If you’re a parent who has been researching your child’s development online, then there’s a good chance you ran across the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Developmental Milestones checklist. If you’re not familiar, it’s a series of checklists that cover 12 different ages starting with two months and ending with five years old. There are four areas of development for each age group listed. In general, this is a wonderful resource. It’s one that I’ve used myself off and on over the years to share with my clients’ families.
However, the most recent update (Jan 31, 2022) has left many Speech-Language-Pathologists (and other professionals and parents alike) concerned.
Concerns with the most recent CDC Developmental Milestones Update
Why? In simple terms, this updated list provides information on what most children are able to do by a certain age. This is opposed to what the average child is able to do at a certain age, which is what most milestone lists record. In other words, it’s as though this checklist is saying “at minimum your child should be able to do X by Y age”.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with that…unless you don’t catch that minor change. If you’re reading the milestones as though they’re the average than you can get the wrong idea regarding what your child should be doing at specific ages.
Additionally, even with this switch to saying “most children do X by Y timeframe”, there are some language milestones listed that are low for even that threshold. They better represent children at a younger age.
Six Resources For Navigating The Latest CDC Developmental Milestones
That’s a quick and dirty explanation of what has some folks concerned with these new CDC guidelines. There are definitely more details that could be said about it but I won’t go into that here. Instead, I’ve provided links to six resources that are helpful and approachable for better understanding these changes.
Below are the links and explanations for why they might be helpful for you.
1. EatPlaySay
Jordyn is a pediatric speech-language pathologist who offers private speech, language, and feeding services to families in Maryland and Pennsylvania. In her Facebook post, Jordyn gives concrete examples of what milestones the CDC has listed for specific age groups and what most children are actually able to do. She expresses her concerns with the potential these checklists have of creating a bigger population of children in the “wait and see” group instead of the “get intervention now” group.
If you’re in her area and are interested in her services, here’s her website.
2. Parents.com
On Feb 23, 2022, the online arm of the magazine Parents, released an article entitled “The CDC Updated Their Developmental Milestones for Kids—Here’s What Parents Need to Know“. It includes information very similar to what we’ve already discussed but with the added insights from a Pediatric Occupational Therapist. She shines a light on how some of the CDC milestone changes also impact families’ understanding of where their child should be in their motor development.
3. Speech Sisters
The Speech Sisters are literally sisters…who are both Speech-Language Pathologists. Brooke & Bridget (the sisters) have a fabulous Instagram account that provides tips and tricks for helping children to speak. Additionally, they have courses, milestone guides and concrete examples for various speech and language topics.
In their post (below) about the updated CDC milestone checklist, they also express their concerns for why the changes might not be for the best. And they also provide examples of how the milestones Speech-Pathologist’s follow differ from those posted by the CDC.
They also have a website where you can register for their courses.
4. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), is the leading organization for Speech-Pathologists and Audiologists in the United States. It provides training, credentialing, and advocacy to and for its members. It also provides research and policy guidance for national organizations and government organizations.
ASHA released a statement (found here) expressing their concerns with the updated milestones. They state, among other things, that they have reached out to the CDC and that they are doing an extensive review of the literature on this topic.
5. Raising Little Talkers
Melissa is the Speech-Language Pathologist behind the Instagram account Raising Little Talkers. She addresses common misconceptions regarding early childhood language development. She also provides suggestions on how to help your child improve in their speech and language skills.
In her Instagram reel, Melissa expresses many similar thoughts to those listed above but provides an opportunity to listen to an explanation instead of reading one. Additionally, she touches on why masking (due to Covid) didn’t/doesn’t impact speech and language development. She clarifies that the CDC didn’t lower expectations for children as a cover up for the “harm” caused by masking.
If you’d like a link to her pediatric speech and language course, you can find one here.
6. The Informed SLP
The Informed SLP is a group of highly educated and motivated Speech-Language Pathologists and other professionals who take deep dives into current topics and current research that is pertinent to practicing therapists. They then present that information in easy to digest, quick reads for busy professionals. In their article, No SLPs were in the room where it happened, they present information on both what they liked and didn’t like about the updated CDC milestones. They also report on some issues they found with the research used to create the milestones in the first place. This article is the most scholarly of the six, for those of you looking for the actual data and research behind the updates.
Your More Nuanced Relationship with the CDC Developmental Milestones
There you are: Your Six Resources For Navigating The Latest CDC Developmental Milestones. I hope you found them helpful.
More importantly, I hope you understand the importance of being able to correctly interpret the updated milestones and can recognize their short-comings. Having that knowledge, you can make more informed choices regarding your child’s development and whether or not to pursue therapy, specifically early intervention, for them.
Best Regards on your parenting journey!
Xoxo,
Briana
Hello! I’m Briana!
I live in Utah with my little family of men-folks: two little dudes and one big dude (and now one dudette!) I am a Pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist and Early Childhood Specialist by training, a mother by choice, and a blogger by a desire to share with each of you the knowledge gained from those first two facts. Parenting is a crazy rollercoaster with daily ups and down. My goal is to provide information that can help to lighten your load so that you can more fully enjoy the ride. Read more about me here and more about my qualifications here. Thanks for visiting and don’t hesitate to be in touch! Happy Parenting! xoxoxo