Late-Talking Children: A Symptom or a Stage?

by Stephen M. Camarata

What parents need to know about the causes and treatment of children's late how to avoid misdiagnoses, navigate the educational system, and more. When children are late in hitting developmental milestones, parents worry. And no delay causes more parental anxiety than late talking, which is associated in many parents' minds with such serious conditions as autism and severe intellectual disability. In fact, as children's speech expert Stephen Camarata points out in this enlightening book, children are late in beginning to talk for a wide variety of reasons. For some children, late talking may be a symptom of other, more serious, problems; for many others, however, it may simply be a stage with no long-term complications. Camarata describes in accessible language what science knows about the characteristics and causes of late talking. He explains that late talking is only one of a constellation of autism symptoms. Although all autistic children are late talkers, not all late-talking children are autistic. Camarata draws on more than twenty-five years of professional experience diagnosing and treating late talkers—and on his personal experience of being a late talker himself and having a late-talking son. He provides information that will help parents navigate the maze of doctors, speech therapists, early childhood services, and special education; and he describes the effect that late talking may have on children's post-talking learning styles.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Psychology, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Education, Medicine

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Raj · Rating 5 out of 5]

I requested a review copy of this book at a time when I was very worried about my son's delayed speech. Between the time I requested a review copy in July and receiving the book in September, he had made several leaps in his use of language putting him in the more than 60 percent of late-talking children who "resolve" or catch up by age four according to the studies cited by Stephen Camarata's new book Late-Talking Children: A Symtom or Stage.

The parsing of such data and Camarata's own observations from his clinical practice validated many of my own experiences with my son. It was a reassuring book to read. He carefully describes the possible reasons a child might not develop speech like their peers, and why it can harmful to a child and a waste of resources to lump children together who have very different issues.

It was stunning how many of the descriptions validated my wife's and my own observations of our son. For example, Camarata writes, "One characteristic of late-talking children that is not quantifiable, but that is nevertheless widely reported by parents and confirmed by my own observations, is that they tend to be 'strong-willed.' ... Refusing to do something is interpreted by too many people who test or evaluate children as meaning the child cannot do it; instead of the child will not do it."

Camarata encourages all parents of late-talking children to have their children evaluated by a pediatrician and possibly a specialist depending on the doctor's recommendations. A large part of the book is a warning against fads, hucksters, and quacks. Fortunately everyone we consulted was reasonable. The developmental experts gave us sound advice that helped reinforce the positive environment for our son we were already trying to cultivate. Many of our family and friends questioned us and, frankly, scared us. I wish I had this book earlier.

[Angela Boord · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of my 9 children, two have been "late talkers" following the pattern discussed in this book. In fact, I belonged to the original List-Serv for Late Talking Children begun by Stephen Camarata many years ago when my oldest child initiated me into the world of special needs. He speaks very well now (and in fact is looking at a career as a linguist) but my current 3 year old is also a late talker (and in the process of catching up) and so I wanted to see what Dr. Camarata had to say 16 or 17 years down the line.

I think this book is probably essential reading for anyone trying to navigate the special education maze with a toddler or preschooler who doesn't talk much or at all but who also doesn't seem to fit the diagnostic criteria for autism. Dr. Camarata is quite critical of the current shift to diagnosing autism as Autism Spectrum Disorder, thereby lumping together both severe, obvious cases and those which might arguably be called autism at all, particularly as 2 year olds can change quite a bit by the time they are 4 or 5. He also argues in favor of being skeptical of most therapeutic approaches for late-talkers that do not specifically target speech and language. While I appreciated the skepticism, it did leave me wondering about the sorts of therapy that he would recommend, and I think the book could be strengthened in this area.

[casey (ink drinker) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased this book as my 2 year old son was recently diagnosed with a speech delay. What an amazing guide on how to be an advocate for your child during this extremely worrisome and stressful time. We ended up changing pediatricians after a nurse (not the doctor) tried diagnosing him with autism after we answered yes to 3, YES THREE, questions regarding his current abilities. 100% true story. (Not that there is anything wrong with autistic children, but as Dr. Camarata explains in this book, misdiagnosing a late-talking child with autism can be detrimental to their development).

He really put me at ease about my late talking son. While Dr. Camarata encourages proper medical evaluation, he provides parents with a list of excellent questions and other considerations for parents, medical, and school professionals. I can see how knowing this information beforehand will set my son up for success in finding the right services he may need and what to be aware of during our pursuit. Being a parent of a late talker, and a late talker himself, this book by Dr. Camarata gives a credibility and perspective that is much appreciated and underrepresented in the current literature on this topic.

My husband and I currently have our son enrolled in 2 speech therapy classes a week and he's already learned how to say over 30 words in just 3 weeks. We are so happy with his progress and though every day is a struggle, we are no longer scared for his future.

Dr. Stephen Camarata- if you're reading this... THANK YOU! We are lucky to have found you. Please keep doing what you do.

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written with vivid anecdotes. By the end it focuses quite a lot on horror stories about inappropriate treatments, which fortunately are not relevant to our situation, though I could not rule out these things happening at our local special school for children with severe disabilities, whom I have observed being treated with little respect. Some chapters are also specific to the US schooling system only.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book both calmed me about my 19 month old who isn’t talking but has excellent receptive language and normal-slightly advanced physical development, and scared me about how to go forward as a lower income person who wants all the interventions he needs, but not unnecessary harmful ones.

I am glad I read it.

[Janine · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I did find it an interesting read, however. It had a lot more information on autism than I had expected, but as a child development teacher and director of a small preschool I found it useful to know. From a parenting perspective, it didn't give me exactly enough information that I was hoping. My nine year old son was a late talker and I recently realized just how late when watching some home videos of him at age 3 1/2. It struck me just how behind his language output really was. I remember being worried about it at the time, but it's interesting how it seems now looking back on it and noticing the areas in which he still lags behind his peers. He has never been diagnosed with a learning disability or disorder. I describe him as a "late bloomer" in many areas. He is always progressing, but just not always in the way or at the rate that is typically expected. The information in this book has shed light on some aspects of his learning style and given me some further insights to his current behaviors and quirks.

[BookArtBookmarks By Margaux · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I had read this book before I had my sons iep done. I am one of the swindled parents of a school system that labeled my child as SDD when he could unlock all child locks at 18 months. My son will be attending a new school in fall, hopefully, that specializes in treatments of Autism, late takers, Einstein syndrome. We will also be calling the school system to get them to remove his SDD diagnosis. Book gave me the information and confidence to do so! Only gave it a four bc it was a little repetitive.

[Susan Heim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some great information - useful for my work. Unfortunately, he also made the parent-professional relationship seem a little adversarial and disparaged most of us front line workers as being uneducated and I haven't found either of those ideas to be consistently true. Occasionally true? Of course, just like all professions there is varying quality but I don't think the world of early childhood special education is as grim as he makes it out to be.

[Genoveva Uzunova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book for a very broad audience such as parents, physicians, psychologists, and educators. I found a lot of useful information to apply to my work with children with autism. It looks like the author has a lot of experience on this topic. The book is written in a very understandable and easy to read style.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of good information here on dealing with school systems and clinicians. He encourages everyone concerned about a late-talking child to get professional assessment to rule out the scary things, and reassures parents that most often the kids are going to be all right. Not a guide to home diagnosis or treatment.

[Hester · Rating 3 out of 5]

Encourages us to see that differently brained children are not necessarily unintelligent.

[Melanee Parker]

Some really great info here for parents of late-talkers and providers who serve them. Will definitely want to revisit this every so often if I end up working with littles after graduation.

[Linda Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great tool for any late talking children. Such great tips and very important information-especially when they start attending school.

Book is also written in lay person language which is even more beneficial.

[Sanisi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the chapters I was interested in (mainly about Autism), and skimmed the rest. I really appreciated that it was clearly referenced with a note section at the back. I was thrilled to find the section that concisely covered the history of Autism and how diagnosing has changed so dramatically in less than a lifetime.

Overall the book is just a toe in the water, but I learned more than I expected to in such a small book. Also, it is just a bit terrifying.

P.S. I have two sons that have been diagnosed as being on the spectrum. I also suspect that I am as well, but I am female and everything I read about autistic females is dramatically different than males. http://www.scientificamerican.com/art...

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son is starting speech therapy and I found this book really helpful. Useful advice, things to watch for when working with specialists, questions to ask. All in a form that is easy to digest without being dumbed down.

[S꩜phie]

Read this for my first grad school class 🥸🥸🥸