NORMAL AUDITORY DEVELOPMENT

Every parent is concerned about their child’s health and well being right from the birth of the child. They observe the child in order to make sure that the child is growing and learning things according to his/her age.

Below are some of the milestones that can be beneficial is assess the auditory development of your child.

Newborn (0 to 4 months)
 reacts suddenly to loud sounds through movements such as widening the eyes, jumping or extending the arms and legs
 eye movement or turning the head towards the direction of the sound source

3 to 6 months
 turn and search out a different sound
 respond to the sound of their name
 the baby will play with sounds by cooing and babbling
 the baby should be smile or stop crying when either of the parents speaks to him/her
 the baby should act differently to the ways the parents talk to him/her (angry, friendly, and loving)

6 to 10 months
 should be able to seek out the sound source
 the baby should look towards the speaker

 the baby should respond to both soft and loud sounds
 respond to familiar sounds such as a doorbell ringing or a dog barking
 the baby should also pay attention when the parents talk to him/her

10 to 15 months
 increase his or her babbling
 begin to more closely resemble speech
 Baby is able to put sounds together in different patterns.

15 to 18 months
 able to directly localize to most sounds
 Child can understand simple phrases, identify familiar objects such as body parts and follow simple directions.
 Should have an expressive vocabulary of 20 or more words and short phrases.