Words Matter: Late Bloomers vs. Late Language Emergence
In diagnostic evaluations, clinicians may sometimes hear the phrase "late bloomer" to refer to children with later-developing language capabilities. In today's blog, we explore the subtle differences between late bloomers and children with late language emergence, as well as the importance of careful testing in either case.
Children with Late Language Emergence (LLE) experience a delay in language onset with no other linguistic diagnoses or developmental delays in motoric or cognitive areas. Clinicians may diagnose a child with LLE when language development is below age expectations. Toddlers who exhibit LLE may also be referred to as "late talkers" or "late language learners."
As with many language disorders, children with LLE may exhibit only expressive or expressive and receptive delays. If children primarily experience expressive delays in production of language, they may be slow to acquire new vocabulary or form novel sentence structures, whereas children with delays in both areas (including reception, or understanding) may show difficulties in general language comprehension and overall oral production. Children with both receptive and expressive delays are at a greater risk of developing poorer outcomes, and LLE may evolve into social communication disorder, autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, or others (Marchman & Fernald, 2013).
At the same time, many researchers distinguish between children with LLE and "late bloomers." Children who are late bloomers are those with LLE who eventually catch up to their peers. In many cases, distinguishing between those two can be difficult and only achievable in hindsight. Researchers have noted some possible differences, including that late bloomers were more likely to use communicative gesturing than age-matched peers with LLE (Thal & Tobias, 1992). Late bloomers were also less likely to demonstrate delays in receptive comprehension than their age-matched peers with LLE.
If you'd like to learn more about this topic or have concerns, please reach out to a Sidekick therapist today!
Paul Rice, M.S., CCC-SLP