University Of Western Australia 2011 Study Shows Late Talkers Develop Normally

A University of Western Australia study, published in Pediatrics, shows that children who were late talkers showed no ill effects as they developed into their teens. Although previous studies had shown no developmental delays for late talkers, this was the first study to follow children through their teens and demonstrate that there was no lasting effect from being slow to talk.

The study looked at 142 children who scored less than 15% on language development at age two, and compared them to 1,245 toddlers with normal language development. The study followed up with the children every few years until they reached the age of 17.

Slow talkers did not show any more behavioral or emotional problems than other children.

Although slow talkers can exhibit problems as toddlers, the study leader, Professor Andrew Whitehouse explained that this was because of a lack of communication.

"We suggest that the behavioural and emotional problems identified at two years are due to the psychosocial difficulties of not being able to communicate, such as frustration," said Whitehouse.Parents of late talkers tend to worry that their children will suffer problems later on if they don't learn to talk and often intervene with therapy or push their children to talk more. Whitehouse says that their study shows that this is not a cause for extreme concern.

"Parents should not be overly concerned that late-talking at age 2 years will result in enduring language and psychological difficulties for the child," says Whitehouse, as reported by Time magazine. "There is good evidence that most late-talking children will 'catch up' to the language skills of other children."

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