Your child may benefit from as assessment with a speech therapist if he/she presents with (1) communication or (2)feeding difficulties. If your child has communication difficulties, they may: - Have poor eye contact - Have no single words by the age of 18 months - Not be speaking short sentences (3-4 words) by the age of 3 - Have unclear speech. Generally, you should understand 50% of your child's speech at 2 years old, 70-80% at 3 years old, and 100% by 4 years old - Have difficulties learning new vocabulary - Have difficulties learning and understanding grammar and sentence structures - Have difficulties expressing thoughts and ideas in words verbally and in writing - Have difficulties following long and complex instructions - Have difficulties making friends, initiating social interactions and having a conversation - Have poor academic performance If your child has feeding difficulties, they may: - Refuse to drink milk - Choke on drinking - Be a fussy eater or poor interest in food - Avoid certain food textures e.g. mushy or certain food groups e.g. meat or certain food colours or certain food smells - Be unwilling to try new food - Have difficulties chewing - Require distractions to eat - Sleep feed - Have long mealtimes e.g. an hour - Eat non-food items You and your child may also benefit from an assessment with a speech therapist if you find mealtimes and/or eating with your child significantly stressful.