Birth to Threes
Toddlers with delayed speech no more likely to have emotional problems as they grow up
Children who are late talkers are at no greater risk of suffering emotional or behavioural problems as they grow older, according to a new study.
Two-year-olds who are late talkers tend to grow out of any behavioural problems
Researchers from the University of Western Australia followed more than 1,200 two-year-olds in Perth with language delay into their teens.
Children were considered as having ‘normal’ language if at two they could say around 50 words and string two or three together in a phrase.
They found that while children who were late talkers were more likely to be shy, fearful or disruptive at the age of two, these behaviours disappeared as they caught up with their peers between the ages of five to 17-years-old.
The authors suggest late talkers had early behavioural problems because they were frustrated by not being able to communicate effectively.
Professor Andrew Whitehouse, who led the study, said, ‘Expressive vocabulary delay at age two years is not in itself a risk factor for later behavioural and emotional disturbances in childhood and adolescence.’
He added, ‘Although these findings support a wait-and-see approach to behavioural and speech and language intervention among late talkers with otherwise normal development, it is important to highlight the considerable evidence linking persisting language impairment and psychiatric difficulties.’
- The study - Late Talking and the Risk for Psychosocial Problems during Childhood and Adolescence - is published in the journal-American Academy of Paediatrics.
