My first child was an early talker. At 18 months, we had full conversations with each other. In complete sentences.
And honestly, I thought I deserved a pat on the back. After all, it was my good parenting that taught him to talk. We talked all day -- about the flowers on the trees we were driving by, about the bird hiding behind the cloud in his picture book, about the tails on his stuffed animals. I was just a great parent, and those parents out there with kids who were spitting out one-word sentences, well they were...not.
Along came my second son. At 18 months he had exactly three words: "Ta-ta" (his name for my husband), "Da-da" (his name for my older son), and..."golf cart."
Yes, "golf cart."
I waited anxiously for the day that he would say my name instead of the name of a sports vehicle. And I realized that being a "late talker" has nothing to do with parenting style. Like many other aspects of a child's personality, you can nudge it along, but not control it.
But parents of late talkers wonder whether their children are destined for failure in life. After all, social circles thrive on verbal communication, and kids who can't communicate their needs tend to have plenty of tantrums as toddlers, out of frustration. Combine the two, and it's easy to imagine that your child is doomed to an anti-social, miserable existence.
Luckily, a recent study published in Pediatrics suggests that that's not the case. They looked at children who scored at or below the 15th percentile for language development at age 2, and followed them at ages 5, 8, 10, 14, and 17. They had no higher risk of behavioral or emotional problems than children who communicated well as toddlers.
Their conclusion? "Expressive vocabulary delay at the age of 2 years is not in itself a
risk factor for later behavioral and emotional disturbances."
Parents of late talkers, take a deep breath. Your child will be fine.
Source: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2011/06/29/peds.2010-2782.abstract
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