Late talkers are a tricky bunch!
People tend to use the label "late talker" to describe children with a wide range of difficulties. In reality, a late talker is a child aged 18-30 months who don't have very many words (or non at all) but DO have the building blocks for talking (see post for more details)
However, being a late talker can sometimes be a sign of a disorder e.g. Developmental Language Disorder, Autism etc. So it is important that we keep an eye on the child's overall development to identify any wider needs.
Not all late talkers catch up, and those that do are often left with subtle difficulties that can impact on their learning at school. For the children that don't catch up, ongoing difficulties with language and literacy skills are common.
Although we can't be sure which children will 'catch up', there are some risk factors we can look out for:
- Limited babbling
- A history of ear infections
- Not imitating words
- Has more nouns (naming words) than action words
- Difficulty playing with other children
- A family history of communication or learning difficulties
- Some difficulties understanding language
- Not using many gestures to communicate
We hope you find this information useful. As always, if you have any concerns at all, call us for a free and informal chat!
References:
www.hanen.org/helpful-info/articles/do-late-talkers-grow-out-of-it.aspx
www.hanen.org/helpful-info/articles/late-talkers-what-we-know-and-what-we-don't.aspx
www.hanen.org/helpful-info/articles/how-to-tell-if-your-child-is-a-late-talker.aspx
Original inspiration "thesltscrapbook"
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