• Does your child have a limited vocabulary compared to children of the same age?
• Does your child frequently say “um” and substitute general words like “stuff” and “things” for more precise words?
• Does your child have trouble learning new vocabulary words?
• Does your child leave out keywords and confuses verb tense?
• Does your child use certain phrases over and over again when talking?
• Does your child seem frustrated by her inability to communicate thoughts?
• Does your child not talk much or often, but understands what other people say?
• Is your child able to pronounce words and sounds, but sentences often don’t make sense?
• Does your child use a limited variety of sentence structures when speaking?
• Does your child struggle to remember or recall a specific word that she wants to use?
• Does your child struggle to understand questions and follow verbal instructions?
• Does your child struggle to understand humour, idioms, or metaphors?
• Does your child struggle to tell a story in a logical order?
• Does your child experience difficulty initiating play with peers, or play alone most of the time?
• Does your child find it difficult to initiate and sustain conversations?
• Is it difficult for your child to make relevant contributions to classroom discussions?
• Does your child exhibit uncertainty about what to say and what not to say?
• Does your child exhibit uncertainty about when to talk and when not to talk?
• Does your child have difficulty controlling emotions?
• Does your child have poor social self-esteem?
• Does your child have difficulty forming and maintaining close social relationships?
• Is your child at risk of being bullied and other forms of abuse?

In addition to this checklist for language problems, you may also use the chart for Language Development Norms to determine if your child may have a language development deficit.