In February 2022, the CDC published a new set of developmental milestones for children. In this article, we’re going to briefly go over the changes, how they may affect your child, and what you can do to keep yourself up to date with the changes.
What’s Changed in the New CDC Communication Milestones
To cut to the chase, there were two big changes:
Milestones were altered to reflect what most children are doing by a certain age, rather than what the average child is doing at that same age.
Milestones were reduced to avoid confusion.
Checklists were added: 15- and 30-month checklists were added to fine-tune developmental norms.
Language was adjusted to be more parent-friendly.
Social emotional milestones were added to help with early autism identification.
What The New CDC Communication Milestones Mean for Your Child
In theory, these changes were a great shift because it could help lessen some of the difficulties faced by families using the “wait and see” approach often recommended by pediatricians. It’s true that early and consistent intervention for young children can make huge differences in their communication skills.
However, these updates leave something to be desired in the actual content of the milestones provided.
For example, the updates list that children at 18 months should have about three words other than “mama” and “dada” and that children at 30 months should have about 50 words.
But on measures that speech therapists use, these milestones fall far below the 5th percentile, meaning that 95% of children perform better than this.
Additionally, the sources cited by the CDC don’t match the milestones listed, and the research studies themselves are old and somewhat limited. Ultimately it came to light that speech pathologists were not included by the CDC in the development of these updates, and they’re leaving families and therapists alike confused and frustrated.
What You Can Do About the New CDC Communication Milestones
In short, if you have concerns with your child’s speech and language development, take the time to chat with a licensed speech language pathologist. They have extensive knowledge of long-standing developmental milestones and can help you determine whether your child would benefit from an evaluation and/or therapy. They also take a more proactive approach to early intervention than pediatricians, which means your child will be identified and receive much-needed services sooner.