Language Delays in Young Children

I am currently fixated on researches on learning disabilities, in particular, reading and language disorders, as these have a huge implication on the conduct of my work with young children. This entry in particular deals with language delays in children.

The usual response of people when they encounter a child of say, 2 or 3 years old, who has not yet learned how to speak is, "Oh, he/she will eventually outgrow that stage and learn to speak."

This response is more so pronounced when the child in question is a boy because traditional expectation is, boys learn language a little bit later in their toddler life compared to girls.

Because of this response, or general perception on language delay in children, some parents feel that they are being paranoid or over-reacting when they notice the smallest trace of language delay in their child. "Why is my son/daughter not yet talking?"

Well, parents, here is something you should know.

While it may be true that young children eventually outgrow this language delay, a research conducted by Dr. Leslie Rescorla, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Child Study Institute and Director of Early Childhood Programs at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, shows that children who are late talkers may have weaker language endowment. This means that those children who were late to talk pretty much eventually go to school but they have significantly less advanced language skills compared to their peers (from the same background) and that this pattern of weaker language skills was evident at age 5 and 6, during their 9 and 10th year, and through age 17.

What does this research imply?

At the onset, parents who notice a hint of language delay in their child can already provide some enrichment in the child's language environment early on. They can use techniques like shared book reading, or be taught focused stimulation or other communication techniques, and all these can provide a rich language environment that may have some facilitative effects.

If, by the age of 3, no significant growth is seen, direct intervention must be initiated together with a speech language pathologist, aka speech therapist. Now, here's the rub - there aren't too many speech therapists in the Philippines and if you find one, the waiting list of clients is usually very long.

So before you reach that stage of panic looking for a speech therapist, it is important to know that as early as possible, expressive language can be taught through gestures, sounds, vocalizations and words to help a child express his/her wishes or desires. Help your child improve his/her listening and to learn to recognize familiar words and phrases in their environment and to respond to them appropriately.

When a parent comes to me for help on reading and language intervention at the age of 10 years old, I just mentally shake my head.

Really, I cannot stress it hard enough, to READ, READ, READ out loud to your child. It really helps.


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If you want to listen to Dr. Rescorla's discussion of her study together with Dr. Rhea Paul, Professor Amerada at Southern Connecticut State University and Professor and Director of the Communication Disorder Section of the Developmental Disabilities Program at the Yale Child Studies Center, go to Episode 13 http://podcast.asha.org/ or http://asha.http.internapcdn.net/asha_vitalstream_com/podcast/ASHAPodcast13.mp3


For a copy of Dr. Rescorla's article Language and Hearing Outcomes in Late-Talking Toddlers, it is found in the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 2009; 52: 16-30
http://jslhr.asha.org/cgi/content/full/52/1/16