“At what age should a delayed child start speech therapy?”
I believe my 1 year old son is verbally delayed. At what age should a delayed child start speech therapy?
10 Answers
They should start therapy no later than 18 months
Consult a speech language pathologist whom specializes in early childhood
He should start as soon as you have identified that there is a delay, meaning now. He is not too young. The earlier the better.
Terlenda Lassiter
Speech-Language Pathologist
You may want to consult your physician for their opinion. Me, personally, early intervention is absolutely key. If you are concerned about your son's vocabulary, you can automatically begin reading with him 20 minutes a day. Doing this every day for a year exposes him to 1 million words. You can use teachable moments and converse with him, create a demand (without pressure or drills) for him to have to communicate. You can use strategies on youtube by typing in "speech therapy vocabulary building" and follow approaches on the videos but definitely request a referral for an early intervention speech language pathologist to evaluate your son. The earlier the better.
A one year old boy, especially if in the early part of year one, is definitely not verbally delayed. If however, he reaches two and still no word utterances at all, then he should be taken for a speech /language evaluation, hopefully one who specializes in early intervention. In the meantime read to your son on a daily basis and stay calm and try not to worry about this situation. Hopefully it will resolve itself. Good luck, Darrell Lauer
The best time to start speech therapy is when your child is not meeting age-expected speech and language milestones. If your son is showing delays, it is best to get him evaluated by a speech-language pathologist as soon as possible to see if speech therapy is warranted.
Cara M. Gelbart
Speech-Language Pathologist
At one year old it is likely too early to say that your child is delayed.
Speech therapy can begin at any age. I would suggest that you begin by having him tested by a Language Pathologist.
Your child can start speech therapy at any age. Speech Pathologists can see infants and beyond. There is no age minimum to start speech therapy. If you believe your child has a delay, I would recommend going to an SLP to get a full speech/language evaluation so that they can determine if your child is delayed and to what severity level. He/she will be able to recommend and write goals that are appropriate for your child. Typically, I start seeing kids as young as 1 year, 8 months and if you feel your child is still showing a delay by age 2, then absolutely start speech therapy right away!!! But if you feel like now is a good time to start that is entirely up to you. The earlier, the better!!
It’s never too early to start! Seek out early intervention in your county for services.
Ali Matisse, MS CCC-SLP
Ali Matisse, MS CCC-SLP
