Speech: When we use the term ‘speech’, we are referring to the production of sounds to form words.
Language: In the simplest sense, we think of language as being the understanding and use of words, sentences and grammar. This involves both receptive language (understanding) and expressive language (use of language).
Communication: Communication involves conveying thoughts, needs, wants and ideas to another person or people. We communicate using language but also non-verbal means such as gesture, facial expression, body language, eye contact etc. Speech is not essential.
Children develop their Speech, Language and Communication skills at different rates and ages. Typically, children will do this through the development of the skills represented in the Communication Pyramid below.
The skills at the bottom of the pyramid act as the foundations for the skills at the top.
