late talkers

[Stephen M. Camarata]

Taken as a single factor, lack of word production at 16 months could not be
considered "clinical." As Dr. Bates points out, this is within the range of
normal variation, even if one is not exposed to a multilingual environment.


The focus then becomes prelinguistic skills and nonverbal communication. Is
the child vocalizing and using a variety of phones? Is there joint
attention and shared reference? Does the child demonstrate other
preliminary social skills? Finally, does the child exhibit typical
cognitive development, other than the late talking?

With the rise in the various PDD diagnoses and other labels for late
talkers, it is important to have a late talker examined by a skilled
clinician who understands that in addition to clinical conditions, late
talking may also be a normal, nonclinical variation. Of course, all medical
conditions interfering with development, including hearing loss, siezures,
and/or genetic factors, must be ruled out.

Stephen Camarata

Stephen M. Camarata, PhD
Acting Director
John F. Kennedy Center for
Research on Human Development
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Nashville, Tennessee 37232
615-322-8242