"My Uncle didn't talk until he was 4 and he turned out fine..."

Have you ever been told something like this? Or perhaps something along the lines of "He's a boy. He'll talk when he's ready." or even "My child didn't talk until they were 3 and just started speaking in sentences. Now they won't stop talking! Just wait." I see countless conversations online with comments just like these in response to parents expressing concern about their child's expressive language skills. For some reason, despite mounting evidence to the contrary, several myths about late talkers are still being perpetuated. These myths include:

1. Boys talk later than girls

2. Younger siblings talk later because their older brother(s) and sister(s) talk for them

3. Kids learning multiple languages talk later because the languages are confusing for them

The evidence on this is clear: being a boy is not a reason for your child to be talking late. Being a younger sibling is not a reason for your child not meeting their language milestones. Being exposed to multiple languages does not cause language delays. Yet, we still allow people to talk us out of our concerns on a regular basis and it's usually based on anecdotal accounts of things just 'happening' to work out.

Let's compare this thinking to another scenario: your child spikes a fever of 104, your doctor's office is closed and you ask for advice on what to do and you're met with comments like "my child spiked a fever once and was totally fine." or "Fevers are normal... Just wait and it'll go away". Would you take this advice? Of course you wouldn't! That's because comparing your child's condition to that of a handful of strangers is illogical and not based on any sort of evidence. This is why Speech-Language Pathologists suggest a "check and see" approach to your concerns. SLPs are trained to determine if your child's speech and language skills are progressing as expected for their age and sex. A speech and language evaluation will enable us to check in and ascertain that they are showing typical language skills or whether they may benefit from early intervention. If this idea scares you, please know that this can look different based on the needs of your family. Sometimes early intervention is one-on-one therapy with an SLP, but more often than not, early intervention provides parents with the training and strategies that they need to support their own child. It doesn't have to mean numerous trips to a clinic. We see parents as partners in therapy and it is our goal to empower caregivers to support their child's language skills.

So Uncle Joe may have turned out fine despite not talking until 4, but please don't use this as a reason to not get your child checked out.

-- Meg