The Twenty-Five Words Every Toddler Needs to Know

I notice that the word "mine" is not on this list, but is probably the most frequently used word!

I know a few adults who need to work at getting their vocabulary up to 24 NON-CURSE words.

I know some adults that don't know half of these words.

Oh no! My 23 month old twins NEVER say "yes"... however they say "no" in about 20 forms... Is that a sign of autism?

This should be the 25 words toddlers AND customer service should know

Einstein didn't speak until he was 3-4 yrs old, he didn't form complete sentences until he was nine.

My daughter turns 2 in April. She knows those words plus a few more. First time father. Had to brag.

The No. 1 word "Grandma"

My son only spoke 5 words at 3 years old and was diagnosed with moderate autism. But vocab is NOT the only warning sign. Impaired social interaction and repetitive behavior are also signs. Fear not parents. Just because that beautiful child of yours doesn't speak the way "experts" think they should at a certain age, doesn't mean they have any developmental delays or autism. Some children just have nothing to say. My brother was a very late speaker and there was nothing wrong with him, other then annoying me at times. :) Its always good to check with your doctor if there are any concerns. The writer of this article should have specified that speech delay is NOT the only warning sign to something as severe as autism.

At three weeks old, my daughter could recite the Gettysburg Address and the Constitution of the United States of America. Last week she was accepted to Harvard, but turned down the offer because she said they just weren't good enough and the cookies were terrible there.

I think parents should be aware of this, but not afraid if their child is not hitting the mark. In our case, my son has a speech delay that was caused by having fluid in the ears as well as high frequency hearing loss which has made communication difficult. If your child isn't speaking, go to a professional and get it checked out.

Changes to this list within the next 5 years: ....ipad, iphone, i-giveup

As someone who works in early intervention I liked this article...however i think that it is important to note that every child is different and talks at their own rate....also if a child has 50 words but is missing some of the words on the list it does not mean they are delayed or hearing impaired or autistic...it simply means that for whatever reason they havent added THAT word to their vocabulary...if you have concerns about your childs development (speech or otherwise) contact your local early intervention agency and have your child evaluated....in most states an ealuation is free and often can be done in your home or at your convenience...its worth knowing where your child stands....

MINE SHOULD BE #1 ON THE LIST!!!

My son has a speech delay and will be 3 in July. When he was two, he didn't have most of the words on this list (he had signs for many - SUPER helpful for non-verbal kids). We have been working with an early childhood interventionist on his speech delay since he was 18 months old. Now we are working with a speech pathologist. He misses certain sounds, but we are working to correct that. Until recently, most of his speech was unintelligible. I think the key is to getting help early. We have come a long way, but have so much further to go. I hate comparing him to his classmates at preschool because obviously every child is different. He doesn't seem to have any other delays or issues, so we will keep working at it!

I think the most important thing left out of this is how your child is interacting with you. I have twins who at two did not speak. They didn't say mama, dada, eat... nothing. They didn't even really babble a lot. Actually, they cried. A lot. My Mom flags went up and, since they were in an early intervention program, I asked for a language evaluation where I was told everything was fine, they were just twins not interested in speaking to everyone else. I went with that for a short while but once again my gut told me differently. The crying was getting worse and their frustration with the world around them was terrible with epic tantrums (they have an older sibling who IS DRAMA but these were insane, scary meltdowns). They had already had their hearing tested at 9 months old by the program and passed.I had also already spoken with the peds office but they had only had one ear infection each at 2 1/2 years old so they ruled out the need for tubes. I finally called the peds office again and told them I didn't care if they thought I was crazy I wanted a tympanogram done. The results shocked the ped because it revealed that there was so much fluid in their ears that they were virtually deaf (later told by an ENT to stuff my fingers in my ears and put my head under water to get an idea of what they could hear). The girls were seen by an ENT and scheduled for tubes. Within a few weeks of surgery both of my sweeties had language and started rapidly catching up. It is several years later and they communicate well now but I still wish to this day that I had forced my concerns harder earlier. We've spent a lot of time trying to teach them to use words instead of crying to communicate and that has been a hard road. So if you, the caregiver, can't get something out of your head about your child, even when an "expert" tells you it's fine, get it thoroughly checked. Even experts can be wrong sometimes.

What a bunch of hogwash! My daughter had 0 words at 24 months & is now a successful college student who speaks 2 foreign languages fluently (which she learned when age 12 and older). My son had hundreds of words at age 18 months and always struggled in school and finally dropped out of high school (but is now happily employed in a trade). Parents, unless you think your child really has something wrong with them, relax and let your children develop at their own rate...some take a little longer but that doesn't mean they won't gain the skills they want & need to have to do what they want with their lives. P.S. I taught elementary school for many years so I have some experience in this matter.

the fact that please isn't on there should be a red flag!

Some children develop DIFFERENT words than those on the list, so don't panic Moms. By 2, however, they should know AT LEAST 25 words. ( This from the Mom of an autistic daughter, and grandma to an autistic grandson).

My daughter ws labeled ADD in 3rd grade because she wouldn't sit still in class. She simply finished alal her work very quickly and had nothing else to do for the rest of class, due to our sorry curriculum in public elementary and middle schools. We were referred to a "child psychologist" who insisted we put her on Ritalin or something like that. Both my wife's and my own intuition screamed that this was wrong, wrong wrong. We told the good "doctor" where to go with her "meds" and never went back.
My daughter graduated high school at 16 with 24 college credits. She finished college latin, english comp, and trig in high school. She started college at 17, and has worked for 4 years alternating college with campaign work, has one heck of a resume that looks like a who's who list of democratic politicians (Hillary, Obama, Reid, McCauliff and others. She makes over 50 K as a full-time worker for the DNC, and is still on track to graduate with honors next year.
Glad we didn't listen to the "experts". Anyone that believes they can diagnose a learning disability at age 2 based on vocabulary is an utter fool.