Late Talking

Not talking yet?

He’ll talk when he’s ready.

She doesn’t need to talk; she’s got siblings!

He’s just so stubborn! He’d rather get it himself than ask for it.

No one else seems to be concerned.

But you are concerned!

Your child is 18 months old and has two words.

You read somewhere they should have 50 words by age two, and be able to have a conversation by age 3!

What does this mean? Is something wrong? Is this my fault? What should I do?

We do not recommend the “wait and see” approach.

No child is ever too young for an assessment.

We are the professionals who are best qualified to tell you, with confidence, whether you should “wait and see.” Not your mother, not your friend, not even your pediatrician.

Speech-language pathologists are highly trained and uniquely qualified to assess language development in children of all ages, including young toddlers.

We have served many children that could have had therapy months or even years earlier; but because their parents, grandparents, family friends, and pediatricians favored the “wait and see” approach, we missed out on valuable time.

Assessing the Problem

First, we will conduct a detailed assessment to look at what your child understands, how they communicate, what gestures they use, their attention span, their social skills, and their play skills.

This will help us understand if your child is truly most likely just a late talker or if there may be other factors underlying their language delay.

Then, we’ll let you know if therapy is recommended, as well as if it would be wise to have your child assessed by other specialized medical professionals.

Everyone gets to play!

Therapy for children is nearly always play-based. Play is a child’s work, after all!

We will provide you with parent training regarding the best ways to facilitate language development through play.

There is so much we can do together to build language-rich environments for children who are late talkers.

Empowering Parents Through Telehealth

You may be surprised to hear this, but we prefer utilizing telehealth for early intervention speech therapy rather than providing in-person services in most cases!

This is because when we utilize telehealth, we get to empower you, the parent!

We don’t expect toddlers and young preschoolers to sit in front of a screen and interact with the therapist- it’s just not age appropriate.

What we can do is be the “angel on your shoulder” (through your phone, tablet, or computer) that coaches you while you play with your child. We’ll help you know which words to emphasize, the best ways to model language, and how to improve your activities of daily living to incorporate more opportunities for communication.

The best early intervention happens at home in real time during regular routines with the parent or caregiver as the primary “teacher.” Telehealth allows us to do exactly that!

There is no need to wait. For more information, please visit our Contact page.