Is My Child a Late Talker?
The term “late talker” can be a little confusing. Like, what age is that referring to? And does it mean just that? That the child does everything else age appropriately, but just doesn’t speak?
I’ve heard many well-meaning parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and friends, say things like “oh don’t worry, my Timmy didn’t speak until he was 5, and he turned out just fine.” A comment like this isn’t helpful for many reasons. Most importantly, it doesn’t validate the original concern. In addition, it only refers to their personal experience (anecdotal evidence). It doesn’t take into account what could be red flags for something more. It also doesn’t provide your child with possible communication alternatives.
In my professional opinion as a pediatric Speech Language Pathologist, the term “late talker” cannot refer to a child who is older than 24 months of age. There are so many speech milestones that happen before that age. All of those milestones are needed to lay a foundation for future communication success. A child should be expressive and communicative much earlier than 24 months of age. This may or may not include “mouth words” (words spoken with the mouth).
It’s very important that your child meets their speech and language milestones.
What is a Late Talker?
So how would I define a “Late Talker?” I would describe a “Late Talker” as a child between the ages of 12-24 months old, who has low average or borderline expressive language skills, but average receptive language skills.
This means that they will understand simple directions like “give me ___”, and meet all other developmental milestones on time. The reason I make the statement that a “Late Talker” has low average or borderline expressive language skills, instead of below average expressive language skills, is because there are other expressive language milestones besides spoken words. It’s important to know that. And it’s very important your child meets those speech and language milestones, such as babbling, pointing, waving, pulling you to help them, initiation of communication with you, and more!
With all of that being said, this information should not be used in place of an evaluation or assessment. Please speak to your child’s doctor if you have concerns about their development.
If you have a child between the ages of 12-24 months, you can take our “Is Your Child a Late Talker?” Quiz below!
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