Language Delay Health Article

Definition

A language delay is language development that is significantly below the norm for a child of a specified age.

Description

Language delay is a communication disorder, a category that includes a wide variety of speech, language, and hearing impairments. The milestones of language development, including the onset of babbling and a child's first words and sentences, normally occur within approximate age ranges. However, individual children vary enormously regarding the exact age at which each milestone is reached. There also are different styles of language development. Most children have acquired good verbal communication by the age of three. But one child may be wordless until the age of two and a half and then immediately start talking in three-word sentences. Another child might have several words at ten months but add very few additional words over the following year. Other children start talking at about 12 months and progress steadily.

Language delay usually becomes apparent during infancy or early childhood. Any delay in general development usually causes language delay. Children with language delay may acquire language skills in the usual progression but at a much slower rate, so that their language development may be equivalent to a normally developing child of a much younger chronological age. Maturation delay, also called developmental language delay, is one of the most common types of language delay. Children with a maturation delay may be referred to as "late talkers" or "late bloomers." Maturation delays frequently run in families.

Demographics

Speech/language delay is the most common developmental disorder in children aged three to 16 years, affecting approximately 3 to 10 percent of children. It is three to four times more common in boys than in girls.