Late Talking Toddlers
Toddlers who are showing late language emergence are often referred to as 'Late Talkers'.
Late language emergence is the term used to describe when toddlers under the age of
2 1/2 years are not reaching developmental milestones in the area of language development. They have small spoken vocabularies and are not readily combining words together into short phrases (e.g. 'open door', 'more milk'). Some may also have difficulty understanding what is said to them. These toddlers are otherwise typically developing in all other areas.
As many as 10-20% of toddlers are considered to be 'late talkers', with boys more likely to be 'late talkers' than girls.
Current research shows that 70-80% of these late talkers catch up to their same aged peers by the age of 3-5 and are then referred to as 'late bloomers'. The remaining 20-30% continue to have persistent problems with language as they enter school.
My toddler is late to start talking and I've been advised to 'wait and see' what happens, is this the best approach?
Parents are often giving conflicting information about what milestones their child should be reaching and when they should be concerned, leaving them feeling confused. Given that many late talking toddlers do catch up to their same-aged peers before school entry, a 'wait and see' approach continues to be recommended by educators and health professionals.
At present, there is no accurate diagnostic tool available to identify which late talking toddlers will go on to have persistent difficulties with language in school and beyond. Research has shown that providing quality, early intervention for language maximises long-term outcomes for all late talking children including in other areas reliant on good language skills, such as literacy, emotional/behavioural regulation and social skills.
As a parent, you know your child best. If you are concerned about your child's development, it is best to seek further advice from a Speech-Language Therapist.
My child is learning more than one language, is this the reason they are late to start talking?
Children learning more than one language are just as likely to be late talkers as children learning one language - learning more than one language does not cause a child to have difficulty with language development.
Late talking bilingual children look the same as late talking children learning one language: they have small vocabularies and are not regularly producing short sentences of 2 or more words. They present with these difficulties in all the languages they are learning.
Supporting late talking toddlers
I am a Hanen certified 'It Takes Two to Talk' trainer. The Hanen early language programmes are widely accepted as 'best practice' for late talking toddlers and preschoolers. Parents are trained in a range of interaction and language modelling strategies to maximise their child's communication development.
For more information about 'It Takes Two to Talk', the strategies used and the evidence base, click
here.
Sources:
https://www.asha.org/Practice-Portal/Clinical-Topics/Late-Language-Emergence/#collapse_6
http://www.hanen.org/Helpful-Info/Articles/Do-Late-Talkers--Grow-Out-of-It.aspx
http://www.hanen.org/Helpful-Info/Articles/A-Closer-Look-at-the-Late-Talker-Study--Why-Parent.aspx
http://www.hanen.org/Helpful-Info/Articles/Bilingualism-in-Young-Children--Separating-Fact-fr.aspx
https://www.hanen.org/SiteAssets/Articles---Printer-Friendly/Research-in-your-Daily-Work/Dont-wait-and-see-research-suggests-PF.aspx
Capone Singleton, N. (2018). Late talkers: Why the wait-and-see approach is outdated. Pediatric Clinics of North America, 65(1), 13-29.
