Language Delay

If your child is a late talker does it mean that they have a language delay? What if they are your second or third child their older siblings do the talking for them?

You know they understand, they’re just not saying that much yet.

They will just catch up, right?

Or, is this a problem and what can speech pathology do to help..?

Language delay has been given many different names over the years “Late language emergence” “early language delay” “early expressive language delay”. Lots of different terms essentially trying to describe a group of children who have not yet reached their age-appropriate speech and language milestones.

In speech pathology, we refer to a child who has delayed speech as:

• a 12-month old who is yet to say their first word and uses mostly gestures to communicate (e.g. pointing, waving)
• an 18-month old who has less than 50 words
• A 2 year old who has less than 200 words or is yet to join words to make short phrases.  

There are a number of factors that may contribute to late talking/delayed language. Poor hearing, family history, a child’s personality and language exposure all play a part in language development.

There is no one cause for “late talking”. It is also important to know that late talking is no-one’s “fault” and supportive intervention by a parent, carer or speech pathologist can make a significant difference.

Considerable research has gone into understanding the communication milestones for children. As speech pathologists, we are often met with a number of questions about children who are late talkers. As parents, you are often given conflicting advice supporting both early intervention and the “wait and see” approach.

Many studies now agree that an important indicator of how well children will read is the status of their oral (spoken) language system at the point at which reading instruction begins (around age 4-5 years as pre-literacy skills in the PreSchool Early Years Learning Framework Curriculum).

Research indicates that between 20-25% of children who are late talkers at 12-24 month milestones enter Kindergarten with below average language skills^[1][2]. So, if a child has been slow to speak and language milestones are delayed, a key issue is whether they still have language problems when they enter school or whether these have resolved as this has a strong correlation with their ease and success with learning how to read^[3][4].

Rather than hoping for the best, it is recommended to seek the support of a speech pathologist to help you develop a supportive program for your child and ensure their language is most effectively developed in their years before school.

At Talkshop Speech Pathology we recommend beginning therapy if your child is 6 or more months behind their expected developmental milestones. The evidence is mixed in terms of which areas of communication are the best indicators for long-term difficulties. However, three key factors have been identified as the most important communication markers: degree of expressive language (use of language) delay, degree of receptive language (understanding of language) delay and degree of gestural impairment^[5].

You should seek support if your:

• 12 month old isn’t making eye contact, is not babbling, is not using gestures like pointing and waving
• 18 month old has 10 words or less, uses gesture more than words
• 2 year old has 50 words or less, is not joining 2 words together

While many children who are late to talk do catch up with their peers, there is still no way of knowing which children will not catch up. Research supports early intervention and positive outcomes of clinician and parent led therapy for children who are late talkers.

Every child at Talkshop Speech Pathology begins their therapy journey with an assessment session. Assessments use standardised measurement tools. This allows us to identify your child’s strengths and weaknesses and helps us establish a baseline to compare their progress to during therapy.

During the assessment, we will take into consideration verbal communication, reviewing the number and types of words, and sounds your child may be using. We also assess non-verbal communication, such as in pointing, play skills, eye contact and joint attention parallel play and initiation of interaction. For children under the age of 2 ½ this assessment is largely play-based and involves the parent to ensure we are seeing a true representation of your child.

We will provide you with a therapy management plan to identify key goals to focus on in the therapy blocks

Beginning therapy for kids who are late to talk is exciting. The sessions are typically weekly. In speech pathology, we will support you to enrich their day-to-day language environment and maximise ways to model and stimulate speech and language.

Example therapy goals:

• For children with only single words, we will be looking to increase the number of action words (verbs) so they can be joined with naming words to create the beginnings of short phrases
• Expanding the range of vocabulary – to increase the variety of words through child-directed play
• To increase understanding (comprehension) of language through book reading and play strategies.

Will will help you become confident to easily incorporate language boosting strategies into your daily activities. We are happy to work with your child’s pre-school, daycare/school.

Our Speech Pathologists are Hanen registered providers. We use both child and adult learning strategies to support both you and your child to develop your skills.

We are NDIS registered and are able to work with children with complex diagnoses. We are able to support children with diagnosed developmental language disorder (DLD), global delay, autism, other congenital disorders affecting language development, and children with language disorders requiring augmentative and alternative communication aids (AAC).