15-18 Months

SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL

COGNITIVE

PLAY

LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION

LANGUAGE PRODUCTION

SELF-AWARENESS

• Displays independent behavior
• Demonstrates active curiosity
• Continues to show a sense of humor
• Becomes aware of self
• Seeks to be the center of attention
• Develops appreciation of body
• Identifies two body parts

SELF CONTROL

• Refuses by bodily protest
• Demonstrates assertiveness
• Begins to resist with tantrums
• Becomes more demanding
• Has shifting moods
• Begins negative behavior (e.g. says "No")
• Insists on doing things independently
• Expresses anger by striking out at familiar people

INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

• Teases others
• Learns familiar people's names
• Depends on adult's reassuring presence
• Shows or offers toy to adult
• Is easily diverted and entertained
• Enjoys picture book with other person
• Hands toy to adult if unable to operate
• Enjoys imitating adult behavior (e. g. imitates housework)
• Indicates wants by pointing or vocalizing
• Spontaneously waves bye-bye
• May demonstrate reappearance of stranger anxiety
• Interested in watching children's shows on television
• Spontaneously hugs parent

SOCIAL PLAY

• Takes turns with a partner, with no role switching
• Engages in parallel play
• Generates new versions of games
• Offers toys to others

ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR

• Holds cup with some spilling
• Spoon feeds with some spilling
• Refuses foods
• Cooperates in dressing by extending arms and legs
• Removes shoes and socks
• Indicates wet or soiled diaper

PROBLEM SOLVING

• Uses non-systematic trial-and-error problem solving strategies
• Uses a tool to obtain a desired object, after a demonstration (e.g. obtains toy with a rake)
• Smiles upon attaining mastery of a self generated goal
• Begins to recognize adult standards

CAUSALITY

• Uses adults as means (e.g. brings wind-up toy to adult)
• Knows causes for actions exist outside himself (e.g. lets ball roll down an incline)

CLASSIFICATION

• Begins to spontaneously cluster objects sharing physical (color, shape, size) or functional similarities
• Produces markings in drawings which reflect play with rhythm, number, groupings, and separations
• Matches objects with common relational parts (e.g. round lid on tea pot)
• Relates visual configurations (e.g. puts circle and square in formboard)

OBJECT PERMANANCE

• Secures object hidden through a series of visible displacements
• Begins to name absent objects/persons

MEMORY

• Performs daily routines
• Anticipates routine for future events

IMITATION

• Repeats movements in proper sequence immediately following a model
• Imitates drawing a stroke

ROLES

• Mimics household activities
• Uses pretend play props with self (e.g. sits on doll chair)
• Directs functional acts to replicas
• Points out familiar facial features on a doll
• Uses self representationally (e.g. pretends to sleep when not bedtime)

ACTIONS

• Acts without planning
• Links schemes in simple combinations (e.g. stirs in cup and feeds doll)

OBJECTS

• Uses most common objects and toys appropriately
• Pretends with props that resemble realistic objects
• Responds differentially to pictures

SPATIAL

• Orients personal accessories grossly (e.g. places and wears sunglasses on neck)
• Stacks in a vertical plane
• Experiments with nesting
• Combines objects with common relational parts (e.g. places lid on jar)
• Experiments with dropping objects purposefully from different heights

SENSORY

• Scoops and pours
• Explores a variety of sensory substances without mouthing

AUDITORY PROCESSING

• Responds approptiately to emotional tone of parent
• Listens to adult naming pictures in a book

VOCABULARY/CONCEPTS

• Identifies familiar people and objects on command
• Begins to identify pieces of clothing
• Identifies at least three body parts
• Displays understanding of at least 5O words

COMMANDS

• Retrieves a requested object from another room all of the time
• Chooses an object from a group of three to four objects.
• Follows simple one part commands without gestures
• Begins to follow two commands with one object (e.g. pick up the baby and put it on the chair)

QUESTIONS

• Answers 'where' questions
• Answers simple 'what' questions
• Answers simple 'yes/no' questions

VOCALIZATION/PHONOLOGY

• Increases repertoire of consonant-vowel combinations
• Imitates words and sounds more precisely

INTENTION/DISCOURSE

• Expresses following pragmatic functions using words or words and gestures:
  -acknowledges other's speech
  -answers
  -comments on objects/actions
  -conveys humor
  -exclaims
  -greets
  -protests
  -requests objects/actions
  -responds
  -seeks attention
  -teases
  -warns

IMITATION

• Exhibits deferred imitation of adults
• Uses echolalia some of the time

SEMANTICS

• Produces ten to fifteen words
• Over generalizes the meaning of specific words (e.g. mom for all females)

SYNTAX

• Has Mean Length of Utterance (M.L.U.) of 1.0 by eighteen months

15-18 Months

ORAL-MOTOR/FEEDING

GROSS MOTOR

FINE MOTOR

VISION/HEARING

HEALTH/PHYSICAL GROWTH

ORAL-MOTOR/FEEDING

• Uses well coordinated pattern (three suck-swallow sequences) when drinking
• Uses tongue tip elevation more during swallowing with cup drinking
• Lateralizes food pieces more often in chewing
• Uses tongue tip elevation for swallowing with chewing
• Provides adequate seal for cup drinking with upper lip
• Uses active lip movement in cup drinking with control at lip corners
• Bites down on edge of cup for stabilization in drinking
• Uses up-down, forward-backward jaw excursions if stabilization is not present
• Uses a sustained bite
• Uses smooth diagonal rotary movements in chewing

GROSS MOTOR

• Walks sideways and backwards
• Begins to squat in play
• Walks at a fast rate
• Carries object while walking
• Seats self in small chair
• Gets down stairs alone
• Pulls toy behind while walking
• Begins to throw a ball overhand while standing
• Stands on one foot with help
• Begins to display balance reactions in standing

FINE MOTOR

• Exhibits mature prehension patterns at times
• Demonstrates well controlled grasp and release of small objects
• Begins to display a hand preference
• Scribbles spontaneously
• Places small objects in small container
• Stacks three to four cubes
• Uses both hands at midline, with one hand to stabilize while the other manipulates
• Places pegs in pegboard
• Removes and replaces round shape in formboard

VISUAL DISCRIMINATION

• Recognizes several people in addition to immediate family
• Points to distant objects outdoors
• Picks up like objects

VISUAL MOTOR INTEGRATION

• Scribbles freely

EYE/HAND COORDINATION

• Demonstrates immediate distance fixation while mobile
• Stacks three to four cubes

HEARING

• Identifies sounds by direct localization
• Identifies sounds coming from another room or outside
• Responds to speech by following simple commands

HEALTH/PHYSICAL GROWTH

• Shows consistent growth but has decreased appetite due to decreased growth needs
• Needs foods rich in iron (e.g., iron fortified cereals, red meat, pork or lamb, poultry, fish: foods containing vitamin C enhance iron absorbtion
• Average 1000-1300 calories per day which includes:
  -three to servings of grains
  -two to three servings of vegetables
  -two to three servings of fruit,
  -one serving of meat, poultry, fish or legumes
  -three to four ounces of healthy snacks
  -three cups of whole milk or dairy equivalent or continued breast feeding
  (e.g., 1 serving of fruit, vegetable and grains range from 1/4 to 1/2 cup; serving size for meat and legumes is 2 ounces)

• Sleeps 13-1/2 hours per 24 hour period
• Continues immunizations per recommended guidelines