Is there such a thing as a late talker?

I am not sure if DD#2 has a speech delay or maybe she is a late talker.
She is almost 19 months and says:
Jersey (the dog)
Guys (my other 2 kids)
mama
tata (daddy)
see it
shoes
hi & bye and uses it appropriately
thank you (when she wants to say it)


She points to what ever she wants, understands EVERYTHING. If you give her a command she does it or points to it.

My son said so many words early on and my older daughter talked later but by 18 months had a lot more words.

I guess how do you know if they have delays?

Re: Is there such a thing as a late talker?

Definitely such thing as late talker. Every developmental milestone has guidelines as to what is normal, what can be a red flag to get EI involved...

It is VERY hard to not compare two children, but my advice would be try not to!! It doesn't sound like there is any significant delay with your DD. some 19 month olds have a few words, some are speaking sentences.

Receptive skills are always important. She understand everything, which is GREAT. I bet you you'll hear a crazy amount of new words shortly. If you need reassurance you can always call EI, but I would talk to your ped first.

with my first son, I knew he wasn't developing typically. he had pretty much zero words at 19 months and he seemed to understand only about half of what we said to him. He is doing beautifully now, but at the time we were a wreck. And my second son pretty much came out talking You just never know!

Re: Is there such a thing as a late talker?

at 19 months, I think it is too early to say. Others have told me that my son is way ahead verbally but his speaking didn't really explode until 21-24 months. Give it a few months, I think she is right on target for 19 months!

Does she understand everything you say and follow commands? (clap your hands, touch your nose etc)?

^^ reread your post about the above. That is great! She is fine!

Message edited 10/16/2012 9:44:38 AM.

Re: Is there such a thing as a late talker?

I agree with the previous posters. Each child is different. My DS was talking in full sentences by 18 mths. DD was only saying a few words. We have seen a vocabulary explosion at 22-23 mths. Give it time. She sounds like she is doing fine.

Re: Is there such a thing as a late talker?

My mom used to work for Early Intervention with infants, so she is familiar with this. DD is 14 months and doesn't have a single word, but understands pretty much everything. I am a wreck about it, but my mom keeps telling me that receptive ability is what is considered important until the age of 2. So as long as your DD understands everything, she would be considered right on track (and will likely surprise you any day with a word explosion).

Re: Is there such a thing as a late talker?

That sounds normal to me. My kids had about the same amount of words at that time. I think they should have about 10-15 words give or take. It is really the receptive language that is important

Is there such a thing as a late talker?

My DD is a late talker and I'm not overly concerned about it. She's almost a year an a half and she does not really have any words. She only says "Da-da" and "Uh-oh". She has just started to say "All done" but the second word is not very clear.

However she understands A LOT and that is more important in my mind. She can identify lots of things and when we ask her to do things she follows the commands. We have started using a few sign language phrases to help her express things better like "more" or "I want" and that has been going well.

I feel like some kids just talk late and then later can have an explosion of words. It's my hope that my DD is like this and will get more words in the next 6 months.

Re: Is there such a thing as a late talker?

There definitely is. DS is 3 and just started talking. Receptive language was fine/advanced, but just never talked.