Q: Is my child just "late-talker"?
A: According to ASHA: "You won't know for sure. Although the stages that children pass through in the development of speech and language are very consistent, the exact age when they hit these milestones varies a lot. Factors such as the child's inborn ability to learn language, other skills the child is learning, the amount and kind of language the child hears, and how people respond to communication attempts can slow down or accelerate the speed of speech and language development. This makes it difficult to say with certainty where any young child's speech and language development will be in 3 months, or 1 year."
There are, however, certain factors that may increase the risk that a late-talking child in the 18- to 30-month-old age range, and with normal intelligence, will have continuing language problems. These factors include:
Receptive language: Understanding language generally precedes expression and use. Some studies that have followed-up late-talking children in this age range have found, after a year, that age-appropriate receptive language discriminated late bloomers from children who had true language delays.
Use of gestures: Children with a greater number of gestures used for different communication purposes are more likely to catch up with peers. Such a result is supported by findings that some older children who are taught non-verbal communication systems show a spontaneous increase in oral communication.
Age of diagnosis: More than one study has indicated that the older the child at time of diagnosis, the less positive the outcome. Obviously, older children in a study have had a longer time to bloom than younger children but have not done so, indicating that the language delay may be more serious. Also, if a child is only developing slowly during an age range when other children are rapidly progressing (e.g. 24-30 months) that child will be falling farther behind.
Progress in language development: Although a child may be slow in language development, he or she should still be doing new things with language at least every month. New words may be added. The same words may be used for different purposes. For example, "bottle" may one day mean "That is my bottle," the next, "I want my bottle," and the next week, "Where is my bottle? I don't see it." Words may be combined into longer utterances ("want bottle" "no bottle"), or such longer utterances may occur more often."
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Q: What should I do if I suspect my child has a speech or language disability?
A: Parents don't have to rely on
the predictions of others or to guess that their child will be just like a friend's and
eventually catch up in language development. If parents are concerned
about their child's speech and language development, they should see a
speech-language pathologist certified by the American
Speech-Language-Hearing Association for a professional evaluation. The
speech-language pathologist can administer tests of receptive and
expressive language, analyze a child's utterances in various situations,
determine factors that may be slowing down language development, and
counsel parents on the next steps to take.Parent's instincts are very good indicators of when something is not developing properly in their child. No two children are exactly alike, but you can take a look at the developmental milestones link to use as a guideline in determining what skills your child should have:
http://bramconsultants.com/milestones.aspx
We are happy to give you a free phone consultation to determine if there is a need for a screening or evaluation.
Q: Do you accept health insurance?
A: We do not directly bill any insurance companies, but we will submit receipts that you can send to your insurance carrier for reimbursement. Call your provider to find out the type of documentation they need.