When parents come to me concerned that their child isn’t talking yet, the first thing I assess isn’t necessarily how many words they know—it’s whether their preverbal skills are in place. These are the foundational communication behaviors that children typically develop before they start speaking, and they are absolutely essential to speech and language development.
What Are Preverbal Skills?
Preverbal skills are the nonverbal behaviors and social interactions that come before spoken language. They include:
- Eye contact – Looking at a person during interaction
- Joint attention – Sharing focus on an object or event with another person
- Imitation – Copying sounds, facial expressions, gestures, and actions
- Turn-taking – Learning to take turns in play and conversation
- Gestures – Using actions like pointing, waving, or reaching to communicate
- Cause and effect understanding – Realizing that actions lead to outcomes (e.g., “If I cry, Mom comes”)
- Vocal play and babbling – Making early sounds and experimenting with their voice
These skills may not involve words, but they are the groundwork for all future communication. In other words, if we think of language as a house, preverbal skills are the concrete foundation. Without them, words often don’t stick—or don’t come at all.
Why Are Preverbal Skills Important?
Language doesn’t just appear out of nowhere. Children must first learn that communication is powerful and that they can use their behavior to get your attention, share experiences, and express wants and needs.
Here’s why these skills matter so much:
- Eye contact and joint attention help children tune in to others, which is necessary to learn words and their meanings.
- Gestures and imitation are often the first ways children express themselves before they have the words to do so.
- Turn-taking teaches the back-and-forth rhythm of conversation.
- Babbling isn’t just cute—it’s early practice for making real words.
When these skills are delayed or missing, spoken language often doesn’t emerge in the typical way.
How Can You Support Preverbal Development?
The good news is that preverbal skills can be nurtured through everyday play and interaction. Here are some simple but effective ways to help:
- Get face-to-face with your child. Being at their eye level encourages attention and connection.
- Follow their lead. Let your child choose the activity and join in with interest.
- Model gestures and sounds. Wave, point, and imitate their vocalizations to show how communication works.
- Pause and wait. Give your child time to respond. This encourages turn-taking and intentional communication.
- Celebrate all communication. Respond to their gestures, looks, and babbles as if they’re meaningful—because they are.
When to Seek Help
If your child is over 12 months old and not using gestures like pointing or waving, or over 18 months and not imitating sounds or engaging in shared attention, it may be time to consult a speech-language pathologist. The earlier we intervene, the better the outcomes tend to be.
Final Thoughts
Spoken words are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to communication. Beneath those words lies a rich and essential layer of preverbal skills that every child needs to develop first. As a parent, your role in supporting these early interactions is incredibly powerful. With patience, practice, and play, you can help build the strong foundation your child needs to become a confident communicator.
