「Late talkers are secretly gifted」

Where the claim comes from

Some late talkers really do turn out fine, and those stories get retold until "clever children speak late" becomes a way of reassuring people. But you cannot tell in advance who is merely late — and the children this saying holds back are often the ones who need help.

What the evidence says

The US National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) says there appear to be critical periods for speech and language development in infants and young children: if they pass without exposure to language, it becomes harder to learn. Its checklist gives reference points by age — from 7 months to 1 year, understanding common words and using gestures, with perhaps one or two words by the first birthday; from 1 to 2 years, steadily acquiring new words and putting two words together; from 2 to 3 years, using two- or three-word phrases and being understood by family and friends. A delay is sometimes caused by hearing loss, and at other times by a speech or language disorder such as developmental language disorder.

What to do instead

• Go through the checklist for your child's age and note which items are not there yet.
• Talk to your child's doctor about any concern — there is no age you need to wait for. The doctor may refer you to a speech-language pathologist.
• A hearing test is often part of the evaluation, even if you feel your child "hears fine".
• Meanwhile, keep talking with your child: exposure to language is exactly what those critical periods call for.