Preverbal Skills That Lead to Talking Part 3
- Tamara Gonzalez-Scheulov
- Oct 25
- 19 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
From the moment a baby is born, they are building the skills that prepare them to talk. These are called prelinguistic skills or preverbal skills. They are the ways children communicate before they have words. Examples include eye contact, gestures, facial expressions, imitation, and joint attention. These early abilities set the stage for children to be ready to talk.
Prelinguistic skills form the foundation for understanding and using words later on. For example, when a child looks at a parent’s face and listens to their voice, they have more chances to hear words and connect them with meaning. If a child doesn’t look or attend, they may miss those opportunities to learn language. Joint attention is another important step. When you and your child look at the same thing together, like watching a dog out the window while you say “dog”, your child learns to connect words with real things in their world.
When prelinguistic skills are weak or slow to develop, children may have more difficulty learning to talk and interact. Supporting these early skills gives children the best possible start for language development.
3 Key Stages of Prelinguistic Development
This three-part blog series explores the foundational prelinguistic skills that prepare kids for talking.
These skills are widely recognized across the field of early intervention, and many play-based assessments look closely at them when evaluating a child’s early communication and social development.
To make this information easier for parents and caregivers to follow, I’ve organized the skills into three themes, or stages of development, which unfold gradually as children grow.
Part 1: Becoming Socially Connected – Skills that help children notice and connect with people.
Part 2: Building Engagement and Attention – Skills that help children stay involved, share focus, and learn through play.
Part 3: Moving Toward Intentional Communication – Skills that prepare children to use sounds, gestures, and eventually words on purpose.
Adapted from Laura Mize’s 11 prelinguistic skills (2017)
Moving Towards Intention Communication
In the third part of this series, we’ll look at five prelinguistic skills that help children move toward intentional communication. I
ntentional communication is the ability to use actions, sounds, or words on purpose to request, refuse, or comment on what’s happening in their world.
As children build these prelinguistic skills, they are getting ready to use words in a meaningful and purposeful way.
Prelinguistic Skill | Focus |
Understands early words & follows simple directions | Receptive language |
Vocalizes with intent | Expressive language; Intentional communication |
Imitates actions, gestures, sounds & words | Imitation; Learning through modeling |
Uses early gestures like waving and pointing | Nonverbal communication; Intentional communication |
Initiates and maintains interaction with others | Early conversation skills |
Understands Early Words and Follows Simple Directions
This prelinguistic skill is all about how children understand what you say. In speech-language therapy, this is called receptive language.
Children need to build strong receptive language skills before they can begin to use those words to communicate. Yet this area is often overlooked or not directly targeted in early intervention, even though it plays a critical role in laying the foundation for talking.
Developmental Milestones for Understanding Words
Age | Receptive Language | Example |
6–9 months | Responds to own name; recognizes “no.” | Turns head when you call their name |
9–12 months | Understands familiar words like mama, dada, or common objects | Looks at the ball by the door when you say “Ball!” |
12 months | Follows simple one-step directions with gestures | You say “Give me the ball” while holding out your hand, and they hand it to you. |
15 months | Understands about 50 words; shows understanding of many familiar words in daily life | Walks to their shoes when you say “Go get your shoes,” or points to their feet when you ask “Where are your feet?” |
18 months | Follows simple one-step directions without gestures | You say “come sit” by the door, and they come over and sit. |
24 months | Understands simple two-step related commands | “Get your shoes and bring them to me" and completes both steps |
30–36 months | Understands simple who, what, where questions | “Where’s your jacket?” and child points to or brings their jacket |
Milestones adapted from the MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventories (Fenson et al., 1994; 2007), guidance from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), and the CDC’s Developmental Milestones (2022).
What The Research Says
Understanding comes first
Receptive language (understanding) develops ahead of expressive language (talking). Children must connect meaning to words before they can use them. In general, your toddler will understand many more words than they can actually say. A strong base of understanding makes it easier for vocabulary to grow
Vocabulary spurt
Once a child understands and uses around 50 words, their language often takes off. This exciting stage is often called a vocabulary spurt or naming explosion and usually happens between 18 and 24 months of age.
During this stage, toddlers shift from learning words slowly to picking up 1 to 2 new words each day. This is also the time when they begin combining words into short 2 word phrases (like “more milk” or “go park”).
Learning happens through social interaction and hands on experience.
Research shows that toddlers build vocabulary in the context of everyday social interactions or when you’re face-to-face, playing, or moving through daily routines together.
This kind of experiential learning allows children to connect words with real actions and objects. Language mapping” is strongest when children can connect words to real experiences through multiple senses like seeing, hearing, touching, or doing. For example, you might say “stir the soup” while handing your child a spoon and helping them stir. Children with vision or hearing differences rely more on their other senses, but the principle is the same.
Language sticks best when it’s tied to real, hands-on experiences.
SLP Tips: How to Encourage This Skill
Keep it simple
Use short, clear sentences with words your child already knows. Break directions into small steps, such as saying “Get your shoes” and waiting until they finish before adding “Now get your hat.” Pause after you give a direction so your child has time to process what you said, and try to reduce distractions or background noise so they can focus more easily.
Practice following directions with familiar routines
Children learn best when language is predictable. Incorporate simple one step directions into your daily routines so your child starts to connect the words with the actions. For example, you might always say “Throw your food away in the garbage” after meals, or “Go get your shoes” before going outside.
Over time, children remember these repeated routines and begin to link the directions to their meaning. Once they are ready, you can begin combining directions with words like first and then, such as “First get your shoes, then get your hat.”
Highlight key words
Choose a few important words to repeat often during everyday activities. This strategy is also known as focused stimulation, which helps children hear the same word many times in natural situations, like saying “cup” as you hand, hold, and use the cup during snack time.
It is also helpful to emphasize core vocabulary words such as more, go, stop, up, help, and open, since these are useful across many different routines and settings.
Provide visual cues
Children often understand best when you pair your words with something they can see. This is called visual cueing.
Gestures, pointing, and real objects help make directions clear and concrete. You might act out what you want your child to do ( i.e., picking up a toy while saying “Put it in the box”) or you may show pictures, books, or photos to introduce new words and ideas.
When words are supported visually, children are more likely to connect them to meaning.
Make it playful
Play is one of the best ways for children to learn new words and practice following directions.
Outdoor play gives you lots of chances to model action words like run, jump, climb, or splash. Indoor play is perfect for practicing position words like in, on, under, or next to by using blocks, cars, or stuffed animals.
You can also weave in games that build listening and direction-following, such as Simon Says, Red Light, Green Light, or I Spy. These playful routines help children connect words with actions in a fun, natural way.
Encourage and repeat, repeat, repeat
You may notice a common theme across these tips - children learn through repetition.
Whether in routines, play, or practice, hearing words again and again helps them stick. Children need to hear words and directions many times before they fully understand them.
Repeat important words often and give your child chances to show their understanding by pointing, fetching an item, or responding with a gesture. Celebrate their efforts, even if the response is not perfect, to keep their confidence growing.
Vocalizes with Intent
This skill is all about your child learning that their voice matters. At first, babies may make random noises, but over time they discover, “I can make sounds on purpose to get your attention!” That’s a huge step toward communication.
Children typically move through a continuum of stages as they learn to use their voices. Each step builds on the one before it, leading toward meaningful words:
From Vocal Play to First Words
Stage | What It Looks Like | Why It Matters |
Vocal Play | Squealing, cooing, growling, making silly noises | Children discover their voices and practice controlling pitch, volume, and sound. |
Canonical Babbling | Repeated syllables like ba-ba-ba or da-da-da | Shows coordination of mouth, tongue, and voice in a speech-like way. |
Variegated Babbling | Mixed sounds like ba-da-ma or ga-ka-ba; “jargon” speech with rhythm and intonation | Babbling becomes more complex and begins to sound like pretend talking. |
Intentional Vocalization | Vocalizing on purposelooking at you and saying “ba!” or babbling while handing a toy | This is when sound turns into communication. |
First Words | Consistent, meaningful sounds like mama, dada, ball, bye | Words emerge once children understand their meaning and learn how to use them intentionally to communicate. |
Why it Matters
Vocalizing with intent is important because it marks the shift from making sounds just for fun to using the voice on purpose to connect with others. This is one of the earliest signs that a child understands communication is two-sided - “I make a sound, you respond.”
Every time a child vocalizes intentionally, they are practicing the back-and-forth rhythm that eventually leads to using real words.
SLP Tips to Encourage Vocalization
Engage in Vocal Play
Get noisy yourself! Use fun sounds throughout the day - slurp your drink, grunt as you open a jar, make silly animal noises, pretend to sneeze, or “vroom” toy cars. Kids love when adults exaggerate sounds, and it invites them to try making sounds too.
Pair Sounds with Actions
Link silly sounds to what you’re doing - say “uh-oh!” when something drops, “mmm!” during snack time, or “shhh” while rocking. When sounds are tied to real experiences, children are more likely to copy and use them.
Imitate Their Sounds and Babbles
If your child makes a sound or babbles, copy it! This back-and-forth “sound imitation game” shows them that their noises are meaningful and can start a conversation. Even if it’s just ba-ba-ba or mmm, your response encourages them to keep going and builds the foundation for real words.
Shake Things Up
Sometimes kids need a little change to get their voices going. “Shaking things up” might mean adding movement, like bouncing, spinning, or dancing, to help wake up their bodies and encourage vocal play. It can also mean changing the setting, like moving to bath time, playing outside, or exploring a different room. Even small changes in movement or setting can spark fresh sounds and playful vocalizations.
Use Exaggerated Pauses
After you make a sound or imitate your child, pause and look expectantly. That silence gives them a chance to take a “turn.” Many children will fill the gap with a sound.
Interpret Their Message
Even if your child’s sound isn’t clear, treat it as meaningful.
If they grunt while reaching for bubbles, you might say, “Bubbles! You want bubbles!” This shows them their voice has power and encourages them to keep trying.
The Hanen Centre emphasizes this approach in their parent programs, reminding us that when adults respond warmly to a child’s vocalizations, it helps build the foundation for intentional communication.
See Hanen’s printable guide below:
Imitates actions, gestures, sounds & words
During the toddler years, especially around age two, a child’s ability to imitate takes off. You’ll often see a big leap in how they copy sounds, gestures, and actions.
This explosion of imitation is part of how they learn about the world and begin navigating social relationships.
Little Steps to Big Words
Children usually learn to imitate in a step-by-step way, almost like climbing the rungs of a ladder. Each step prepares them for the next skill, moving them closer to using words with meaning.
Climbing the Imitation Ladder
Step 1: Object Imitation
Children begin by copying what you do with toys or household items. You stir with a spoon, they stir with a spoon. You push a car, they push a car. These playful exchanges show that your child is starting to learn by watching and doing.
Step 2: Body Imitation
Next, children start to imitate your movements. These might be big actions like rolling in the grass, running in the playground, or jumping on the bed. They can also be smaller gestures like pointing, waving, or using early baby signs like “more” or “all done”.
Step 3: Oral-Motor Imitation
Children then learn to copy oral-motor actions. They may blow kisses, stick out their tongue, or chomp like an alligator. This step gives them important practice controlling the lips, tongue, and mouth muscles they’ll later need for talking.
Step 4: Sound Imitation
Children begin copying the fun sounds you model. These often come from play and everyday life and include:
Animal sounds (e.g., moo, meow, woof, roar)
Vehicle sounds (e.g., vroom, beep beep, choo-choo)
Environmental sounds (e.g., pop, ding-dong, shhh, boom)
Silly play sounds (e.g., fake coughs, fake sneezes, panting like a dog, blowing raspberries)
Practicing these kinds of sounds helps children connect their voice to the world around them and builds the bridge to word imitation.
Step 5: Word Imitation
Finally, children begin copying real words. At first, these imitations tend to fall into a few simple, meaningful categories:
Exclamatory words: Fun words full of emotion like yay, uh-oh, wow, wee.
Verbal Routine words: Predictable fillers in songs and games like go! (“Ready, set…go!”) or boo! (“Peekaboo!”).
Functional words: Everyday words that help them communicate needs and ideas, such as milk, up, more, ball.
Parent Tips: How to Encourage This Skill
Meet Your Child Where They’re At
Children learn imitation in steps, so it helps to start at the level they’re showing now.
If your child is clapping but not yet copying words, keep practicing body movements first. Once they master one step, they’ll be better prepared for the next.
Practice Through Play
Play is one of the most natural ways to teach imitation because children are motivated and having fun.
Join their play and model simple actions or sounds. If they’re playing with animals, you might say “moo” as the cow jumps in the barn, or “neigh” as the horse gallops. These playful routines give your child lots of chances to copy.
Copy What They Do
Surprise your child by imitating them!
If they bang on the table, you bang too. If they squeal, you squeal back. This “reciprocal imitation” helps children realize that copying is part of communication. It can also motivate them to try imitating you in return.
Try Mirror Play
Mirrors are powerful tools for imitation. Make silly faces, blow kisses, or practice animal sounds together in front of the mirror. With fewer distractions and a clear view of your face, children can focus and are more likely to copy.
Model Actions and Big Body Movements
Use songs, rhymes, and books that encourage movement to help your child imitate both gestures and whole-body actions.
Try songs like If You’re Happy and You Know It, Wheels on the Bus, Open, Shut Them, or A Ram Sam Sam.
Use action books like From Head to Toe (Eric Carle) or I Can Do It! to model big movements like clapping, stomping, waving, or bending.
Exaggerate your motions to make it easier for them to notice, anticipate, and join in.
Model Play Sounds During Everyday Routines
Encourage purposeful vocalization by modeling fun sounds throughout your daily routines:
Say “mmmm!” when your child eats a food they like.
Exaggerate “uh-oh!” when something drops.
Make “vroom!” sounds while pushing toy cars.
Pretend to sneeze (“ah-choo!”), knock (“knock-knock!”), or pop bubbles (“pop!”).
Add simple exclamations like “wow!”, “yay!”, or “oops!” during play.
Children learn best through repetition and excitement. When you use playful sounds tied to real actions, they begin to realize that using their voice has a purpose.
Use an Expectant Pause
Children learn best when you show them what to do and then give them space to try. Model a simple action, sound, or word, then pause with an expectant look, like leaning in, widening your eyes, or smiling, so your child knows it’s their turn. This wait time helps them process and encourages them to imitate, even if it’s just a small sound, gesture, or action at first.
It is worth the wait!
When you stop right before the fun part, you’re creating a natural opportunity for your child to imitate words or sounds they already know well through repetition.
Incorporate Verbal Routines and Scripts
Rehearse short, predictable word patterns during play or daily routines, then pause to let your child fill in the blank. These verbal routines make it easier for children to anticipate what comes next and take a turn.
Examples include:
“Ready, set… go!”
“1, 2… 3!”
“1, 2, 3… "wee!” (while pushing on a swing or going down a slide)
Model Core Vocabulary
Model simple, meaningful words that your child can use across different routines, such as mama, dada, bye-bye, more, all done, no, up, help, open, and go.
Use these words often, emphasize them in short phrases, and show what they mean with gestures or actions. Then, expectantly wait for your child to imitate. Lean forward, widen your eyes, smile, and pause. Your body language tells them, “It’s your turn!”
When you set the stage like this, children often follow through with much greater success than when we don’t intentionally pause or signal that it’s their turn to try.
Uses Gestures
Gestures are one of the earliest ways babies communicate before they can use words. They are visible signals of intentional communication - your child’s way of saying, “Look!” or “I want that!” long before speech begins.
Common early gestures include reaching, pointing, waving, clapping, shaking the head “no,” and lifting arms to be picked up. Each gesture shows your child is beginning to understand that their actions have meaning and can influence others.
Developmental Progression of Gestures
Why it matters
Gestures bridge the gap between nonverbal communication and spoken language.
Research shows that children who use a variety of gestures in the first two years often develop larger vocabularies later on. Gestures and words develop together. When you see new gestures emerge, you’re watching your child’s expressive language grow.
Gestures also show shared understanding. When your child points to a plane in the sky and looks at you, it’s a social invitation: “Did you see that too?” That shared moment lays the groundwork for conversations.
SLP Tips: How to Encourage This Skill
Model Everyday Gestures
Use gestures naturally throughout your day. Wave when saying “hi” and “bye,” point to objects as you name them, nod for “yes,” and shrug for “I don’t know.” Children learn gestures the same way they learn words, through repetition and real-life modeling.
Pair Gestures with Words
Always say the word as you use the gesture. This helps your child connect the movement with meaning. For example:
Wave and say, “Bye-bye!”
Point and say, “Look, dog!”
Tap your chest and say, “Me!”When gestures and words go together, language learning speeds up.
Respond to Your Child’s Gestures
If your child reaches or points, respond right away with words that describe what they mean. For example, if they point at the fridge, you might say, “You want juice!” or “You see the fridge!” When adults notice and respond to gestures, children realize their actions have communicative power. This keeps them motivated to communicate more.
Add Simple Baby Signs
For children who are not yet talking, introducing a few functional baby signs (like more, all done, help, eat, drink) can reduce frustration and encourage communication. Signs are gestures with meaning. They don’t replace talking but support it by helping children express themselves before speech emerges.
Play Games That Encourage Imitating Gestures
Interactive routines like Peek-a-Boo, Pat-a-Cake, or If You’re Happy and You Know It are filled with fun, repetitive gestures that invite your child to copy what you do. These simple games create predictable patterns that help your child anticipate what’s coming next and practice imitating movements.
Try these playful ideas:
Pantomime actions that go with toys during play. Drive a car, rock a baby doll, or stir with a spoon.
Move your body to music. Stomp, kick, march, dance, swing your arms, or bounce together.
Play “copy me” games. Touch your nose, pat your head or tummy, wiggle your fingers, or tap your knees.
Demonstrate animal movements. leap like a frog, gallop like a horse, or flap like a bird.
Model simple social gestures: shake your head “no,” nod “yes,” wave “hi” or “bye,” blow kisses, give high-fives, or hold your hands out with a surprised face as if to say, “Where did it go?”
Slow down your actions. Include a gentle pause with an expectant look to give your child a chance to take a turn.
Use Books and Songs
Point to pictures as you read and exaggerate gestures during songs, like pretending to drive for “The Wheels on the Bus.” This combination of rhythm, repetition, and movement reinforces learning through multiple senses.
Offer Choices and Accept Early Attempts
When offering your child choices, accept any form of intentional communication at first, such as an eye gaze toward the preferred object, a reach, or a point.
These early gestures show your child is learning that their actions have meaning. You can model more advanced gestures by pointing yourself and labeling what you see (“You want this one! Look, cup!”).
Over time, this modeling helps your child move from whole-body movements to more precise pointing.
Encourage “Showing” and “Giving”
When your child brings or shows you something, they’re essentially saying, “Look!", a key step toward pointing and sharing attention. These moments are precious opportunities to build communication.
Show interest rather than taking the object away.
Model gestures by pointing and commenting: “What’s that? Oh, a ball!”
Offer your hand to receive what your child is holding, then quickly give it back to keep the interaction going.
The goal here isn’t to teach sharing, it’s to teach shared experiences. Use toys your child likes but doesn’t love to encourage back-and-forth exchanges.
You can also model tapping or pointing to draw attention. Tap your finger or fingernail on a picture, toy, or book as you say the word. The light sound can be motivating for toddlers, and many will begin to imitate tapping to explore cause and effect.
SLP Insight
Gestures are communication in motion. When we see a child pointing, showing, or waving, they’re practicing the very skills needed for language: attention, imitation, turn-taking, and intention.
If gestures are limited or absent by 12 months, or if pointing hasn’t emerged by 15 months, it’s a good idea to consult a speech-language pathologist for individualized support.
Initiates Interaction with Others
One of the most exciting milestones in early communication is when a child begins to start the interaction - not just respond to you. This shows a major developmental leap. Your child is learning that they can influence others and that communication goes both ways.
It’s natural to want to meet your child’s needs right away, but when we anticipate everything for them, we accidentally take away their chance to start the communication themselves. Initiation happens when your child takes the first step, by looking, reaching, or vocalizing, to show you what they want.
Learning to watch and wait is the key. Try to notice when your child might want something and pause just long enough to see how they’ll express it. That pause gives them a chance to try, even if it’s just an eye gaze, a reach, or a little sound.
Finding the right balance takes practice.
Jumping in too soon means your child never gets the chance to initiate.
Waiting too long can lead to frustration or shut-down, especially for toddlers who are shy or easily overwhelmed.
The sweet spot is when your child is “almost” initiating. You can see they want something but haven’t quite shown you how. Step in and help them follow through. When they make any attempt, reward it right away. Give them what they want as soon as they try to communicate. This teaches them that using their actions or voice works! and encourages them to try again.
Why this skill matters
Initiation starts nonverbally, through eye gaze, reaching, or movement, long before words appear. Every time your child starts an interaction and you respond, you’re showing them that communication is powerful, purposeful, and worth trying again.
Parent Tips: How to Encourage This Skill
Watch, Wait, and Respond Quickly
Be alert to small signals such as eye gaze, reaching, or moving closer to something.
These early attempts are the beginnings of communication. Wait just a few seconds to see how your child will show you what they want, and when they try, respond warmly and right away.
Fast, positive responses reinforce the idea that “when I try to communicate, people listen!”
Use Communication Temptations
Create natural reasons for your child to start an interaction. These small obstacles or surprises invite them to communicate first.
Try:
Placing favorite toys in sight but out of reach
Using clear containers or zip-top bags that your child can’t open alone
Giving only part of what they need (like the paper but not the crayons)
Stopping a fun activity suddenly (like bubbles or a wind-up toy) and waiting for them to signal “more”
Holding one piece of a toy set so they need to ask for the next
At first, accept any request, eye gaze, reach, or pulling your hand. Then model a simple gesture or word (e.g., “help,” “more,” or “open”) to show them how to express it next time.
Build Waiting into Daily Routines
Add small pauses into songs, games, and routines to give your child a turn to start the next action.Pause after “Ready, set…” and wait for a look or sound before saying “Go!” Stop halfway through The Wheels on the Bus or Itsy Bitsy Spider and see if your child gestures or vocalizes for you to continue.
Recognize and Reward Early Efforts
When your child makes any attempt to initiate, no matter how subtle, treat it as meaningful. Smile, imitate them, or describe what they’re communicating: “You want help!” or “You see the balloon!” When targeting this particular goal, Give them what they’re asking for as soon as possible so they learn that communication gets results.
But what if it’s a definite no?
For example, something unsafe or not an option? Still acknowledge their request (“I see you want the scissors - that’s not safe”) and then redirect to something acceptable (“You can cut with this play-dough tool instead”). Ignoring or dismissing the attempt can discourage future communication, while recognizing and redirecting keeps your child motivated to keep trying.
Choose Motivating Activities
Children communicate best when they really want something. Use high-interest toys and routines to spark requests - bubbles, balloons, wind-up toys, and favorite snacks are great choices. The more rewarding the outcome, the stronger the drive to initiate.
Gradually Up the Ante
Once your child begins initiating more easily, you can wait just a bit longer before helping, or prompt them to use a gesture or sound. This helps them take a more active role while keeping the experience positive and successful.
Why These Skills Matter
From first smiles to first words, preverbal skills are the bridge that carries children toward intentional communication. In this final stage, your child is learning powerful ideas:
My actions have meaning.Pointing, showing, giving, looking, reaching, and vocalizing are not “just behaviors”—they’re the first “words” of communication.
Communication changes what happens next.When adults notice, wait, and respond, children discover that initiating gets results. This keeps them motivated to try again and to try more.
What if my child isn’t showing these skills yet?
If your child is older than 12 months and not yet showing many of these early communication skills, consider reaching out to a speech-language pathologist, developmental specialist, or early interventionist for individualized guidance.
Additional Parent Resources:
Need help picking toys that encourage development?
Here’s a simple guide to get you started.
If you missed Part 1 & 2 of this three part blog series, you can catch up here:
References
Prelinguistic Skills
Mize, L. (2017). Let’s talk about talking: Ways to strengthen the 11 skills all toddlers master before words emerge. Teach Me To Talk.
Receptive Language
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.). Communication milestones. ASHA. Retrieved from https://www.asha.org/public/developmental-milestones/communication-milestones/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, February 18). Learn the signs. Act early: Developmental milestones. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/act-early/milestones/index.html
Imitation
Fenson, L., Marchman, V. A., Thal, D. J., Dale, P. S., Reznick, J. S., & Bates, E. (2007). MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventories: User’s guide and technical manual (2nd ed.). Paul H. Brookes Publishing.
Fenson, L., Dale, P. S., Reznick, J. S., Bates, E., Thal, D. J., & Pethick, S. J. (1994). Variability in early communicative development. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 59(5, Serial No. 242). https://doi.org/10.2307/1166093
Feldman HM. How Young Children Learn Language and Speech. Pediatric Review, 2019 Aug;40 (8):398-411. doi: 10.1542/pir.2017-0325.
Ingersoll, B. (2010). Teaching social communication to children with autism: A practitioner’s guide to parent training and a manual for parents. The Guilford Press.
Gestures
Iverson, J. M., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2005). Gesture paves the way for language development. Psychological science, 16(5), 367-371.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0956-7976.2005.015
