through everyday playful talking — narrating your day, naming what they see, pausing to let them respond, following their lead, and warmly answering every babble, point and gesture. At this age gestures, pointing and babbling matter as much as clear words. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I support communication development in my 18-to-24-month-old?
Communication in 18-to-24-month-olds grows through rich, responsive everyday talk: follow your child's lead, narrate daily routines, pause to let them take a turn, expand their words, read and sing together, and honour gestures as real communication. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I support communication development in my 2-year-old?
Support a 2-year-old's communication through everyday playful talk: narrate your day, follow your child's lead, read and sing together daily, pause to invite turn-taking, expand on their words, and limit screens. Seek a friendly developmental check if your child uses very few words, isn't combining two words, doesn't respond to their name, or has lost words. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I support communication development in my 3-to-6-month-old?
Communication in a 3-to-6-month-old is supported through warm, responsive 'serve and return' interaction — talking, singing, taking turns, face-to-face time and responding to every coo and cry. Babies this age learn that communication works, not words. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I support communication development in my 3-year-old?
You can support a 3-year-old's communication by talking and listening often, narrating daily routines, following their lead, reading together, and giving time to respond — while limiting screens. Most 3-year-olds combine 3–4 words and are understood by familiar adults; a developmental check helps if your child rarely combines words or is hard to understand. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I support communication development in my 4-year-old?
Support a 4-year-old's communication through rich everyday talk, open questions, daily reading, pretend play and giving them time to reply, while expanding rather than correcting their words. By four most children speak in sentences and are understood by others; seek a check if speech is hard to understand or conversation is limited. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I support communication development in my 5-year-old?
Support a 5-year-old's communication through rich, everyday back-and-forth talk — reading together, narrating play, asking open questions, giving wait time and expanding rather than correcting. Most children this age speak clearly, tell short stories and follow multi-step instructions. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I support communication development in my 6-to-9-month-old?
Support a 6-to-9-month-old's communication through warm, responsive everyday interaction — babbling back, narrating your day, singing, reading together and following your baby's lead, with no screens. These serve-and-return moments build the brain for language. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerHow to support communication in a 6-year-old
Support a 6-year-old's communication through rich, two-way conversation, reading aloud and discussing stories, storytelling and sequencing, word games and modelling fuller language. At this age children build longer, connected sentences and classroom discussion skills. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerHow to Support Communication in a 9-to-12-Month-Old
Support communication in a 9-to-12-month-old through warm, face-to-face everyday moments: respond to babble, narrate your day, name what your baby looks at, play social games like peek-a-boo, read and sing together, and keep screens away. Responsiveness matters far more than toys. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I support communication development in my newborn?
You support a newborn's communication by responding warmly to their cries and coos, talking and singing through daily care, and making lots of face-to-face eye contact — there is nothing to test or train at this age, only loving connection. The one early check worth noting is the newborn hearing screen. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I support my child's communication development at home?
You support your child's communication at home by talking with them through everyday moments, following their interests, pausing to let them respond, and treating every sound and gesture as a real attempt to connect — with reading, singing and face-to-face play woven through the day. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
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