Late Talking and Later Development

Talking late does not settle how a child will do later, and the research describes groups of children rather than any one child. About half of late talkers have caught up on their own by their third birthday, and how well a toddler understands language, along with the reason for the late start, matters to what comes next.

What you’ll learn

• What studies found when late talkers reached school age and their teens
• Why understanding and gestures matter to how late talkers do
• What the evidence says about therapy and help from parents
• How to get an evaluation if you would rather not wait and see

Does Talking Late Mean a Child Will Always Be Behind?

No study can say how talking late will play out for one particular child. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) says the difference between a late talker who catches up and one who does not can only be seen after the fact, which is why clinicians cannot predict in advance which late talkers go on to catch up without support.

Research on groups is clearer. By age three, roughly half of toddlers who start talking late have caught up without any help. A 2003 study that followed 8,386 twins from age 2 found that about 44 percent of those with an early language delay still had language difficulties at 3, and about 40 percent at 4. Twins are more likely than single-born children to be late to talk, so those figures may not carry over exactly.

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) describes children as varying in their speech and language development while still mastering language skills in a natural order, and the main steps along that path are set out in how speech and language develop. For the terms themselves, what speech delay in children means sets out how speech, language and late talking relate.

What Do Long-Term Studies of Late Talkers Find?

A 2008 study followed 128 children who were late to start talking at 24 months and found that by age 7, the group’s average language result was within the usual range. About 20 percent of them did less well than expected on general language, against about 11 percent of children who had started talking on time, with differences in grammar and speech but not in vocabulary.

A smaller study followed late talkers into their late teens. All had understood language well as toddlers and came from middle- to upper-class families, and fewer than 30 were in the group at 13 and 17. At 5 and 6 they performed in the average range on most language and reading tasks, and at 13 and 17 on every one, while as a group doing less well than matched peers on vocabulary, grammar, verbal memory and, at 13, reading comprehension.

ASHA’s summary of the research points the same way: many late talkers reach the average range on language measures by kindergarten, though as a group their results stay lower than those of children who started talking on time.

Will Talking Late Affect a Child at School?

The reading results in long-term studies of late talkers are group averages that mostly fall within the average range, so they do not show that talking late leads to reading trouble for any one child.

A study that followed twins from kindergarten through grade 6 found that children whose preschool language delay had resolved did not differ from other children in language or school performance, while children whose delay persisted had ongoing difficulties with language, schoolwork and getting along with others. Each group held only about 30 children, so the finding is a pointer, not a rule.

For some children, ASHA notes, a late start to talking turns out to be an early sign of an ongoing language disorder. NIDCD calls the ongoing form developmental language disorder and says children with it often were late talkers, that it is not outgrown and that it usually continues while changing with age. NIDCD also says identifying and treating it early is ideal, and that people benefit from treatment whenever it begins.

What Makes a Difference to How Late Talkers Do?

A late talker is a toddler whose talking is slow to get going while understanding and play develop well, and what a toddler takes in from speech weighs more with a clinician than how many words come out. ASHA reports that toddlers who are slow both to understand and to talk are at greater risk of poor outcomes than toddlers who are slow to talk but understand what is said to them.

ASHA’s guidance for parents adds that children who understand well are more likely to catch up, and so are children who use more gestures, such as pointing, waving and holding up their arms to be picked up. Because that finding describes groups, it cannot settle anything for one child, but it explains why a clinician watches a child’s hands as closely as their words.

From clinical practice

No question about a late talker comes up more than the one about catching up. An honest answer can only describe groups of children. Roughly half catch up by three, and nobody can tell beforehand which side of that line one child will land on.

The child’s own skills give a family more to go on: how well the child understands, and how much the child says with gestures, such as pointing, waving or reaching up to be lifted. Those skills show how much of language is already in place, even when few words have arrived, and they are where an assessment looks first.

The cause of late talking, when one is found, also shapes what follows. NIDCD reports that children with hearing loss who get help early develop better language than those who do not, and ASHA says children with childhood apraxia of speech, a difficulty planning the movements of speech, do not make progress without treatment. For children with autism, a review of 26 studies covering 1,738 children found that early intervention improved spoken language on average, with the largest gains when a parent and a clinician both delivered it.

If other people in your family were late to talk, there is more on speech delay and family history.

Does Therapy or Help at Home Change the Picture?

Across groups of children, help makes a measurable difference, though the evidence has limits. A review of 18 studies of children aged 18 to 60 months with language difficulties found that language support delivered by trained parents improved both understanding and talking. A smaller review focused on late talkers found that treatment from either parents or clinicians can improve their communication, though it rests on a limited base of eight studies and 175 children.

A broader review of therapy trials found that therapy may help with speech sound or vocabulary difficulties, with mixed evidence for grammar and little evidence available for difficulties with understanding, and that therapy lasting more than eight weeks was linked with better results. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says early intervention can make a significant difference even when there are delays, and also notes that simple speech delays are sometimes temporary and may resolve on their own or with a little extra help from family.

None of this promises a particular result for one child. At home, treat the word, sound or point your child offers as a message and answer it, then leave time for another turn, and there are more everyday ideas in late talking in 2-year-olds.

Should You Wait and See, or Ask Now?

ASHA tells parents they do not have to wait and see if they think there may be a problem, and advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, is to talk with the child’s doctor about any concern. Since nobody can know ahead of time how one child’s talking will develop, an evaluation looks at what group research cannot: your own child’s hearing, understanding, talking and play.

Losing words or skills a child used to have is a reason to phone the doctor now, whatever the child’s age, since a skill that disappears needs its own look, separate from a late start. Also worth raising on its own, whatever the word count: not pointing to show things, not responding when called by name, not copying sounds, gestures or actions, and not seeming to understand simple directions.

Until a child turns three, a parent can make a referral to the state’s early intervention program directly, and the evaluation is free in every state, while a private evaluation costs money that insurance often partly covers. Around the third birthday, responsibility usually passes to the school district, which applies its own eligibility rules, though in some states early intervention can continue past three. If you are advised to wait and your own sense of your child differs, that referral is still yours to make.

Common Questions From Parents

Do Late Talkers Catch Up?

Many do. About half have caught up without help by age three, and a small study following late talkers into their teens found them in the average range on language and reading, though lower than peers on some skills. Which children catch up cannot be known in advance.

Will Talking Late Affect My Child at School?

Reading results for late talkers as a group mostly fall in the average range. In one study following children to grade 6, those whose early language delay had cleared did as well in language and schoolwork as other children, while those whose delay persisted had ongoing difficulties.

Is It Better to Wait and See or Get Help Now?

ASHA’s advice is that a parent who suspects a problem need not wait and see. An evaluation describes your own child, which research on groups cannot, and while a child is under three, a parent can ask early intervention for one directly.

Why Do Some Late Talkers Catch Up and Others Don’t?

Nobody can know the reasons ahead of time for one child. Across groups, toddlers who understand well and use plenty of gestures are more likely to catch up, and outcomes also depend on what lies under the delay, such as hearing loss, apraxia or autism.

What Helps a Late Talker Most?

Both parents and clinicians can make a difference. In a review of 18 studies, language support from trained parents improved understanding and talking. At home, answer whatever your child offers, then leave time for a reply.

Reviewed by Monica d’Errico-Franklin, M.S., CCC-SLP

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