The First Sounds of Literacy: How Speech-Language Pathologists Shape Early Readers

Insights by Dr. Jennifer Ferry

At first, it sounds like nothing special - just a baby babbling in a high chair, strings of "ba-ba-ba" and "da-da-da" echoing through the kitchen. But those early sounds mean much more than they seem. They're the first steps on the path to reading and writing - the earliest signs that a child's brain is beginning to connect sound, rhythm, and meaning.

That's what Dr. Jennifer Ferry, a speech-language pathologist and associate professor of speech-language pathology at Lebanon Valley College, listens for. To her, those coos and babbles are clues - early markers of how a child's language and literacy skills are developing. "If a child isn't demonstrating canonical babbling - those repeated sounds like ba-ba-ba - by 10 months, that's an early sign they might need intervention," Ferry explains.

She says literacy doesn't begin with books or letters; it begins with sound. A child's ability to hear, play with, and manipulate sounds forms the foundation for reading and writing later on. "Children who have trouble with phonological tasks - like counting syllables or blending sounds - are at risk for literacy difficulties," Ferry says. "Those skills are needed before a child can segment and blend the smaller sounds, or phonemes, that make reading and spelling possible."

Vocabulary development is just as important. If a child isn't learning and using new words at the same pace as their peers, Ferry says, it can signal challenges ahead. "Phonological awareness and vocabulary are the heart of early literacy," she says. "If a child can't manipulate sounds or understand word meanings, they'll have trouble decoding and comprehending text later on."

Speech-language pathologists, or SLPs, are often the first to identify these warning signs. Their assessments go far beyond checking pronunciation - they examine what Ferry calls the five components of language: semantics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and pragmatics. "Literacy is just language in written form," she explains. "So assessing early language skills is absolutely critical. We focus heavily on vocabulary and phonological awareness because they are the biggest predictors of reading success."

When children begin writing, they rely on what they already know about spoken language. "A child writes the way they speak," Ferry says. "If their spoken sentences are simple, their written ones will be too." Likewise, a rich spoken vocabulary allows children to understand more complex sentence structures in books, which improves reading comprehension. "Books often contain more advanced language than everyday speech," Ferry says. "If a child doesn't already have that foundation, it can make comprehension much harder."

The milestones of early language development start long before preschool. Around 10 months, babies should be babbling in repetitive sounds. By 12 months, first words typically emerge. Between 18 and 24 months, children begin combining words, and by 2 years old, they should have a vocabulary of about 50 words. From ages three to five, children's sentences become longer and more complex. Ferry encourages families to fill those years with nursery rhymes, finger plays, and shared books.

"Those experiences build phonological awareness naturally," she says. "They teach children how language works."
When children need extra help, speech therapy can make a profound difference. Ferry describes it as a gradual, step-by-step process. "We start by identifying what a child can do with support, then we slowly remove that support until they can do it on their own," she explains. "It's all about empowering them to succeed independently."

But therapy doesn't end when the session does. Ferry says real progress happens when parents, teachers, and SLPs work together to reinforce literacy skills at home and in the classroom. "Communication is key," she says. "When strategies from therapy carry over into everyday life, children thrive. The goal is for support to fade as their independence grows."

Ferry also points out that socioeconomic factors can shape how and when literacy skills develop. Children from lower-income families often have less access to books or fewer experiences that expand their vocabulary - like trips to the zoo or the library. But she emphasizes that those challenges can be overcome. "A rich language environment can be created anywhere," she says. "With the right support - programs like Head Start, for example - every child can flourish."

For Ferry, early literacy intervention isn't just about teaching kids to read - it's about giving them the tools to understand and express themselves, to build confidence, and to connect with the world around them. The ability to communicate clearly, she believes, shapes every part of a child's future - and it all begins with the smallest of sounds.