Understanding what the results mean

Wondering how to interpret your child's OZI-SF numbers? Input your child's age and their numbers into the tool below to get information about how your child is tracking and some useful resources for supporting your child's communicative development.

This page does not store your data, so if you would like to save your results, make sure to hit the 'print this page' button (in addition to printing, this button also lets you save the page as a PDF). You can use this tool and the OZI-SF as many times as you like while your child is within the appropriate age range (12-30 months).

If you have not yet taken the OZI-SF, you can do so here.

Disclaimer: The OZI-SF helps to record a snap shot of your child's early communication development. If you are worried about your child's communication skills before or after using the OZI-SF, please start a conversation with your Child and Family Health Nurse, doctor or contact a local speech pathologist. The OZI-SF does not give a diagnosis but aims to support the identification of early communicative skills quickly and easily.

*Your child's age in months:

*How many OZI-SF games/routines your child uses:

*Number of OZI-SF gestures your child uses:

*Number of OZI-SF words your child understands:

*Number of OZI-SF words your child says:

[ ] Your child is combining words (such as saying 'more milk' or 'doggy bite')

Submit

Supporting your child's communication development

Below are answers to common questions about supporting children's communication development, along with lots of great resources. If you are at all concerned about your child's communication development, regardless of their result in the interactive tool above, please consult your child and family health nurse, your doctor or a speech pathologist.

What can I do to support my child's communication?

Learning, thinking and talking about your child's communication development is really important. You can track your child's communication skills using their Personal Health Record or apps such asLove Talk Sing PlayorDeadly Tots. Here are some good places to find out some tips and tricks about:

Book reading

• Reading with toddlers
• First 5 Forever

Talking with your child

• Serve and Return
• Ways to support your child's talking

You can also check out the link to the Chat Pack above for specific language tips and tricks.

Where can I go to support my child's communication?

Talking, playing, singing and reading with your child will support their communication development. There are lots of places in the community to provide extra opportunities for you and your child to talk, sing and play together with other families:

• You can attend local playgroups. You can look for playgroups here. Playgroups offer great ways to talk, sing and play with others.
• Childcare can also help a child's communication skills develop. You can look for local childcares here. Childcares are supportive places for your child to practice their communication, play and social skills.
• Local libraries, community centres and groups can also be great places to find extra opportunities to develop and practice communication skills!

Who can I speak to about my child's communication development?

There are lots of professionals you can speak with about your child's communication skills. Start a conversation with your:

• Child and Family Health Nurse (at your local Community Health Service or GP)
• General Practitioner (GP)
• Early Childhood Educator (at your local playgroup or your childcare)

You can also talk to a speech pathologist. There are public and private services available. Hop online to search for a local community health centre (usually this is linked to the council where you pay your rates) or a local private speech pathologisthere.

Where can I find useful information about communication development?

Understanding what, how and when your child's communication skills will develop is important and can help you have conversations about their skills. Useful information about communication milestones can be found atSpeech Pathology Australia's websiteandNSW Health's website.
You can also find great information about milestones atRaising Children Network's websiteandNSW Resourcing Parent's website.

Frequently asked questions

1. We speak more than one language at home. Will this impact my child?
   Speaking your best langauge with your child is important. Children are able to learn more than one language and there are lots of benefits! Your child will mix languages together when they are young. Over time, they will learn to use them separately. You can find more information about learning more than one langauge at Raising Children Network's website and Words for Life's website, as well as access to different resources (like bilingual books).
3. Should my child watch/use technology? Does this impact their communication skills?
   Children learn best by talking and playing with people. The World Health Organisation recommends limited screen time for young children (aim for one hour or less each day!). There are some positive ways to use technology together with your child. Check out Words for Life's website and Raising Children Network's website (see 'Screen time and media choices') for more recommendations about screen time for children.

What should I do next?

Keep it!Keep this record of your child's communication skills.
Repeat it!Check in over time and re-do checklists like this one.
Track it!Look for the different skills your child is developing over time.
Talk about it!Keep a conversation going about your child's communication skills.

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For more information, please contact us at babylab@westernsydney.edu.au

The OZI-SF was developed in partnership with:

With funding from: