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Toddler Talking Late? Don’t Worry
When a friend of mine’s daughter approached her third birthday without saying a word, we were concerned. Everyone who knew her seemed to be quietly worrying over the same shadowy fear: is this kid on the autism spectrum? Or is there some other developmental problem causing the delay? Basically, is there something wrong?
Only her dad was sanguine about it. “I was a late talker, too,” he said. “She’ll be fine.”
Sure enough, a year later she’s chattering just as much as her peers in preschool.
Turns out, their experience is pretty common. New research from Australia says toddlers who talk late aren’t at an increased risk for behavioral or emotional problems later in childhood, TIME reports.
The Aussie study found that kids who talk late do just fine in school and social settings later on. They found that:
…children who were late-talkers at age 2 did not show any increased risk of behavioral or emotional problems throughout their childhood or adolescence, compared with children whose language development followed what experts consider a “normal” trajectory.
The late talkers did have more behavioral issues at age 2, but the researchers attributed this to their frustration at not being able to communicate effectively, and said the problems were “not enduring”.
That’s a relief. They said most interventions and therapies to get kids this young to start talking are probably not necessary. The kids will start speaking on their own once they’re ready. If you do want to nudge your toddler towards her next language milestone, there’s one easy trick you can use at home: talk to her. The TIME piece says:
The best way to ensure that children hit normal language milestones is to engage with them and stimulate them by introducing them to new things in their environment, Whitehouse says. “Get down on the floor and play with [your] child, talk with them, read to them and interact with them at their level,” he says.
What do you think? Did you have a late talker in your family?
Photo: Johnath
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5 Comments
Lisa commented on Jul 05 11 at 6:34 pmThis is dangerous advice. My son spoke at 18 months… even had phrases. But he never developed full language. At 33 months, he was evaluated and found to have a pretty severe language disorder. He has had two years of speech therapy and his progress is amazing. Before he started, he wasn’t even on the chart. Now he’s in the low normal or near normal range for all language areas tested. But low normal means that he’s in the 5th percentile (you know… he’s the fifth worse speaker in a group of 100 kids his age).
Telling people that kids who aren’t talking will be fine is risky. They won’t all be fine and early intervention is important.
If your child isn’t speaking words by 21 months, I would get their hearing tested and maybe a speech eval. Certainly, if they aren’t speaking well at 2 1/2 a speech eval is in order.
Chenoameg commented on Jul 06 11 at 10:08 amThere’s something funky with the formatting in this post. (all caps after the first box quote).
Eve commented on Jul 07 11 at 10:45 amI’m with Lisa on this one. The point of the article was to 1) make sure we don’t freak out unnecessarily and 2) ensure we’re interacting with our kids to encourage speech development. I get it. But it doesn’t hurt to ask for some professional opinions while you’re doing all that.
Sarah commented on Jul 07 11 at 2:11 pmI am also concerned that this information could discourage families from seeking the help they need. As a parent of a young child with an autism spectrum disorder, I have seen first-hand how powerful early intervention can be. I would encourage all parents who are in any way concerned about their child’s development to ask their health care provider for more information, and if you’re not comfortable with the answers, to keep asking! While some children will simply talk in time, others may need more specific supports, and the earlier the better!
Brie commented on Jul 29 11 at 1:42 pmAs a Speech-Language Pathologist, we stress to parents that the earlier we see children who aren’t doing as much talking as their peers, the better. Research indicates that while 50% of toddlers who are late to talk will catch up without any intervention, 50% will not. There’s no way of knowing which children will catch up and which won’t, which is why we like to offer support and strategies as soon as possible. Therapy in early ages focuses on encouraging parents to alter their interactions with their child to promote language development. Simply just talking more to a child will not do the trick if they are having a hard time learning words. Parents will need to learn to simplify what they say, model, repeat and emphasize key words and do all this without making a child feel pressured to perform. For more strategies, check out my blog at http://www.toddlertalk.ca
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