Late-Talking Children

When children are late in hitting developmental milestones, parents worry. And nodelay causes more parental anxiety than late talking, which is associated in many parents' mindswith such serious conditions as autism and severe intellectual disability. In fact, as children'sspeech expert Stephen Camarata points out in this enlightening book, children are late in beginningto talk for a wide variety of reasons. For some children, late talking may be a symptom of other,more serious, problems; for many others, however, it may simply be a stage with no long-termcomplications. Camarata describes in accessible language what science knows about thecharacteristics and causes of late talking. He explains that today's greater awareness of autism, aswell as the expanded definition of autism as a "spectrum" of symptoms, has increased thechances that a late-talking child will be diagnosed -- or misdiagnosed -- with autism. But, hereminds us, late talking is only one of a constellation of autism symptoms. Although all autisticchildren are late talkers, not all late-talking children are autistic. Camarata draws on more thantwenty-five years of professional experience diagnosing and treating late talkers -- and on hispersonal experience of being a late talker himself and having a late-talking son. Camarata offersparents valuable guidance on seeking treatment, advising them to get second and third opinions ifnecessary, and warning them against false diagnoses, unqualified practitioners, and ineffectivetherapies. He provides information that will help parents navigate the maze of doctors, speechtherapists, early childhood services, and special education; and he describes the effect that latetalking may have on children's post-talking learning styles.

Stephen M. Camarata is Professor in the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences at Vanderbilt School of Medicine.