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Birth to 1 Year

A young baby wearing a white patterned sleeper looks up at the camera.

Birth to 1 Year

Early Language Beginnings

During their first year, babies are watching, learning, and soaking up the language around them. Your child may not be using many words yet, but they are already building a strong understanding of language.

The Michigan Language Milestones for Deaf/Hard of Hearing are written to highlight typical language development for children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH), regardless of language and communication modality. However, it is recognized that English and American Sign Language (ASL) are different languages with unique features. Therefore, milestones specific to ASL are in bold and those specific to English are italicized. Any use of “word” refers to spoken or signed words.

Birth to 1: Overview

  • Receptive:

    • Looks at faces.
    • Recognizes loved ones.
    • Responds to face-to-face interactions by calming or smiling.
    • Notices sounds, voices, movements, and/or lights in their environment (e.g., toys with sounds or lights, moves head in the direction of people).

    Expressive:

    • Makes sounds or noises (e.g., gurgles, sucking sounds, or cooing—ooh, ahh, and mmm).
    • Expresses basic feelings and needs with sounds and/or facial expressions.
    • Smiles and makes happy noises.

    Michigan Language Milestones for DHH: 0-3 Months [PDF]

  • Receptive:

    •   Responds to changes in facial expressions and/or tone of voice.
    •   Responds to their name.
    •   Focuses on to face-to-face interactions (e.g., looks at you and follows eye gaze and movements).

    Expressive:

    •   Blows “raspberries.”
    •   Shows excitement or displeasure with coos, giggles, laughs, and cries.
    •   Babbles a variety of hand movements and sounds (e.g., open/close hand, twist wrist, wiggle fingers, daaa, aaahgooo, ummm).
    •   Imitates movement of arms, head, hands, and face.

    Michigan Language Milestones for DHH: 3-6 Months [PDF]

  • Receptive:

    • Looks attentively at people and their surroundings.
    • Stops for a moment when told "no."
    • Understands words for some common objects and people (e.g., mama, cup, shoe, juice).
    • Looks at an object with another person.

    Expressive:

    • Uses gestures and expressions to communicate emotions (e.g., shakes head no, pushes away unwanted objects, reaches to request, yells).
    • Imitates handshapes and sounds.
    • Imitates body language (e.g., nod, wave, clap).
    • Initiates interaction (e.g., calls out, waves, raises arms to be picked up).
    • Enjoys social games (e.g., peek-a-boo, pat-a-cake, tickle).

    Pre-Literacy:

    • Looks at a book with an adult and pats pictures.
    • Reaches for books.
    • Puts books in their mouth.

    Michigan Language Milestones for DHH: 6-9 Months [PDF]

  • Receptive:

    • Understands about 50 words (e.g., common objects, greetings, family names).
    • Follows a simple command (e.g., give me the ___, put that down, come, look at Mommy).
    • Turns and looks in response to attention-getting behaviors (e.g., waving, using their name, turning lights on and off, toys, foot stomping, changes in vocalizations).

    Expressive:

    • Waves hi and goodbye.
    • Points to self and points, shows or gives objects.
    • Uses first words (e.g., more, milk, dada, mama).
    • Uses jargon (e.g., strings of hand babbling with facial expressions and/or strings of sound babbling with inflections).
    • Imitates facial expressions (e.g., frown, surprise).
    • Blows kisses, plays peek-a-boo.

    Pre-Literacy:

    • Looks at books on their own.
    • Shows interest in re-reading a familiar story or book.
    • Attends to songs and rhymes.
    • Uses a crayon to make marks on paper.

    Michigan Language Milestones for DHH: 9-12 Months [PDF]