Dictionary & glossary of child development

Any tool or method that gives a child a way to communicate when speech alone isn't enough — picture cards, gestures, sign, or a tablet app. The idea is simple: a child who can't yet talk still has plenty to say. Learn more →

A structured, research-backed approach that builds useful skills and eases difficult behaviour by looking closely at what sets a behaviour off and what keeps it going. It's often used to support autistic children and those who struggle with behaviour. Learn more →

The ordinary self-care jobs a child slowly learns to manage on their own — getting dressed, feeding themselves, brushing teeth, using the toilet. Helping children master these is a big part of occupational therapy. Learn more →

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder — a lasting pattern of difficulty with attention, impulse control and/or activity level that goes well beyond ordinary toddler energy and starts to get in the way of daily life. Learn more →

This is when the adult talking with a child points to symbols on their board or device while speaking, quietly showing how the system works. Over time, the child sees for themselves how words can be pulled together on their own tools.

Example As they say, “Let’s go outside,” the adult also touches the ‘go’ and ‘outside’ symbols on the child’s communication board.

A way of teaching phonics where children look at whole words together to spot the sounds and patterns they share, rather than sounding out one letter at a time.

Example A teacher shows ‘sun’, ‘sit’ and ‘sock’ together so children notice they all start with the same ‘s’ sound.

A simple way of making sense of behaviour: you look at what happened just before it (the antecedent), the behaviour itself, and what happened straight after (the consequence). Line those three up and you often see why a behaviour keeps coming back.

Example A worker notes that when asked to tidy up (antecedent) a child throws toys (behaviour) and is then sent out of the room (consequence), suggesting the behaviour helps him escape the task.

That feeling of worry, fear or unease — sometimes mild, sometimes strong. A bit of anxiety is normal and can even keep us safe, but when it turns up often or starts getting in the way of everyday life, a child may need a little extra help.

Example A child feels sick to their stomach and cries every morning before school, even though nothing bad has happened there.

A motor speech difficulty where the muscles work fine, but the brain has trouble planning and coordinating the movements needed to talk. The child knows exactly what they want to say — it just comes out differently each time. Learn more →

How clearly a child makes their speech sounds. When articulation is tricky, speech can be hard to follow — like saying “wabbit” instead of “rabbit”. Learn more →

A lifelong difference in the way a child communicates, plays and takes in the world around them. “Spectrum” is the key word — it looks different in every single child, and with early support children really can thrive. Learn more →

A relaxed, play-based look at how a child is doing across speech, movement, social skills, play and learning — so we can understand their strengths and needs and build a plan around them. Learn more →

The deep emotional bond between a child and the people who care for them most. When that bond feels warm and dependable, a child feels safe — and that safety is the ground healthy emotions grow from.

Example A toddler who goes to their parent for comfort after a fall and then settles is showing a healthy attachment.

The patterns of connection that grow between a child and their main carers, shaped by how reliably the child's needs get met. A secure attachment gives a child a safe home base to explore from and come back to for comfort.

Example A securely attached toddler explores the playroom, glancing back at their parent, and returns for a cuddle when they feel unsure.

Being able to hear the difference between similar speech sounds — a skill that really matters for understanding words and, later on, spelling them. When it's weak, sound-alike words can be genuinely hard to tell apart.

Example A child who confuses ‘pin’ and ‘pen’ or ‘bat’ and ‘pat’ may have difficulty with auditory discrimination.

A deep physical, mental and emotional exhaustion, often coming with a loss of skills and much less tolerance for noise and busyness, built up from long stretches of stress and masking. It's a world away from ordinary tiredness and can last weeks or more.

Example After a demanding term of holding it together at school, a teenager can no longer manage speech or self-care for days — autistic burnout.

The “ba-ba” and “da-da” sound play babies happily practise before their first real words. Plenty of babbling is a lovely early sign that speech is on its way. Learn more →

A way to teach a multi-step skill where the adult does all the steps except the very last one — the child finishes it off — and then hands over the earlier steps bit by bit. Ending on a win keeps children keen to try again.

Example In backward chaining for dressing, the adult pulls a jumper almost on and the child does the final tug down, then earns praise.

A clear picture of exactly what a child can do the day therapy begins. It's the marker we come back to later to see just how far they've come. Learn more →

Wetting the bed at night past the age most children have stayed dry. It's really common, hardly ever a sign of anything serious, and usually sorts itself out with gentle routines and a bit of time — and we're glad to guide you through it. Learn more →

The real reason a behaviour is happening — usually one of four: to escape something, to get attention, to get hold of an item, or to meet a sensory need. Two children can do exactly the same thing for completely different reasons.

Example One child hits to avoid work (escape) while another hits to get an adult to come over (attention).

Therapy that builds up positive behaviours and everyday skills while gently easing back the behaviours that get in the way of learning and getting along with others. Learn more →

A gentle, child-friendly way of talking about strong emotions — anger, fear, excitement, sadness — that can feel huge to a small person. Naming them helps a child learn that every feeling is okay, even when not every behaviour is.

Example A parent says, “You’ve got big feelings right now because your tower fell down — let’s take some deep breaths together.”

Using both sides of the body together smoothly. So many everyday jobs need the two hands doing different things at the same time, and this skill is what makes that possible.

Example A child struggles to hold paper steady with one hand while cutting with scissors in the other.

Growing up with more than one language — something very familiar in Pakistani homes. It doesn't cause speech delay, and children are wonderfully capable of learning two or more languages well. Learn more →

Keeping participants, and often the people scoring the results, in the dark about who received which condition, so their expectations can't tilt the findings. A study can be single-blind or double-blind depending on who is kept unaware.

Example In a double-blind trial neither the families nor the assessor knows whether a child received the active programme, so hopes and biases cannot inflate the scores.

A detailed write-up of a single person, or just a handful. It's great for raising questions and describing something rare, but with no comparison group it can't prove that a treatment actually works.

Example A published case study describes one child’s unusual response to a therapy, prompting larger studies but not proving the approach in general.

The lightbulb realisation that actions make things happen — do this, and that follows. It's one of the earliest and most important thinking skills a child picks up.

Example A baby who repeatedly presses a button because it makes a toy light up has learned cause and effect.

The starting and stopping rules for a standardised test. The basal is the point where a child gets enough items right in a row that we can assume they'd pass all the easier ones; the ceiling is where they miss enough in a row that we stop, since the harder items are assumed too tough.

Example A tester establishes a basal after the child passes five items in a row, then continues until the child fails five in a row, which sets the ceiling and ends that subtest.

Teaching a multi-step task by linking the steps together in order. You can start from the first step (forward) or the last step (backward), whichever helps the child most.

Example When learning to put on a coat, a child is helped with every step except the final zip pull, which he does himself, then more steps are handed over.

Watching and carefully noting how a child behaves, communicates and plays, usually in natural or gently structured settings. It picks up the real-life detail that formal tests can easily miss.

Example The therapist notes that the child makes eye contact with a parent but not with unfamiliar adults, and rarely initiates requests during free play.

Whether a change is big enough to make a real difference to a child's everyday life — quite separate from statistical significance, which only tells you a difference is unlikely to be chance. A result can be statistically significant yet make no meaningful difference at all.

Example A therapy raises test scores by two points — statistically significant in a huge sample, but too small to change how the child actually communicates, so it lacks clinical significance.

A fluency difficulty where speech comes out very fast or uneven, with syllables merging or dropping and thoughts spilling out in a jumble, so it's hard to follow. Unlike stuttering, the person often doesn't notice they're doing it.

Example A child rushes through his story so fast that words collapse into each other — ‘we-wen-to-the-park’ — a hallmark of cluttering rather than stammering.

Slipping between two languages or dialects within a conversation, or even a single sentence, often depending on who's being spoken to. In a bilingual speaker it's a clever skill, not a sign of muddle.

Example A bilingual child speaks Urdu at home with her grandmother but code-switches into English when a classmate joins the game.

The steady growth of a child's thinking — their memory, problem-solving, attention, reasoning and understanding of how the world works.

Example A three-year-old working out that a taller glass doesn’t always hold more juice is showing developing cognitive skills.

The thinking skills — attention, memory, problem-solving and understanding — that sit underneath learning and everyday tasks.

When a child has more than one condition at once — autism alongside ADHD, for instance. It's common, and we always plan therapy around the whole child rather than one label. Learn more →

A range around a test score where the child's ‘true’ score most likely sits, acknowledging that every measurement carries a little error. Reporting a band instead of a single number is simply being honest about that uncertainty.

Example A standard score of 90 is reported with a 95 percent confidence interval of 84–96, meaning the true score most probably lies in that range.

An outside factor that quietly influences both the supposed cause and the outcome, creating a misleading link. Miss a confounder and a treatment that does nothing can look like it works.

Example Children in a therapy study also happen to be older and attend nursery; age and schooling are confounding variables that could explain their gains rather than the therapy.

The group in a study that doesn't get the treatment being tested, there to act as a yardstick. Without one, there's no way to know whether a change came from the treatment or would have happened anyway.

Example One group of children receives the new programme while the control group continues normal routines, so researchers can isolate the programme’s effect.

Play where children work towards a shared goal together — taking on roles, sharing, and following the rules of the game. It usually blossoms in the preschool years and onwards.

Example A group of four-year-olds who agree to build one big castle together, each with a job, are showing cooperative play.

The strength and steadiness of the trunk muscles that keep a child upright and give the arms and legs a solid base to work from. When it's weak, sitting, balancing and hand skills all feel harder.

Example A child slumps over the desk, props his head on his hand and slides off his chair because his trunk tires quickly.

The small handful of high-frequency words — like ‘want’, ‘more’, ‘go’, ‘stop’ and ‘help’ — that make up most of what any of us say. Teaching these flexible words hands a child powerful, reusable ways to get their message across.

Example A child learns to combine core words like “want” and “more” on their communication board to make many different requests.

Correlation means two things tend to move together; causation means one actually causes the other. A correlation on its own never proves cause — a hidden third factor, or the arrow pointing the other way, might explain the link.

Example Ice-cream sales and drowning rise together, but neither causes the other — hot weather drives both; likewise, more therapy hours correlating with better outcomes does not by itself prove the therapy caused them.

An early way of getting around on hands and knees. It's a typical motor milestone, though plenty of babies skip it and find their own route to moving.

Example At around eight to ten months, many babies begin crawling across the floor to reach a favourite toy.

A test that checks whether a child has met a set standard or specific skill, no matter how other children do. It's all about mastering the content, not about ranking.

Example A checklist asking whether a child can produce the /k/ sound at the start of words with 80 percent accuracy is criterion-referenced — it measures the skill itself, not a comparison to peers.

A stretch of early childhood when the brain is especially primed to pick up a particular skill, like language, and learning it comes most easily. It can still be learned later — just usually with more effort.

Example The early years are a sensitive period for language, which is why young children pick up a new language far more easily than adults.

Reaching an arm, leg or even the eyes across the invisible line down the centre of the body to the other side. It underpins coordination, reading, and settling on a preferred hand.

Example Instead of reaching across his body for a crayon on the left, a child switches hands or turns his whole trunk to avoid crossing the midline.

Shuffling sideways along the furniture, holding on for support. It's the in-between stage that bridges pulling up to stand and walking all on their own.

Example A baby shuffling along the sofa while gripping the cushions to reach a toy at the other end is cruising.

Turning printed letters into the sounds and words they stand for — in other words, working out a word by its sounds and reading it.

Example A beginner reader decodes the new word ‘frog’ by blending ‘f-r-o-g’.

When a child is noticeably behind in two or more areas of development at once — things like movement, speech, play or everyday skills. Learn more →

The main areas children grow in, usually grouped as physical (motor), cognitive (thinking), communication and language, and social and emotional. They're deeply linked — progress in one often gives the others a lift.

Example A toddler stacking blocks is developing across several domains at once — fine motor, thinking and, if playing with a friend, social skills.

A structured account of a child's growth and milestones — pregnancy, birth, early movement, language, social and medical events — usually gathered from parents. It gives essential background for making sense of what an assessment shows today.

Example During intake the clinician records that the child said no words by two years and had frequent ear infections, both relevant to a language delay.

A sign that a child's development may not be moving along as expected, and that it's worth having a professional take a look. A red flag is a reason to check, never a diagnosis in itself.

Example Not responding to their own name by twelve months or losing skills they previously had are developmental red flags worth discussing with a professional.

The careful work of telling apart conditions that share similar symptoms, to land on the one that best explains a child's profile. It means systematically ruling possibilities in and out.

Example A clinician weighs whether a non-speaking toddler’s presentation reflects autism, a hearing loss, or a developmental language disorder before reaching a conclusion.

Rewarding a wanted or alternative behaviour while quietly withholding the reward for the unwanted one. Rather than just clamping down on problems, it builds up the helpful behaviour instead.

Example A child who often calls out is praised and given attention only when he raises his hand, and ignored when he shouts out.

A developmental, relationship-based approach where the adult drops down to the child's level in play to build connection, communication and thinking. By following the child's lead and interests, they gently stretch the back-and-forth between them.

Example If a child is lining up cars, the practitioner joins in and playfully adds a car to the line to spark a shared, to-and-fro exchange.

A teaching method that breaks skills into lots of short, structured practice trials, each with a clear instruction, the child's response, and a consequence such as praise. It's a highly structured technique used within some behavioural programmes.

Example An adult holds up two cards, says “Point to dog,” and gives praise when the child points correctly, repeating the trial several times.

How easily a child's attention gets tugged away from what they're doing by unrelated sights, sounds or passing thoughts. Even a small change in the room can break their concentration.

Example A child doing homework stops the moment a car passes outside or a sibling walks into the room.

The idea that when communication breaks down between autistic and non-autistic people, the gap runs both ways — each side finds the other hard to read — rather than the misunderstanding being all on the autistic person's side. It reframes social difficulty as a two-way mismatch.

Example An autistic child and his teacher each misread the other’s tone and intent; the double empathy problem says both, not just the child, are misunderstanding.

A genetic condition that can affect learning, speech and muscle tone. With early, steady support, children with Down syndrome make real, meaningful progress. Learn more →

The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association, which sets out standard criteria for diagnosing conditions such as autism and ADHD. It's widely used in clinics and research, especially in the United States.

Example To diagnose autism a psychologist checks whether the child meets the DSM-5 criteria of persistent social-communication difficulties plus restricted, repetitive behaviours.

A hands-on approach that looks at how a child learns when given a bit of help, rather than only what they already know. It follows a test–teach–retest rhythm and is brilliant for telling a genuine disorder apart from simply not having been exposed to something before.

Example A bilingual child struggles to name pictures; after brief teaching she rapidly improves, suggesting a language difference rather than a language disorder.

A specific learning difficulty that affects how a person grasps numbers and does maths, even when they're trying hard and being taught well. People sometimes describe it as dyslexia for numbers.

Example A child with dyscalculia may struggle to tell which of two prices is bigger or to remember that 6 + 4 = 10.

A specific learning difficulty that makes handwriting and getting thoughts down on paper hard work, even for a bright child who knows exactly what they want to write. Learn more →

A specific learning difficulty that mainly affects reading, spelling and writing, in a child who is often sharp and capable in other areas. Learn more →

Developmental Coordination Disorder — difficulty planning and coordinating body movements, so a child can come across as clumsy or find things like buttons or catching a ball a real struggle. Learn more →

Getting support in place as soon as we can — ideally before a child turns three, while the brain is at its most adaptable — so it makes the biggest possible difference. Learn more →

Repeating back words or phrases a child has heard, sometimes right away and sometimes much later. It's common in autism and often a genuine stepping stone towards communication. Learn more →

A number that captures how big a difference or relationship really is, regardless of how many people were studied. It answers ‘how much?’ rather than just ‘is there anything there?’ — which a p-value alone can never tell you.

Example A trial reports a large effect size, indicating the therapy group outperformed controls by a substantial margin, not just a detectable one.

A way of meeting a child's feelings head-on: you notice and name the emotion, show you understand, and only then guide the behaviour and help them problem-solve. It treats big feelings as moments to teach, not things to shut down.

Example A carer says, “I can see you’re frustrated the tablet is off. It’s hard to stop. We can play again after dinner — let’s find a game now.”

When a trusted adult stays steady and accepting while a child pours out overwhelming feelings, so the child feels safe rather than frightened by their own emotions. The adult ‘holds’ the feeling without getting swept up in it too.

Example During a meltdown, a parent stays calm and present, saying, “I’m here, you’re safe,” rather than shouting back or walking away.

Being able to recognise, name and talk about feelings — both your own and other people's. It's the foundation for managing emotions and getting on well with others.

Example A child looks at a friend’s face and says, “You look sad — do you want to play with me?”

A child's growing knack for handling big feelings — calming down, riding out frustration and bouncing back — with the right support and a few good strategies. Learn more →

Decoding in reverse — turning spoken words into the written letters that spell them. Put simply, it's spelling.

Example To spell ‘chip’, a child encodes the sounds ‘ch-i-p’ into the correct letters.

A way of teaching that makes mistakes very unlikely, usually by giving lots of support at the start and easing it off slowly. It lets a child practise the right answer over and over and build real confidence.

Example When learning to point to a cup, the adult immediately guides the child’s hand to the right picture so they always answer correctly at first.

A way of making clinical decisions that brings together the best available research, the clinician's own expertise, and the family's values and wishes. None of the three is used on its own — they're all weighed up together.

Example A therapist chooses an intervention supported by strong trials, adapts it to her clinical judgement, and checks it fits the family’s routines and goals — that is evidence-based practice.

The brain's “management team” — planning, holding attention, remembering instructions and juggling several things at once. It often needs a helping hand in ADHD and learning difficulties. Learn more →

How a child gets their thoughts and needs out into the world — using words, sentences and gestures to say what they mean. Learn more →

Easing off a behaviour by consistently stopping the reward that used to keep it going. Be ready for it to flare up briefly first (an ‘extinction burst’) before it fades away.

Example A child used to get sweets for whining at the checkout; parents stop giving them, the whining spikes for a few visits, then stops.

Looking at another person while interacting with them. Reduced or fleeting eye contact can be one early sign worth exploring — though every child is different, so it's never the whole story. Learn more →

Trouble with eating, chewing, coping with textures or swallowing safely. It's often tied to sensory or motor differences, and therapy can make a real difference. Learn more →

Little objects a child can touch, squeeze or fiddle with, giving the kind of sensory input that helps them settle and focus. They're aids for attention, not toys to play with.

Example A child quietly squeezes a stress ball under the desk and is then able to listen to the lesson without getting up.

The body's automatic survival reaction when it senses a threat. In children it can look like lashing out, bolting, or going still and silent — not deliberate misbehaviour, but the nervous system taking over.

Example When a fire alarm sounds, one child hits out, another bolts for the door, and a third freezes and cannot move.

The small, precise movements of the hands and fingers — the ones behind holding a pencil, doing up buttons or using a fork. Learn more →

A simple visual or spoken structure that shows a child one task to finish before a favourite activity follows. It makes what's expected clear and easy to predict.

Example A therapist shows a board reading ‘First puzzle, then bubbles,’ helping the child accept the puzzle to reach the bubbles.

How smoothly and easily speech flows. When fluency is tricky, it can show up as stammering (also called stuttering). Learn more →

A child's ability to cope when things are hard, slow, or just not going their way, without tipping into overwhelm. It grows gradually, with plenty of practice and support along the way.

Example A child struggles with a puzzle piece, huffs, but keeps trying for a bit longer instead of throwing the whole puzzle.

A structured piece of detective work that gathers information to figure out what a challenging behaviour is doing for a child. What it uncovers then shapes a support plan, rather than just trying to stamp the behaviour out.

Example A team observes, interviews parents and records ABC data over two weeks and concludes a child’s screaming is mainly a way to gain adult attention.

Getting a message across successfully by whatever means works — words, signs, pictures, gestures or a device. The goal is being understood, not perfect speech.

Example A non-speaking child who hands over a picture of a cup to ask for a drink is using functional communication.

How far a study's findings stretch beyond its own participants to other people, places or situations. Also called external validity, it hinges on how representative the sample and conditions were.

Example A programme tested only on verbal seven-year-olds in one clinic may have limited generalisability to non-speaking toddlers at home.

Taking a newly learned skill and using it in different places and with different people — not just in the therapy room, but at home and school too. It's one of the real markers of therapy that works. Learn more →

A style of learning language where a child first picks up whole ‘chunks’ or phrases as single units, then later takes them apart into individual words. It's common in autistic children and often starts with echoed scripts.

Example A child repeats the whole phrase ‘to infinity and beyond’ to mean ‘let’s go’, then gradually learns to separate and recombine the words — gestalt language processing.

Being able to fine-tune how much force and speed you put into something so it fits the job. When grading is poor, movements come out too hard or too soft, too fast or too slow.

Example A child cannot grade his force, so he crushes a paper cup when picking it up and colours either far too lightly or by tearing the page.

A letter or group of letters that stands for a single sound (a phoneme) on the page.

Example In ‘night’, the grapheme ‘igh’ is three letters that together make just one sound.

The big, whole-body movements — sitting, crawling, walking, running and keeping your balance. Learn more →

Settling on one hand as the skilled, leading hand while the other helps out. It usually becomes clear somewhere around five or six years of age.

Example A child still swaps his pencil between hands halfway through writing because a dominant hand has not yet been established.

Guiding the hands accurately using what the eyes are telling them. It sits underneath so many everyday and school tasks.

Example A child threading beads onto a string or catching a ball is using hand–eye coordination.

How easily someone else can actually read a child's handwriting — down to letter shapes, spacing and consistency. It comes along with fine motor control and lots of practice.

Example A teacher notes that letters are formed clearly and evenly spaced, so the child’s work is easy to read — good legibility.

The Hanen programmes, including More Than Words, are parent-focused approaches that coach families to grow a child's communication during ordinary routines and play. They lean into following the child's lead and creating natural reasons to communicate.

Example A parent trained in a Hanen approach pauses during bath time and waits expectantly, giving their child a chance to request more bubbles.

Reduced hearing that can shape how a child's speech and language develop. Even mild or on-and-off hearing loss — from ear infections, say — can hold speech back. Learn more →

Activities that push, pull, lift or carry against resistance, giving the muscles and joints a good workout. That deep input (proprioception) often leaves children feeling calmer and more settled.

Example Before sitting down to work, a child carries a stack of books, pushes a heavy trolley or does wall push-ups to help settle.

A ranking of research designs by how well they keep bias in check — usually with systematic reviews and meta-analyses at the top, then RCTs, then observational studies, case studies and expert opinion further down. It helps you decide how much weight a source deserves.

Example When two sources disagree, a clinician trusts a systematic review of RCTs over a single expert’s opinion, following the hierarchy of evidence.

A level of movement and restlessness well above what you'd expect for a child's age. It can look like simply not being able to keep still, even when sitting is what's called for.

Example During circle time a child repeatedly stands up, wriggles, climbs on the chair and taps the table while others sit calmly.

Getting so deeply lost in a favourite activity that a child loses all track of time and finds it really hard to pull their attention away. It's inattention flipped to the opposite extreme.

Example A child building with blocks does not hear his name called several times and becomes upset when asked to stop for dinner.

An early, advanced knack for reading words — often way ahead of a child's age — that isn't matched by an equal understanding of what those words mean. It's frequently seen alongside autism.

Example A three-year-old fluently reads street signs aloud but cannot answer simple questions about a story — a profile suggesting hyperlexia.

Being over-tuned to sensory input — everyday sounds, textures, lights or the tags in clothes can feel overwhelming, or even genuinely painful, to the child. Learn more →

Higher-than-usual muscle tone, so muscles feel stiff and push back when you try to move them. It can make smooth, coordinated movement hard.

Example A child with hypertonia holds his arms tight and bent, and his legs feel rigid, making relaxed walking and reaching harder.

Being under-tuned to sensory input — a child may go looking for movement, deep pressure or loud sounds because their body needs extra input to feel “just right”. Learn more →

Lower-than-usual muscle tone, so muscles feel floppy and offer less resistance at rest. Children can seem ‘loose-jointed’ and tire quickly during anything physical.

Example A baby with hypotonia feels like a rag doll when picked up, and later the child leans on walls and adults because sitting upright is tiring.

The eleventh revision of the International Classification of Diseases, kept up to date by the World Health Organization, which sets globally recognised codes for health conditions including developmental disorders. It's the standard used by the NHS and most health systems outside the United States.

Example A UK paediatrician records a diagnosis of developmental language disorder using its ICD-11 code for health records and statistics.

A written plan with specific, tailored goals for a child who learns differently, along with the support and strategies to help them get there. Learn more →

Acting on the spur of the moment, before there's time to think it through. It comes from finding it hard to put the brakes on a response — not from deliberately being naughty.

Example A child shouts out the answer before the teacher finishes the question, or grabs a toy from a friend without waiting.

Finding it hard to keep focus on a task, especially one that's repetitive or a bit dull. The child may drift off, miss instructions, or make careless slips.

Example A child starts a worksheet, then stares out of the window and forgets what he was asked to do halfway through.

Teaching that welcomes children of every ability and adapts around them, so each child can learn alongside their peers with the right support in place. Learn more →

Non-standardised ways of gathering information — language samples, play-based tasks, work samples, checklists — that aren't scored against a norm group. They give rich, real-world detail about how a child actually does things.

Example Rather than only scoring a test, the therapist records ten minutes of a child’s play narration to analyse sentence length and grammar in natural speech.

Agreement to an assessment or treatment, given freely by a parent or carer (or a capable young person) after they've been told the purpose, methods, risks and alternatives in words they understand. It's an ethical and legal must before any evaluation goes ahead.

Example Before recording a language sample on video, the therapist explains how it will be used and obtains the parent’s written informed consent.

When a child learns and understands more slowly and needs extra help with thinking and everyday skills. You'll sometimes hear it called being a “slow learner”. Learn more →

How easily a listener can understand what a child is saying. It's often given as a percentage, and it shifts with the speaker, how familiar the listener is, and the situation.

Example A three-year-old’s speech might be 75% intelligible to his mother but only 50% to a stranger who does not know his usual words.

The inner sense that tells you what's going on inside your body — hunger, thirst, needing the toilet, a racing heart. It's what lets us notice both bodily needs and emotions.

Example A child with weak interoception does not notice he needs the toilet until it is too late, or cannot tell that his fast heartbeat means he is anxious.

Sharing your focus with someone else on the same thing — looking at a toy together, then back at each other. It's one of the real building blocks of communication. Learn more →

When a child is slower than expected to understand or use words, even if the speech sounds they do make come out clearly. Learn more →

A recorded and written-out collection of a child's natural talking, which clinicians pore over to see their real vocabulary, grammar and sentence length. It paints a truer picture than a standardised test on its own.

Example A therapist plays with a child for ten minutes and records everything he says, then uses that language sample to work out his MLU and error patterns.

A toddler who understands the world around them well, but is using far fewer words than you'd expect for their age. Learn more →

A person's inner dictionary — the whole store of words they know, along with what those words mean, how they sound, and how to use them. It grows at a remarkable pace through early childhood.

Example When a toddler suddenly starts naming everything he sees, his lexicon is expanding during what is often called the ‘vocabulary spurt’.

A study that follows the very same people over a long stretch of time, measuring them again and again. It shows how development or outcomes actually change over the years, unlike a one-moment snapshot.

Example Researchers assess a group of late-talking toddlers every year until age eight to see which children catch up and which do not.

In children this can look like lasting sadness, irritability, losing interest in play, or changes in sleep and appetite. When it drags on for weeks and starts affecting daily life, it may be depression, and it's worth talking to a professional.

Example A once-cheerful child stops wanting to see friends, seems flat for weeks, and says nothing is fun any more.

A communication programme that pairs signs and symbols with speech to support both understanding and expression. Crucially, the signs go alongside talking, never instead of it, so spoken language keeps being encouraged.

Example While saying the word “drink”, an adult also makes the Makaton sign for drink so the child sees and hears the message.

When an autistic person hides their autistic traits to blend in — holding back stims, forcing eye contact, copying how others act socially. It can help in the moment, but it's exhausting and is linked to burnout.

Example A girl mimics her classmates’ facial expressions and holds in her urge to flap all day at school, then melts down at home — a sign of masking.

A measure of a child's grammar, worked out as the average number of morphemes per sentence in a language sample. As a rule, a higher MLU points to more advanced language.

Example The sentence ‘Mummy pushed me’ counts as four morphemes (Mummy, push, -ed, me), which a clinician averages across samples to find the child’s MLU.

An overwhelming response to feeling flooded — quite different from a tantrum, because it isn't about getting something and the child genuinely can't just switch it off. Learn more →

A statistical method that pools the numbers from several studies to reach one sharper, more precise estimate of an effect. It's often the number-crunching heart of a systematic review.

Example By combining ten small trials, a meta-analysis estimates the average effect of an intervention with far greater precision than any one trial could.

The skills most children reach by a certain age — first words, first steps and so on. They're handy signposts for tracking development, not strict deadlines. Learn more →

A naturalistic way of building language that uses a child's own interests and everyday surroundings to spark communication, often through modelling and gentle pauses. Learning gets woven straight into ordinary moments.

Example A favourite toy is placed just out of reach so the child is motivated to ask for it, and the adult then models the words to use.

Two words that differ by just one sound — ‘sea’ and ‘see’, or ‘pea’ and ‘bee’. They're a go-to in therapy for helping a child hear and make the contrasts that change a word's meaning.

Example To fix a child who says ‘tar’ for ‘car’, a therapist uses the minimal pair ‘tar’ and ‘car’ so he learns the two are different words.

Showing a child language or a skill by doing it yourself — saying the word you'd love them to say, so they hear it and copy it. A simple but surprisingly powerful thing to do at home. Learn more →

A theory that autistic minds tend to pour their attention into a few interests at a time — a narrow but deep spotlight rather than a wide floodlight. It helps explain intense focus, flow states, and how hard it can be to switch tasks.

Example A boy absorbed in building his train track does not hear his name called three times — his monotropic attention is fully on one channel.

The smallest piece of a word that still carries meaning. Some words are a single morpheme; others are built from several stacked together.

Example ‘Unhelpful’ has three morphemes — ‘un’ (not), ‘help’ and ‘ful’ (full of) — each adding meaning.

The study of how words are built from smaller meaningful parts called morphemes — roots, prefixes, plurals and tense endings. It's what explains how ‘walk’ turns into ‘walked’ or ‘walking’.

Example A five-year-old who says ‘two foots’ instead of ‘two feet’ is still learning the morphology rules for irregular plurals.

The brain's ability to think out, put in order and carry through an unfamiliar physical action — anything from climbing stairs to shaping a brand-new speech sound. Learn more →

A group of professionals from different fields — paediatrics, psychology, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy — who assess and plan a child's care together. Pooling their views makes a real difference when a child's profile is complex.

Example An autism assessment is completed by a multidisciplinary team so that communication, behaviour and medical factors are all evaluated together.

Teaching that brings sight, sound, touch and movement together, so information reaches the brain through several doors at once. It's widely used to support children with learning difficulties.

Example A child learns the letter ‘s’ by seeing it, saying its sound, and tracing its shape in sand at the same time.

The idea that putting a feeling into words helps calm the emotional part of the brain. Sometimes just labelling an emotion is enough to take some of the heat out of it.

Example A parent says, “You’re really angry that we have to leave the park,” and the child’s crying begins to settle once the feeling is named.

Being able to tell a story or recount something that happened in a clear order, with characters and ideas that hang together. These skills support both chatting with others and, later, understanding what you read.

Example Asked what happened at school, a child with strong narrative skills says ‘First we did painting, then Ali spilled the water, so the teacher helped clean it.’

Also called incidental teaching, this builds skills right inside everyday play and routines rather than in separate drills. The adult follows the child's interest and turns natural moments into chances to learn.

Example When a child reaches for bubbles, the adult holds them close and waits for the child to say or sign “bubbles” before blowing them.

Strengthening a behaviour by taking away or dodging something unpleasant when the behaviour happens. Note that it increases behaviour — unlike punishment, which reduces it.

Example A child whines during maths and is allowed to stop; because the whining removed the disliked task, he whines more next time.

The idea that the natural variety in how human brains work — including autism, ADHD and dyslexia — is a normal part of being human, rather than a set of faults to be cured. It leans towards acceptance and adjusting the world to fit.

Example A school that offers quiet spaces and flexible tasks instead of forcing every child to work identically is embracing neurodiversity.

Increasingly preferred terms that draw a line between someone who doesn't use spoken words (non-speaking) and the misleading suggestion that they have no language at all (non-verbal). Many non-speaking people communicate richly in other ways.

Example A boy who uses a tablet to build full sentences is best described as non-speaking, not non-verbal, because he clearly has language.

A child who isn't yet using spoken words to communicate. They can still be helped to connect and express themselves through gestures, pictures and AAC. Learn more →

All the communicating we do without words — eye contact, gestures, facial expressions and body language. Learn more →

A test that stacks a child's performance up against a large, representative sample of same-age peers (the ‘norm group’). It tells you where a child sits compared with others, not whether they've mastered a particular skill.

Example A child scores in the 12th percentile on a norm-referenced vocabulary test, meaning they performed better than 12 percent of children their age in the norm sample.

A gut-level feel for numbers — how big they are, how they relate to one another, and how they can be pulled apart and put back together.

Example A child with good number sense knows that 8 is close to 10 and can quickly see that six dots is more than four dots.

The realisation that people and things still exist even when you can't see, hear or touch them. It usually clicks into place during the first year of life.

Example A baby who searches for a toy after you hide it under a blanket has grasped object permanence.

Therapy that builds the everyday skills a child needs to join in with life — motor skills, handwriting, self-care, play and staying comfortably regulated. Learn more →

Obsessive-compulsive disorder means unwanted, upsetting thoughts (obsessions) and repeated actions or rituals (compulsions) a child feels they simply have to do to feel safe. It's much more than being tidy — it can eat up time and cause real distress.

Example A child feels they must wash their hands a set number of times or check the door repeatedly, and becomes very anxious if stopped.

The strength, movement and coordination of the lips, tongue and jaw — the muscle work behind both clear speech and safe eating and drinking. Learn more →

A language's spelling system — its rules for how sounds get turned into letters and how words are written down.

Example English orthography explains why ‘though’, ‘through’ and ‘tough’ look similar but sound very different.

A structured, multisensory approach to teaching reading and spelling, often used with children who have dyslexia. It builds the links between sounds and letters step by careful step, using sight, sound and movement together.

Example A child says a sound aloud while tracing the letter in sand, connecting what they see, hear and feel as they learn to read.

When a young child stretches one word too far, using it for lots of things that share some feature with the original. It's a sign of a growing but still fuzzy vocabulary.

Example A toddler calls every four-legged animal ‘doggy’ — including cats, cows and horses — a classic over-extension.

A stage where children play side by side with similar toys but without much back-and-forth. It's a perfectly normal stepping stone towards more social play.

Example Two two-year-olds sit side by side building separate towers, glancing at each other but not playing together — that’s parallel play.

An approach that trains and coaches parents to support their child's development through everyday life at home. The parent becomes the main person putting the strategies into practice, with a professional guiding the way.

Example A therapist teaches a parent to pause and wait for their child to initiate during play, then reviews video of them practising it at home.

A profile within the autism spectrum marked by an intense, anxiety-driven need to resist and avoid everyday demands — even things the person actually wants to do. An ordinary request can trigger overwhelming resistance.

Example Told simply to ‘put your shoes on’, a child with a PDA profile becomes panicked and refuses, but will happily do it if it is turned into a game.

A structured programme that teaches a person to communicate by handing over a picture card to ask for something or share a message. It's often used with children who aren't yet speaking, and doing it properly takes specific training.

Example A child hands their helper a picture of a biscuit to ask for one, and receives the biscuit in exchange.

The process where independent experts pick over a study's methods and conclusions before it's published. It's a useful quality filter, though it doesn't guarantee the study got everything right.

Example Before appearing in a journal, the manuscript is sent to two anonymous specialists who recommend revisions to the statistics — that is peer review.

The way a child holds a pencil or crayon, which matures through fairly predictable stages towards an efficient tripod grip. A grasp that's immature or tense can make writing tiring and messy.

Example A child grips his pencil in a whole-fist hold and presses so hard that his hand aches after a few minutes of writing.

A way of showing how a child compares with others the same age on something like height, weight or a particular skill. A child on the 60th percentile scores higher than about 60 out of every 100 peers.

Example A baby on the 25th percentile for weight weighs more than about a quarter of babies their age — a normal position, not a problem in itself.

The share of the norm group a child matched or beat. It's a rank, not the percentage of questions they got right, and it's one of the friendliest ways to explain a result to a parent.

Example A percentile rank of 50 means the child scored right at the median — better than half of same-age peers; a rank of 5 means only 5 percent scored lower.

A strong pull to get everything exactly right, coupled with a real dread of making mistakes. In children it can lead to dodging tasks, giving up, or getting very upset over the smallest slip.

Example A child rubs out their drawing again and again, then refuses to finish because it does not look “perfect”.

Being able to step into someone else's shoes and imagine their point of view, feelings or knowledge in a situation. It builds on theory of mind and is at the heart of friendships and working together.

Example A child who lowers his voice because he notices the baby is sleeping is showing perspective-taking.

The smallest unit of sound in a language that can change a word's meaning. Swap one phoneme for another and you get a different word — like the /b/ and /p/ in ‘bat’ and ‘pat’.

Example A therapist shows a child that changing the first sound in ‘cat’ to /h/ makes ‘hat’ — the single sound is one phoneme.

The link between a spoken sound and the letter or letters we use to write it down. Learning these matches is the beating heart of phonics.

Example A child learns that the sound ‘k’ can be written as ‘c’ in ‘cat’, ‘k’ in ‘kite’ or ‘ck’ in ‘duck’.

A method of teaching reading and spelling by making clear the links between sounds and the letters that stand for them. It gives children a way to work out unfamiliar words rather than just memorising them whole.

Example Using phonics, a child reads ‘pond’ by sounding out ‘p-o-n-d’ and blending the sounds together.

Noticing and playing with the sound structure of spoken language — spotting rhymes, clapping out syllables, hearing the first or last sound in a word. It's a key foundation for learning to read.

Example A child who can tell you ‘cat’ and ‘hat’ rhyme, and that ‘sun’ starts with /s/, is showing strong phonological awareness.

A predictable shortcut young children take to simplify grown-up speech, like dropping the final consonant or swapping a tricky sound for an easier one. These patterns are normal early on and should fade as the child grows.

Example A toddler who says ‘tup’ for ‘cup’ and ‘do’ for ‘dog’ is using the phonological processes of fronting and final-consonant deletion.

A language's sound system — the patterns and rules for how sounds fit together. Phonological difficulties are a common reason a child's speech is hard to follow. Learn more →

Picking up small things using the very tips of the thumb and index finger. This little fine motor milestone usually shows up around nine to twelve months, and it paves the way for later skills like holding a pencil.

Example A baby who picks up a single pea between finger and thumb is using a pincer grasp.

A dummy or sham condition, used so researchers can separate the effect of expectation and attention from the specific effect of a real treatment. Even a fake intervention can seem to help — that's the placebo effect.

Example In a medication trial one group receives an identical-looking pill with no active ingredient, allowing researchers to see how much benefit is due to the drug itself.

Therapy that happens through play, following the child's own interests. Children learn best when they're genuinely enjoying themselves, so play is where the real progress lives. Learn more →

Encouraging a helpful behaviour by following it with something the child loves — praise, a favourite activity, a small treat — so it's more likely to happen again. Learn more →

Holding and adjusting the body against gravity to stay steady during an activity. It's the quiet foundation that makes balance and controlled hand use possible.

Example A child keeps falling out of a cross-legged sitting position on the floor and needs to lean on a wall to stay upright during a group activity.

The everyday social side of language — greeting people, taking turns, staying on topic and reading body language. It's often a focus for autistic children. Learn more →

Being able to dream up, plan and carry out a new or unfamiliar sequence of movements. It's broader than motor planning because it also includes coming up with the idea for how to act in the first place.

Example A child struggles to work out how to climb a new climbing frame, hesitating over where to put his hands and feet.

Using a favourite, often-chosen activity as the reward for finishing a less-loved one — sometimes called ‘grandma's rule’. Getting the fun task is made to depend on doing the harder one first.

Example A parent says, ‘When you finish your reading, then you can watch cartoons,’ so watching is earned by reading.

A clinician's best informed guess about how a condition is likely to unfold, including the progress you'd expect with intervention. It's a probability grounded in evidence and the child's own profile — never a cast-iron promise.

Example Given early diagnosis and consistent therapy, the clinician gives a favourable prognosis for the child developing functional spoken language.

Slowly dialling back the help or cues for a skill so the child does more and more of it themselves over time. It stops a child leaning on adult support once they no longer need it.

Example A worker first guides a child’s hand to write his name, then only points to the paper, then just says ‘go’, until he writes it alone.

A hint or nudge — a word, a gesture, a gentle hand — that helps a child pull off a new skill, then fades away as they can manage it on their own. Learn more →

The planned ladder of help used to teach a skill, running from the lightest touch (a gesture) up to the most (hand-over-hand guidance). Support is dialled to whatever lets the child succeed while doing as much as they can themselves.

Example To teach putting on shoes, an adult first points, then gives a verbal reminder, and only physically guides the child’s hands if needed.

The body's sense of where its parts are and how much force the muscles are using, sent from receptors in the muscles and joints. It's what lets us move without having to watch our arms and legs the whole time.

Example A child with poor proprioception presses far too hard with a pencil and bumps into furniture because he cannot judge his body position.

The rhythm, stress, pitch and tune of speech — the musical layer that carries meaning and feeling on top of the words. Prosody is how we hear a question, catch sarcasm, or pick up on someone's mood.

Example By raising her pitch at the end, a child turns ‘we are going’ into the question ‘we are going?’ using prosody alone.

Quantitative research measures things as numbers and crunches them statistically; qualitative research digs into meaning, experience and context through words, interviews and observation. They answer different sorts of question, and researchers often use them side by side.

Example A quantitative study counts how many children improved on a test, while a qualitative study interviews parents about how the therapy affected daily family life.

A study where participants are put by chance into either the treatment group or a comparison/control group, then their outcomes are compared. That random allocation evens out both known and unknown differences between the groups, which is why the RCT is the strongest single design for testing whether a treatment works.

Example Children with a language delay are randomly assigned to either a new therapy or usual care; because assignment is random, a later difference in scores can be attributed to the therapy.

How fast someone can reel off the names of familiar things in a row — letters, numbers, colours or objects. Slow naming speed is a known link to reading difficulties.

Example A child is shown a grid of colours and asked to name them as fast as possible — slow, hesitant naming can be an early sign of dyslexia.

A score that describes a child's reading in terms of the age at which that level is typical, rather than their real age. It's a quick way to see how their reading compares with what's expected.

Example An eight-year-old with a reading age of ten reads roughly as well as an average ten-year-old.

Actually understanding what you read, not just being able to say the words out loud. It draws on joining ideas together, reading between the lines, and holding on to the key points.

Example After reading a short passage, a child can explain why the character was sad — that shows comprehension, not just decoding.

Reading text accurately, at a comfortable pace, and with natural expression. When reading flows like this, it frees up the mind to focus on what the words actually mean.

Example A fluent reader reads a storybook page smoothly and with expression, instead of stopping to sound out every word.

How well a child understands language — following instructions, answering questions, and making sense of words and gestures. Learn more →

The general truth that children understand words before they can say them. Understanding (receptive) usually runs a little ahead of speaking (expressive).

Example A one-year-old who can point to their nose or fetch their shoes on request understands far more than the few words they can say.

Two early routes into language: referential children build their vocabulary mostly from object names (‘ball’, ‘shoe’), while expressive children lean on social phrases (‘go away’, ‘I want it’). Both are perfectly normal ways in.

Example One toddler’s first words are all objects like ‘cup’ and ‘dog’ (referential), while her cousin’s are phrases like ‘all gone’ and ‘stop it’ (expressive).

When a child loses a skill they used to have — words they once said, for example. It's always worth flagging to a professional sooner rather than later. Learn more →

The rule for how often a behaviour gets rewarded — every single time (continuous) or every now and then (intermittent). Interestingly, occasional rewards tend to make a behaviour especially stubborn and long-lasting.

Example A child is praised for every correct answer while learning, then only occasionally once the skill is secure, keeping motivation high.

How consistent or repeatable a measure is — whether it gives the same answer under the same conditions. A reliable tool produces steady scores across different raters, days or items.

Example If two therapists watch the same video and independently score a child’s behaviour almost identically, the measure has high inter-rater reliability.

Focused teaching that helps a child close specific learning gaps, at a pace that suits them. Learn more →

A more acceptable behaviour, deliberately taught to meet the same need a challenging behaviour was meeting. It hands the child a better way to get the same result.

Example Instead of hitting to escape a hard task, a child is taught to hand over a ‘break’ card to ask for a short rest.

The ability to cope with hard times, adapt, and bounce back from setbacks. It grows out of supportive relationships and chances to take on challenges that are stretching but manageable.

Example A child loses a game, feels disappointed for a moment, then asks to play again rather than melting down.

The quality of the voice created by the way sound vibrates through the throat, mouth and nose. When something's off, speech can sound too nasal (hypernasal) or blocked and stuffy (hyponasal).

Example A child born with a cleft palate may have hypernasal resonance, so ‘baby’ sounds like air is escaping through his nose.

A method where a reward or token the child has already earned is taken back after an unwanted behaviour. It's a mild form of punishment built into a reward system.

Example A child loses one of his earned stars each time he leaves his seat without permission during a lesson.

How many participants a study included, usually written as n. Bigger samples give steadier, more precise estimates and make real effects easier to spot, while very small studies can lead you astray.

Example A promising result from a study of six children should be treated with caution until replicated in a larger sample.

Giving a child just enough support to do something a little beyond what they can manage alone, then easing it away as they get the hang of it. Learn more →

A kind of standard score, usually used for individual subtests, built on a mean of 10 and a standard deviation of 3 (typically running from 1 to 19). It lets you compare how a child did across the various subtests within one assessment.

Example A subtest scaled score of 7 is one standard deviation below the mean of 10, indicating a relative weakness in that specific area.

The blend of communication, social, attention and self-care skills a child needs to settle in and learn at school — and skills that therapy can help build up beforehand. Learn more →

Also called school avoidance, this is when a child finds it very hard or downright impossible to go to school because of anxiety or distress, rather than simply not fancying it. It usually needs a kind, step-by-step response shared between home and school.

Example A child develops headaches and stomach aches every school morning that disappear at weekends, and begs to stay home.

A quick, non-diagnostic check to see whether a child's development looks on track or could do with a closer look. Do try our free online screener. Learn more →

Using memorised phrases, lines from favourite shows, or whole conversations — sometimes to communicate, sometimes to self-soothe. It can be a meaningful way to communicate and a genuine step towards more flexible language.

Example When nervous, a girl recites lines from her favourite cartoon to calm herself and to greet people — this is scripting.

A trusted caregiver a child feels safe enough to head off and explore from, coming back for a top-up of reassurance when they need it. It grows out of a secure attachment.

Example At a playgroup, a child ventures off to explore the toys but keeps glancing back at their parent, using them as a secure base.

An anxiety-based difficulty where a child chats away comfortably in some settings (often home) but simply can't get words out in others, like school. Learn more →

How a child feels about themselves — their sense of being valued and capable. Healthy self-esteem gives children the courage to try new things and to weather setbacks.

Example A child with good self-esteem says, “That was hard, but I’ll try again,” instead of giving up after one mistake.

The everyday jobs children learn to do for themselves — feeding, dressing, washing and toileting. Mastering them builds both independence and confidence.

Example A four-year-old learning to put on their own coat and do up the zip is developing self-help skills.

A child's ability to manage their energy, emotions and attention to suit what's going on around them — calming down or tuning in when it's needed. Learn more →

The meaning side of language — of words, phrases and sentences, and how words relate to one another. It takes in vocabulary as well as understanding ideas like opposites, categories and words with more than one meaning.

Example A child laughs when told to ‘hold your horses’ because, at a semantics level, he pictures real horses rather than the meaning ‘wait’.

A pattern of trying to get away from or dial down sensory input that feels like too much. The child pulls back from busy, loud or messy situations to feel okay again.

Example A child hides under the table at a birthday party and refuses to join messy play with paint or glue.

A tailored “menu” of movement and sensory activities spread across the day to help a child stay calm, focused and comfortably regulated. Learn more →

The way the brain takes in and sorts information from all the senses, so a child can respond to their surroundings calmly and in a fitting way. Learn more →

Being able to turn the volume up or down on your reaction to sensory input so it fits the moment. When this is hard, a child may over-react or under-react to sounds, touch or movement.

Example A child with modulation difficulty covers his ears and cries at a hand dryer that other children barely notice.

A state where the brain is getting more sensory input — noise, light, touch, smell — than it can comfortably deal with, which can tip into distress, shutdown or a meltdown. It's common for autistic and sensory-sensitive people.

Example In a busy supermarket with bright lights and loud tannoys, a boy covers his ears and freezes because he is in sensory overload.

When a child is over- or under-sensitive to sights, sounds, textures, movement or tastes, in a way that shapes their behaviour and everyday life. Learn more →

A pattern of actively going after strong sensory experiences — movement, deep pressure, noise or touch. The child seems to need that extra input to feel ‘just right’.

Example A child constantly jumps, crashes into cushions, chews his sleeves and touches everything on the shelf.

Real distress when a child is apart from a parent or main carer. A dose of it is a normal part of early childhood, but it can become a worry if it's severe or hangs on well past the toddler years.

Example A four-year-old sobs and clings to their mother’s leg at nursery drop-off and struggles to settle even after she has left.

Everyday words a reader recognises in an instant without sounding them out, usually because they're hard to decode or they crop up so often.

Example Words like ‘the’, ‘said’ and ‘was’ are usually learned as sight words because they don’t follow simple phonics rules.

The natural give-and-take of interacting with someone — responding to them, sharing what interests you, and keeping things mutual. Finding this hard is one of the core features described in autism.

Example During a chat one child only talks about his own game and never asks about the other, showing reduced social reciprocity.

The everyday abilities that help a child connect with others — sharing, taking turns, joining in play and tuning in to how people feel. Learn more →

Short, personalised descriptions that walk a child through a social situation, expectation or skill in a clear, reassuring way. They help a child know what's coming and how they might handle it.

Example Before a dentist visit, a parent reads a social story describing the chair, the light and the ‘open wide’ step so the child feels prepared.

Individually tailored teaching for children who learn differently — meeting them right where they are, with goals and methods shaped around them. Learn more →

Deep, passionate interests in particular topics, common among autistic people. They can be a real source of joy, expertise, calm and connection, and are increasingly recognised as strengths rather than problems.

Example A seven-year-old knows the name, era and diet of every dinosaur and lights up when allowed to talk about them — a special interest.

A difficulty that hits one particular area of learning — reading, writing or maths — in a child whose overall ability is otherwise right where you'd expect. Dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia are the usual examples.

Example A bright, articulate child who reads well but cannot spell reliably may have a specific learning difficulty rather than a general delay.

A qualified professional who assesses and helps with difficulties in speech, language, communication and, sometimes, feeding in children. Learn more →

When a child is slower than expected to start talking or to build up their vocabulary. Learn more →

Ongoing trouble making certain sounds correctly, past the age most children have got the hang of them, so speech ends up hard to understand. Learn more →

The regular ways letter groups are used to stand for sounds, which help a child spell whole families of words instead of memorising each one on its own.

Example Learning the ‘-ight’ pattern helps a child spell ‘light’, ‘night’, ‘fight’ and ‘bright’.

A difficulty with the flow of speech — repeating sounds, stretching them out, or getting “stuck” partway through trying to talk. Learn more →

A statistic that describes how spread out scores are around the average. In assessment it sets the width of the ‘average range’ and lets a raw score be read as typical, above, or below what's expected.

Example If a test has a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15, roughly 68 percent of children score between 85 and 115.

A score showing how far a child's raw performance sits from the average, on a scale with a set mean and standard deviation. Most cognitive and language tests use a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15, which is what lets results from different tests be compared.

Example A standard score of 85 is exactly one standard deviation below the mean of 100, placing the child at the lower edge of the average range.

A test given and scored the same way every single time — same instructions, materials and timing — so a child's results can be fairly compared with others or against a benchmark. That consistency strips out the effect of who ran the test or how.

Example A speech therapist administers a standardised language test exactly as the manual specifies, reading each prompt word-for-word so the score can be compared with the test’s norm group.

A measure of how likely a result would be if there were genuinely no effect, usually called significant when the p-value drops below 0.05. It suggests a finding probably isn't just chance, but it says nothing at all about how big or important the effect is.

Example A trial reports p = 0.03, meaning a difference this big would occur by chance only about 3 times in 100 if the therapy did nothing.

Repeated movements or sounds — hand-flapping, rocking, spinning — that help a child feel calm and regulated. It's common and often genuinely helpful in autism. Learn more →

Play where a child lets one object, action or idea stand in for another. It's a lovely sign of growing imagination and language, and it usually turns up in the second year.

Example A toddler holding a banana to their ear and ‘talking on the phone’ is engaging in symbolic play.

The rules for how words are ordered and put together into phrases and sentences. Syntax is exactly what makes ‘the dog chased the ball’ mean something different from ‘the ball chased the dog’.

Example A child who says ‘me want juice go’ has the words but not yet the syntax to arrange them into ‘I want to go get juice’.

A phonics approach where children learn the individual sounds first, then blend (synthesise) them together to read a whole word. It's the approach most UK schools are recommended to use.

Example The child says ‘s-a-t’ one sound at a time, then blends them to read ‘sat’.

A review that follows clear, repeatable steps to hunt down, weigh up and pull together all the studies on a particular question. Unlike a casual round-up of the literature, it's built to keep bias low and can be checked and updated by others.

Example Reviewers search several databases, screen 400 studies against set criteria, and synthesise the 18 that qualify to answer whether a therapy improves speech intelligibility.

An over-sensitive reaction to touch, where everyday contact or textures feel unpleasant or even threatening. Ordinary things like getting dressed or eating can turn into a real ordeal.

Example A child refuses to wear clothing labels, hates having his hair washed and gags at the feel of certain foods in his mouth.

A burst of frustration — crying, shouting, kicking — usually aimed at getting something. It's a normal part of being a toddler, and therapy can help families ride them out. Learn more →

Breaking a skill down into small, ordered steps so it can be taught one piece at a time. It makes big tasks feel manageable and shows exactly where a child might need a hand.

Example Hand-washing is broken into steps — turn on tap, wet hands, apply soap, rub, rinse, dry — and each step is taught in sequence.

A structured teaching approach built around the strengths of autistic learners, using clear organisation, visual supports and predictable routines. The aim is to make the environment and tasks easier to make sense of.

Example A workstation is set up so a child can see exactly what to do, how much, and when they are finished, using labelled trays left to right.

Short, meaning-packed sentences that drop the little grammar words like ‘the’, ‘is’ and ‘to’ — a bit like an old telegram. It's a normal stage for toddlers around age two.

Example A two-year-old saying ‘Daddy work car’ to mean ‘Daddy is fixing the car’ is using telegraphic speech.

A child's natural, built-in way of meeting the world — how active, cautious, adaptable or intense they tend to be. It's there from very early on and shapes behaviour without setting it in stone.

Example One baby settles easily in new places while another needs time to warm up — differences in temperament, not good or bad behaviour.

How closely a test lands on similar results when the same child is assessed twice within a short span, assuming nothing has really changed in between. Strong test–retest reliability means a score is steady, not a one-off fluke.

Example A screening tool that gives one child very different scores a week apart, with no real change in ability, has poor test–retest reliability.

Grasping that other people have their own thoughts, beliefs, feelings and knowledge, which can differ from your own. It's what lets us predict what others will do, feel empathy, and understand that someone can simply be mistaken.

Example A child with an emerging theory of mind realises his friend will look for the toy where she last saw it, even though he secretly moved it.

Sudden, repeated movements or sounds a child makes without meaning to — blinking, throat-clearing, sniffing, or little jerks. Many are mild and settle on their own; if they're frequent, upsetting or sticking around, it's worth a friendly chat. Learn more →

A calm, connected response where an adult stays close and helps a child through a hard moment, rather than sending them off on their own. It's often set against the idea of time-out.

Example When a child is overwhelmed and crying, the parent sits beside him quietly and helps him calm before talking about what happened.

The physical and developmental signs that a child is ready to start toilet training, rather than being ready just because they've hit a certain age. Signs include staying dry for longer and noticing when they need to go.

Example A child who tells you they need a wee, dislikes a dirty nappy and can pull their trousers down is showing toileting readiness.

A reward system where a child earns tokens for behaviours you want to see, then cashes them in later for a favourite item or activity. It bridges the gap between the behaviour now and a reward that comes a little later.

Example A child earns a star for each finished task and trades five stars for extra playground time at the end of the day.

Using every channel at once — speech, gestures, pictures, signs and AAC — so a child can always find some way to get their message across. Learn more →

An approach that starts from the awareness that many children have been through difficult or frightening experiences, and responds with safety, understanding and choice rather than punishment. The guiding question moves from “What's wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?”

Example Instead of sending an angry child straight to time-out, a teacher wonders what has upset them and offers a calm space first.

The back-and-forth of interaction — you do something, then I do something. It's the foundation of both conversation and play, and children start practising it right from babyhood. Learn more →

How well a test or study really measures what it claims to. A tool can be perfectly reliable (consistent) and still be invalid if it's consistently measuring the wrong thing.

Example A ‘language’ test that mostly depends on reading skill has poor validity as a measure of spoken language, even if its scores are stable.

The sense of movement, balance and where the head is in space, coming from the inner ear. It's what tells us whether we're moving, how fast, and which way is up.

Example A child who craves vestibular input spins constantly and loves swings, while another feels sick and fearful on the same equipment.

Teaching a skill by having a child watch a short clip of someone (or even themselves) doing it right, then giving it a go. Seeing the whole thing play out can make a task much easier to copy.

Example A child watches a clip of a peer washing their hands step by step, then follows the same steps at the sink.

A row of pictures showing what's happening and in what order, so a child knows what to expect. It takes the edge off anxiety and makes moving from one thing to the next much smoother. Learn more →

Getting what the eyes see and what the hands do to work together accurately. It's essential for things like copying, drawing and handwriting.

Example A child sees a square on the board but cannot copy it accurately, drawing wobbly, uneven lines that do not meet.

The bank of words a child understands (receptive) and actually uses (expressive). A growing vocabulary is one of the clearest signs that language is coming along. Learn more →

When the pitch, loudness or quality of the voice is unusual or strained for a child's age and sex. It can come from overusing the voice, from nodules, or from a medical cause.

Example A boy who shouts constantly during football develops a hoarse, rough voice that does not clear up — a possible voice disorder from vocal strain.

The zone where a person feels calm enough to think, learn and cope. Step outside it and they can become overwhelmed — either wound up and agitated or shut down and withdrawn.

Example After a noisy party a child is so overloaded that they can no longer follow simple instructions and need quiet time to return to their window of tolerance.

Struggling to grab a known word quickly mid-sentence, even though the child understands it and has used it before. It tends to show up as pauses, filler words, or talking around the word they're after.

Example A girl points and says ‘the thing you cut with… the… you know’ when she cannot pull up the word ‘scissors’ — a word-finding difficulty.

Holding a piece of information in mind and using it for a short while — like keeping a two-step instruction in your head long enough to actually carry it out. Learn more →

A widely used framework that sorts feelings into four colour-coded zones — blue, green, yellow and red — to help children recognise how they're feeling and pick a strategy to settle. It's a teaching tool, not a way of labelling feelings as good or bad.

Example A child points to the yellow zone and says, “I’m feeling wiggly and frustrated,” then chooses to squeeze a stress ball.