Tarryn Dee and Renee Townson
Long before the first words arrive, your child is already finding ways to connect, share and be understood. From little sounds and gestures to words, sentences and conversations, understanding the difference between speech, language and communication can help you tune into what your child is trying to tell you — and recognise when they might need a little extra support.
Understanding the difference between speech, language and communication can help parents recognise what their child may be finding difficult — and know when it may be worth asking for help.
There are some parenting questions that sound simple until you start looking into them.
“My child isn’t talking yet — does that mean they have a speech problem?”
Or perhaps:
“They can talk, but I can’t understand them. Is that a language delay?”
And then there are the questions that come when your child seems to understand everything you say, but struggles to find the words they need.
For parents, it can all become a little confusing.
After all, we tend to use words like speech, language, talking and communication interchangeably in everyday life.
But from a developmental and clinical perspective, they aren’t quite the same thing.
Understanding the difference can be really helpful because a child can have difficulty with one area while developing typically in another.
And importantly, communication begins long before a child says their first word.
Speech and language are not the same thing
As a Speech Pathologist, one of the first things I would often discuss with families during assessment or when starting intervention is the difference between speech and language. This is a very confusing topic for many parents, but one I feeI is important to spend time discussing as they are two quite different things. Both are important when it comes to communication development.
Speech is about how we produce spoken sounds.
It involves the movements of the lips, tongue, jaw and other structures involved in producing speech, as well as learning how sounds are organised within a particular language.
Language is about understanding and using meaning.
It includes the words we understand, the words we use, how we put words together, how we understand sentences and questions, how we tell stories, explain our thoughts and participate in conversations.
So, while speech and language work closely together, they are not interchangeable.
A child can have difficulty producing speech sounds while having strong language skills.
Another child may pronounce words clearly but have difficulty understanding what other people say or putting their own thoughts into words.
Some children experience difficulties in both areas.
Australian guidance makes this distinction between speech and language particularly clear. Speech difficulties can involve producing or combining sounds, while language difficulties can involve understanding and/or using spoken language.
A simple way to think about it
Imagine your child wants to tell you:
“The dog is running.”
The language is the meaning behind that message — knowing the words dog and running, understanding how those words fit together and being able to communicate the idea.
The speech is how your child physically produces the sounds in dog, is and running.
The communication is the whole process of sharing that message with another person.
And communication doesn’t have to involve spoken words at all.
A child might point to the dog, gesture, use a sign, show you a picture or use a communication device.
They are still communicating.
So, what exactly is communication?
Communication is much bigger than speech.
Children communicate through:
- speech
- gestures
- pointing
- facial expressions
- body movements
- sounds
- signs
- pictures
- symbols
- written words
- communication books
- speech-generating devices and other technology.
Some children use several of these ways of communicating at the same time.
This is sometimes called multimodal communication — using different communication methods depending on what works best for the child and the situation.
Speech Pathology Australia describes Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) as communication that uses something other than speech, including gestures, sign language, communication books and technology. AAC can be used alongside speech or instead of speech.
This is an important distinction for parents because spoken language is not the only meaningful form of communication.
A child who points to the fridge because they want a drink is communicating.
A toddler who reaches towards a favourite toy is communicating.
A child who uses a picture to request something is communicating.
A child who uses an AAC device to tell you what they want is communicating.
The goal is not simply to make every child communicate in the same way.
The goal is to help each child have an effective way to understand, express themselves, connect with other people and participate in everyday life.
Why language matters before — and alongside — speech
As you can imagine, when families come into the clinic for the first time the goal is often for their child to develop speech. Oftentimes, particularly in the case of younger children, they may not be speaking any words when they first present for assessment or therapy.
In order to develop effective verbal communication skills, language and speech are both vital to develop. If a child is not yet speaking any words, it can be tempting for families to want to move straight to developing speech, however, therapy needs to begin with language. After all, it is not much use knowing how to say all of the sounds if a child does not have any understanding of concepts, or words to say yet! For some kids, this might start with developing their understanding of language (receptive language). It might incorporate developing expressive language skills using different modalities, for example, gesture or sign language. As language develops, speech can also be targeted alongside language in therapy.
There is an important idea here for parents:
Speech is only one part of communication.
For a child who is not yet speaking, a speech pathologist may first want to understand what that child already knows, understands and communicates.
Are they showing you what they want?
Do they understand familiar words?
Can they follow simple instructions?
Do they use gestures?
Do they make sounds to communicate?
Do they copy actions?
Do they take turns with another person?
Do they attempt to communicate when they need help?
These skills can provide important information about a child’s developing communication.
At the same time, it is important not to think of development as a rigid staircase where a child must completely “finish” language before speech can begin.
Speech and language can develop alongside one another.
For some children, language and intentional communication may be the main priorities at first. For another child, speech-sound development may be a much more immediate focus. For another, both may need to be supported together.
The right starting point depends on the individual child.
That is one reason a good assessment matters.
Receptive language: understanding what is being said
One of the terms parents may hear from a speech pathologist is receptive language.
Receptive language is essentially about what a child understands.
This can include understanding:
- individual words
- questions
- instructions
- sentences
- concepts such as big, little, under and behind
- conversations
- stories
- increasingly complex language.
For example, a child may understand:
“Get your shoes.”
but struggle when an instruction becomes longer:
“Before we go outside, get your shoes and put them beside the door.”
As children grow, the language they need to understand becomes increasingly complex.
Difficulty understanding language can sometimes be less obvious than difficulty speaking because a child may learn ways to compensate.
They may watch what other children are doing.
They may copy.
They may rely on routines.
They may guess from context.
This is one reason that a child appearing to “know what is going on” doesn’t necessarily mean they are understanding all of the language around them.
Raising Children Network notes that language difficulties can involve responding to language, understanding words and sentences, following instructions and understanding questions.
Expressive language: finding the words to express yourself
Expressive language is about how a child communicates their own thoughts, ideas, needs and experiences.
This can include:
- vocabulary
- combining words
- sentence structure
- grammar
- finding the right words
- describing things
- asking questions
- answering questions
- telling stories
- explaining what happened
- expressing feelings
- taking part in conversations.
A child might know exactly what they want to tell you but struggle to find the words.
You might hear:
“Thing… there… that one.”
rather than the word they are searching for.
Or perhaps your child can name individual objects but struggles to put them into a sentence.
Another child might speak in long sentences but find it difficult to explain what happened at preschool or tell a story in the right order.
These are all examples of why language is much more than simply counting how many words a child can say.
A child can talk a lot and still have language difficulties
This is something many parents don’t realise.
Sometimes we assume that a child who talks frequently must have strong language skills.
But the amount a child talks isn’t the same thing as how effectively they understand and use language.
A child may be very chatty but have difficulty:
- finding the right words
- following longer instructions
- answering questions
- understanding less familiar vocabulary
- organising ideas
- telling a story
- staying on topic
- understanding what someone else means
- participating in conversations.
This can become increasingly noticeable as children get older and the language demands around them become more complex.
Developmental Language Disorder, or DLD, is one condition in which children can experience persistent difficulties with understanding and using spoken language.
Speech Pathology Australia describes DLD as a common but often hidden disorder affecting around 1 in 14 people, with difficulties potentially affecting vocabulary, grammar, comprehension, conversations, learning and participation.
Importantly, DLD is not caused by poor parenting. Speech Pathology Australia notes that there is no single clear cause and that many factors, including genetics, may influence whether someone develops DLD.
Not every child who is late to talk has DLD.
Some children with early language delay catch up.
Others have more persistent difficulties.
That is why professional assessment and ongoing monitoring can be so important.
A child can have speech difficulties while their language is developing well
The opposite can also happen.
A child may understand what you say, have a good vocabulary, put sentences together and love telling you stories — but their speech may still be difficult for other people to understand.
For example, a child might say:
“tat” instead of “cat”
or simplify more complex combinations of sounds.
Young children commonly make speech errors while they are learning.
Australian guidance explains that children typically develop different speech sounds at different ages, with some sounds emerging earlier and others continuing to develop into the early school years.
So a child making a few pronunciation errors does not automatically mean there is a speech disorder.
What matters is the child’s age, the types of errors they are making, how often they occur, how understandable their speech is and whether communication is becoming difficult or frustrating for the child.
How understandable should a child’s speech be?
One useful concept is speech intelligibility — simply, how much of what a child says other people can understand.
Australian guidance suggests that:
- around 2½ years, an unfamiliar listener may understand about half of what a child says
- around 4–5 years, an unfamiliar listener may understand around three-quarters
- by around 6–7 years, almost everything a child says should generally be understandable, although some later-developing sounds can still be tricky.
These are broad developmental guides rather than a pass-or-fail test.
Children develop differently, and a speech pathologist considers the whole picture rather than one milestone in isolation.
Communication starts long before the first word
One of the biggest misconceptions about early communication is that development begins when a child says their first word.
It doesn’t.
Long before children are saying words, they are learning about people, interaction, sounds, gestures, turn-taking and meaning.
You may notice a baby:
- looking towards you when you speak
- turning towards sounds
- smiling in response to interaction
- making sounds back to you
- copying facial expressions or actions
- reaching towards something they want
- pointing
- showing you objects
- taking turns in simple games
- using sounds or gestures to get your attention.
These early behaviours are all part of communication development.
Raising Children Network recommends seeking advice when children are not showing expected communication behaviours at different stages, including limited attempts to communicate using sounds, gestures or words.
This is why a speech pathologist can work with a child before they are speaking.
There is no requirement for a child to already have words before communication intervention can begin.
What about gestures and sign language?
For some families, the idea of using signs or gestures can initially feel like a step away from spoken language.
It is actually the opposite.
Giving a child another way to communicate can reduce the pressure of having to rely on speech before speech is reliable.
A child might learn a sign for:
more
help
finished
drink
or
eat
while spoken language continues to develop.
Raising Children Network notes that professionals may support children with language delay using other communication methods, including sign language, books or speech-generating devices.
The purpose isn’t to replace speech simply because speech is not important.
It is to make sure the child has a way to communicate now.
AAC: when speech isn’t enough
Some children need more support than gestures or signs.
This is where Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) can become important.
AAC can include:
- gestures
- signs
- photographs
- pictures
- symbols
- communication boards
- communication books
- apps
- speech-generating devices.
Some children use AAC temporarily.
Others use it alongside speech.
Some people rely on AAC as their primary way of communicating.
Speech Pathology Australia emphasises that AAC can be used with speaking or instead of speaking, and that different people may need different combinations of communication supports.
The important question is not:
“How do we make this child speak?”
It is:
“How can we give this child the most effective way to communicate?”
For some children, the answer will involve speech.
For others, it will involve speech plus AAC.
For some, AAC may be their most reliable form of communication.
All of these are valid communication pathways.
What happens during a speech pathology assessment?
If you have any concerns about your child’s speech or language development, the first step would be to visit a speech pathologist. Speech pathologists are the experts in communication development, including speech and language. They can see children from a very young age, including prior to the development of speech. Your child will first have an assessment to determine whether their development is on track or if they might need a little help. If therapy is recommended, goals and a therapy program will be developed with you and intervention should ideally incorporate parents and families where possible.
For many parents, the word assessment can sound intimidating.
It doesn’t necessarily mean sitting your child at a table and asking them a series of questions.
Especially with younger children, a speech pathologist may use play, conversation, observation and interaction to understand how the child communicates naturally.
Depending on the child, assessment may consider:
- receptive language
- expressive language
- vocabulary
- sentence development
- speech sounds
- speech intelligibility
- social communication
- play and interaction
- gestures
- communication methods
- functional communication
- developmental history
- hearing
- family priorities and concerns.
The aim is not simply to attach a label to a child.
A good assessment should help answer practical questions such as:
What is my child already doing well?
Where are they having difficulty?
What matters most to my child and our family?
What can we do to make communication easier?
What support, if any, would be useful?
Hearing can be part of the picture
Hearing is an important part of the communication-development puzzle.
A child needs access to speech sounds in order to learn about the sound system of their language, and hearing difficulties can affect communication development.
This doesn’t mean that hearing loss explains every speech or language difficulty.
It doesn’t.
But if there are concerns about hearing, recurrent ear infections, inconsistent responses to sound or speech and language development, a hearing assessment may be appropriate.
Australian guidance recommends considering hearing assessment when there are concerns about hearing or communication development, and audiologists can assess a child’s hearing.
A speech pathologist may therefore work alongside other professionals, such as an audiologist, GP, paediatrician, educator or other members of a child’s support team.
What does good therapy actually look like?
Speech pathology isn’t simply about sitting in a room and practising words.
For young children especially, communication happens in the context of relationships, play and everyday life.
A child may be working on communication while:
- playing with blocks
- looking at books
- eating breakfast
- getting dressed
- playing outside
- singing songs
- shopping
- having a bath
- talking about something they love
- playing with siblings.
This matters because children need to be able to use their communication skills outside the therapy room.
Australia’s National Best Practice Framework for Early Childhood Intervention, released in 2025, places strong emphasis on family-centred, strengths-based, evidence-informed and outcomes-focused support, including opportunities to build children’s skills within everyday environments.
In other words, the goal isn’t simply:
“Can my child do this during therapy?”
It is:
“Can my child use this skill in real life?”
Parents are not expected to become speech pathologists
This is another important distinction.
Family involvement can be incredibly valuable, but parents don’t need to spend every waking moment “doing therapy”.
Sometimes the most powerful support is simply learning how to make everyday interactions a little more communication-friendly.
That might mean:
- following your child’s interests
- modelling language
- giving your child time to respond
- responding to gestures and sounds
- expanding on what your child says
- creating opportunities to communicate
- sharing books
- singing songs
- talking during everyday routines.
The Australian National Best Practice Framework specifically recognises families as partners in decision-making and emphasises helping parents and carers build confidence and skills within everyday life.
Simple things parents can do at home
Follow your child’s lead
If your child is fascinated by cars, talk about cars.
If they’re watching a dog, talk about the dog.
If they’re building a tower, join their world rather than trying to redirect the conversation to something you think they should be learning.
Connection creates opportunities for communication.
Add a little more language
If your child says:
“Dog.”
You might say:
“Big dog.”
Or:
“The dog is running.”
You aren’t demanding that your child repeat you.
You’re giving them a model.
Give your child time
It can be tempting to jump in when your child doesn’t answer immediately.
Try pausing.
Give them a moment to process what you’ve said and work out how they want to respond.
Model rather than constantly correct
Instead of:
“No, say cat.”
you might respond:
“Cat! Yes, that’s the cat.”
The goal is to keep communication positive rather than turning every interaction into a test.
Talk about what you are already doing
You don’t need flashcards and worksheets for every interaction.
Talk while:
- making breakfast
- packing the daycare bag
- getting dressed
- walking to the park
- putting toys away
- cooking dinner.
Everyday life is full of language.
Read together
You don’t have to read every word on every page.
Talk about the pictures.
Wonder what might happen next.
Point out something your child is interested in.
Let your child turn the pages.
Ask a question occasionally — but don’t feel as though you need to turn story time into an examination.
Respond to every form of communication
A point, gesture, sound, facial expression or movement can all be communication.
When we respond to these attempts, we show children that their communication has power.
Raising Children Network recommends giving children time to communicate and responding to and expanding their communication efforts, including actions and sounds as well as words.
Your child doesn’t need to perform for you to know they are communicating
Parents can understandably find themselves asking lots of questions when they’re worried about development:
“What’s that?”
“What colour is it?”
“What does the cow say?”
“Can you say dog?”
Questions aren’t bad.
But children also learn through watching, listening, sharing attention, copying, playing and being part of natural conversations.
Instead of constantly asking:
“What’s that?”
sometimes simply model:
“Look! A big red truck.”
Then wait and see what your child does.
Communication is a two-way relationship — not a test.
When should parents seek help?
There isn’t one magic age at which parents suddenly need permission to ask for help.
If you’re concerned, it is reasonable to ask.
You don’t need to wait until your child starts school.
You don’t need to wait until they are “old enough” for speech therapy.
And you don’t need to prove that something is wrong before talking to a professional.
You may want to seek advice if your child:
- isn’t showing expected communication skills for their age
- isn’t using words when you expected them to
- isn’t combining words as expected
- has difficulty understanding everyday instructions
- struggles to answer questions
- has difficulty finding words
- is very difficult for other people to understand
- becomes frustrated when trying to communicate
- relies heavily on gestures without developing other communication methods
- has known hearing difficulties or frequent ear infections
- seems to have difficulty participating in conversations
- or simply makes you feel that something isn’t quite right.
Raising Children Network recommends seeking professional advice when parents have concerns about language development and highlights signs across infancy, toddlerhood and childhood that may warrant assessment.
For speech, concerns may include very limited speech sounds, speech that is difficult to understand for the child’s age, frequent speech errors or frustration related to being misunderstood.
And there is one sign that should always be taken seriously:
If your child loses communication skills they previously had
If a child stops using words, gestures or other communication skills they previously used, don’t simply assume they will return on their own.
Raising Children Network specifically recommends seeking professional advice when a child loses previously acquired communication skills.
Talk with your GP, child and family health nurse, speech pathologist or another appropriate health professional.
What if my child is bilingual or multilingual?
Another important point for Australian families is that children may grow up hearing and using more than one language.
Speaking more than one language does not cause a language disorder.
Children learning multiple languages may develop their languages in different ways and may use different languages with different people and in different settings.
Raising Children Network notes that bilingual and multilingual children can sometimes appear to develop language differently from children learning only one language, but this should not automatically be interpreted as language delay.
If there are genuine concerns about a child’s communication, assessment should consider the child’s full language experience, rather than looking only at English.
For multilingual families, it is important that parents continue communicating with their child in the languages that are natural and meaningful within their family.
Early support doesn’t mean something is “wrong” with your child
Sometimes parents hesitate to seek an assessment because they worry that asking for help means putting a label on their child.
It doesn’t have to.
An assessment can simply give you more information.
Sometimes the outcome is reassurance.
Sometimes it identifies a skill that needs a little extra support.
Sometimes it identifies a more persistent communication difficulty.
And sometimes it highlights the need for further assessment by another professional.
The Australian Government’s National Best Practice Framework for Early Childhood Intervention emphasises the value of timely, evidence-informed support for children with developmental concerns, delays or disability and their families. It also emphasises strengths, participation, family priorities and everyday environments.
Early support isn’t about trying to make every child develop in exactly the same way.
It is about giving children the support they need to participate, communicate and thrive.
The most important thing to remember
It can be easy to become focused on the number of words a child can say.
But communication is so much bigger than a word count.
A child’s communication includes their ability to:
understand
connect
share attention
express themselves
make choices
ask for help
tell you what they want
share an experience
play
take turns
participate
and, ultimately, have a voice.
For some children, spoken language will become their primary way of communicating.
For others, speech may always be one part of a much broader communication system.
Neither journey has to look exactly the same.
What matters is that children are supported to communicate in ways that work for them.
And for parents, perhaps the most reassuring message is this:
You don’t have to wait for your child to start talking before you start supporting communication.
Communication is already happening — sometimes in words, sometimes in sounds, sometimes in gestures, sometimes in a look, a movement, a picture or a sign.
The job is to notice it, respond to it and, when your child needs more support, know that you don’t have to navigate the journey alone.
Key Takeaways
Speech and language are different. Speech is about producing spoken sounds, while language is about understanding and using meaning.
Communication is broader than speech. Children can communicate through gestures, facial expressions, signs, pictures, AAC and many other methods.
A child can have strong language but difficulty with speech. Equally, a child can speak clearly while experiencing significant language difficulties.
Communication starts before first words. Gestures, sounds, shared attention, turn-taking and intentional communication are all meaningful parts of early development.
AAC can support communication. AAC may be used alongside speech or instead of speech, depending on a child’s individual needs.
Speech and language can develop together. Therapy isn’t necessarily a matter of waiting for one area to completely develop before addressing another.
Hearing can be an important part of the picture. Where hearing is a concern, an audiological assessment may be appropriate.
Parents don’t need to wait until a child is older to seek help. Speech pathologists can assess young children, including children who are not yet speaking.
Early support should be family-centred and practical. Current Australian best-practice guidance emphasises strengths, family priorities, participation and learning within everyday environments.
If your child loses communication skills they previously had, seek professional advice.
Most importantly, there is no single “right” way for every child to communicate.
The aim is not simply to get children talking.
The aim is to help children understand, connect, express themselves and be understood.
Australian References & Further Reading
Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. (2025). National Best Practice Framework for Early Childhood Intervention. The framework provides nationally consistent guidance for supporting children with developmental concerns, delays or disability and their families, with an emphasis on evidence-informed, family-centred, strengths-based and everyday-setting approaches.
National Best Practice Framework for Early Childhood Intervention – Australian Government
Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. (2025). The National Best Practice Framework for Early Childhood Intervention – A guide for families.
Guide for Families – National Best Practice Framework for Early Childhood Intervention
Raising Children Network. (2025). Language delay in children. Australian Government-supported parenting resource developed with the Parenting Research Centre and Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.
Raising Children Network – Language delay in children
Raising Children Network. (2025). Speech disorders in children 1–8 years.
Raising Children Network – Speech disorders in children
Speech Pathology Australia. Developmental Language Disorder. Australian professional information for families and the wider community.
Speech Pathology Australia – Developmental Language Disorder
Speech Pathology Australia. Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).
Speech Pathology Australia – Augmentative and Alternative Communication
Speech Pathology Australia. Communication aids and supports.
Speech Pathology Australia – Communication aids and supports
