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DES MOINES, Iowa (WHO13) – In February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released updated guidelines that lower expectations for childhood development milestones.
The CDC now says that children should know 50 words by 30 months of age. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), however, says fewer than 50 words at 24 months could be a cause for concern.
The goal is to help identify issues sooner but experts warn that it may be doing the opposite.
Speech therapists in Des Moines told Nexstar’s WHO13 that these changes come at a time when development may have already been affected by the pandemic, and many kids were not seen by their regular doctors.
For example, a skill like being able to point out two body parts at 1 year old is now pushed back to age 2.
While this may raise the statistics of how many kids can achieve this, experts say that it could prevent catching a learning disability or speech problem early.
“The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association has sent a letter to the CDC asking them to revise the milestones because there is an overwhelming amount of speech-language pathologists and early intervention therapists who are concerned about the milestones and are wanting to take action to reverse what has already been done,” said Rachel Rohlf, a speech therapist with UnityPoint.
The CDC had not responded to the statement as of publishing time, but speech professionals are advising parents who have any concerns to contact a professional if they think their child may be falling behind.