The Late Talker: What to Do If Your Child Isn't Talking Yet

The Late Talker: What to Do If Your Child Isn't Talking Yet

I am currently doing a critique of this book for my Developmental Psychopathology class for my B.A. in Psychology. I chose this book on my own and I am very impressed and satisfied with my choice.

I think that this is a great read and resource for parents with children who have early signs of delay or are past the language milestone and still have not said their first words or have delayed speech. The authors do a great job of presenting the research, although some information comes a bit later than I would like to see in the book, however, the information is there. I feel that the therapies presented can assist most children with developmental delay, there is no harm in doing the at home therapies, it will just make the child stronger.

Information regarding therapy and intervention from professionals is very crucial especially the information on navigating the school system, legal system and insurance. All parents must know that they are their child's best advocate and this book lets parents know. Another point hit home is that parents should not "wait and see" because this can only further lead to persistent developmental delays if there is an actual serious problem. There is no time to early for Intervention and if you have read this book you should know.

This book is a great resource for any parent looking for assistance with their late talker or child with developmental delays. Great, interesting, and quick read.

I found this book very alarmist, offensive and exclusive of many other types of speech delays and clinical conditions that may present by a child being delayed in speech. Its focus was mainly on Dsypraxia, which is actually a very rare condition and can not be accurately diagnosed before the age of 5. Once I read the background and affiliation of the author, I understood why she wrote the book. I feel that parents should understand that the "labels du jour" that many institutions are placing on our late talking children in order to receive funding and continue their programs, are usually not accurate. The public school systems are a universe unto themselves. Unsuspecting and well meaning parents tend to believe the labels that are given to their late talking children, in order to receive "free" services. They are willing to medicate these children and place them in the hands of people that many times do not really understand their condition but call themselves "professionals". Those of us with late talking children all want answers as to why our children are late talking and we can feel quite desperate when we notice our children missing this major "milestone" in their development. This book inappropriately plays on these fears and doesn't give credibility to the fact that late talking can be a variation of the norm. Parents need to be aware that they know their children best and can be their best advocates and speech therapy teachers once they have an accurate diagnosis from a well-respected late talking specialist who does appropriate child-led and child-friendly evaluations. These children may also need to be seen by an audiologist, a development pediatrition, a neurologist or other appropriate true specialists to rule out other conditions. Please do thorough research (it is out there) as to who the real late talking professionals are before you agree to a possibly inaccurate label for your child. This label could stick with your child for the rest of their lives and make them feel as if they are different and something is wrong with them because they were seperated from their peers, put in special classes and/or picked up by a little yellow bus. Labels are very hard to remove. Yahoo user's groups are a great place to start along with Thomas Sowell's books, The Einstein Syndrome and Late Talking Children. This is a very well-respected author on the subject. They are available here on Amazon. These books describe one type of late talking child and an astute parent will recognize whether it describes their child or not. And, if it does not, keep searching and gathering accurate information.

This book is such a help to any parent wondering about their child's delay in speech or possible speech disorder. Not too technical, but gives the facts about everything from insurance to types of speech therapy. I highly recommend this book to any parent of a child w/ a speech delay and to every speech therapist.

I can't seem to locate my review from when this book was first released, but I will attempt to remember what I posted.

This book covers nearly every aspect of the delayed speech journey. As with any special needs child, the results of any type of intervention will vary. This includes therapy, medication, or supplements. My son was helped immensely by the Essential Fatty Acids. I recommend them to moms of all special needs children, along with Dr. Stordy's book, THE LCP SOLUTION: The Remarkable Nutritional Treatment for ADHD, Dyslexia, and Dyspraxia I saw a dramatic difference in my sons' speech in three weeks. This was using a higher dosage than is recommended on the bottle. I know many success stories and several who didn't have dramatic results. This is not surprising as special needs children respond in individual ways to all interventions.

My son has several diagnoses and one is Speech Apraxia. While one of the authors (Lisa Geng) is the mom of an Apraxic son, there is much helpful material beyond the Apraxia diagnosis.

All of the specific information regarding red flags, insurance, interventions, or therapies are applicable to any speech delay/disorder. Handling the frustrations or negative people are applicable to any speech diagnosis.

Due to my son's medical history, he was delayed in all areas. His therapy from birth changed due to development and actually didn't change much once his speech was considered a disorder and no longer just delayed.

I highly recommend this book for anyone with a child who has delayed speech!

This book put a lot of fear into me, rather than be helpful. The premise of the book seems to be that if your child isn't speaking as well as the charts say they should, then you need to get your child involved in INTENSIVE therapy several times a week ASAP or you run the risk of your child becoming very depressed and they may even become suicidal!! I'm sorry, but that's the LAST thing a parent needs to hear, especially when they're probably already anxious about their child's development or else they wouldn't be reading this book. There are much better books out there! Also, it had a whole chapter devoted to how fish oil capsules have helped numerous kids speak better... and although I haven't researched this issue and perhaps there might be some truth in it, it certainly isn't as the author makes it seem-He gives several examples of these kids who weren't saying ANY words and then all of a sudden they take fish oil and within a few DAYS they are speaking several words-yeah, right!!! I highly doubt that. Though there is no doubt that fatty acids are good for you and important, but they're not miracle makers. Anyhow, that's my take on this book.