top of page

Should Parents Be Concerned About "Late Talkers"?

Sharon Ramkarran , MA, CCC-SLP

Updated: Mar 28, 2023

It can be confusing for parents to know when their child needs help when they are in their early language development stages. The "wait and see" approach is a typical response most parents receive when they voice their concerns. There are certain milestones that most children meet at specific ages. When these milestones are not met, it is cause for concern. Early intervention with a speech-language pathologist or similar professional is the best course of action. You know your child the best, trust your gut and seek help if you think you need support to help your child.

What are late talkers?

Late talkers are children between the ages of 18 to 30 months who have limited spoken vocabulary compared to their peers. They may demonstrate typical language comprehension, social skills, and cognition. Typically around 2 years of age is when most parents notice that their child may be a late talker.


Causes of Late Talking

There are several factors that can contribute to late talking. Some children may have a genetic predisposition to language delays, while others may have experienced environmental factors that have impacted their language development. Some of the most co-occurring conditions of late talking include:

  • Neurological disorders like Autism, Cerebral Palsy, or Down's Syndrome

  • Oral Motor challenges

  • Deaf, Hard of Hearing, hearing loss

  • Lack of stimulation

  • Intellectual disability

Characteristics of Late Talkers

At two years of age, a child should be using at least 50 to 100

words and understands more than they can verbalize. However, the amount of words a child at 24 months can verbalize can range from 50 to 400! Keep that in mind if you're comparing your child to their peers. It is also important to note that bilingual speakers are taking in vocabulary and grammar rules from different languages. Their total verbal word count should include BOTH languages. The word count doesn't double if there are two languages. Some characteristics to watch for include:

  • Little to no babbling

  • Little to no imitation of gestures, words, sounds

  • Limited number of consonant sounds.

  • History of ear infections

  • If they are speaking they use a limited vocabulary that mainly consists of nouns and verbs

  • A family history of communication, learning, and academic difficulties

  • Use made up words

  • Mildly decreased comprehension skills

  • Points or leads towards what they want

  • Uses few gestures

Speech Therapy for Late Talkers

Speech therapy can be an effective way to help late talkers develop their language skills. A speech-language pathologist (SLP) can work with your child to improve their ability to communicate and understand language. The earlier the intervention, the better the outcome.


Speech-language pathologists use formal and informal means to assess a child's language abilities and skills. This may include parent interviews, questionnaires, checklists, play-based observations, and standardized assessments.



What Can Parents Do?

There are several strategies and activities parents can use at home to help facilitate their child's language development. These include:

  • Model sounds, simple words, gestures

  • Read books that are colorful and have simple illustrations such as "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?"

  • Turn-taking games and songs like playing catch or Peek-A-Boo

  • Say less. Do not ask a litany of questions or say long winded directions. This is overwhelming and challenging for any child to process.

  • Provide space and opportunity for a child to respond

  • Try your best to not get frustrated

Late talking can be worrisome for parents, but it's important to trust your intuition. If you're concerned about your child's language development, seek the advice of a professional. Reach out to Loud Mouth Speech Therapy for a free consultation to learn more about how we may be able to help.


Olswang, L.B., Rodriguez, B. & Timler, G. (1998). Recommending Intervention for Toddlers With Specific Language Learning Difficulties: We May Not Have All the Answers, But We Know a Lot. American Journal of Speech Language Pathology, 7, 23 - 32.



25 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


CCC-SLP ASHA certified speech language pathologist
board of slp fl.jfif
TOTS Training Final Logo TM.png
ASHA-ACE logo.webp

© 2023 Loud Mouth Speech Therapy, LLC 

bottom of page