Stories about late talkers please? Does being a late talker mean my DD will be dyslexic?

[Ferntree]

Hi,

My DD is a very late talker - she is 3 and a half and has only just started saying words. Until recently she used to communicate by pointing at things or gesturing and saying "uh uh". Somehow, she managed to communicate and get things she wanted without talking. I remember that when she was 18 months, she spilt a drink and found me to say "uh-oh", indicating an accident. She is now asking "why?" and "what's that?" a lot.

Speech and language therapist said her understanding is good as she understands complex instructions - it is just her speech - they called it Expressive Language Delay. She did a test and they picked up that she has a problem with pronouns.

Her childminder speaks Hindi - I have witnessed her talking in Hindi a lot to her own kids and on the phone etc. Someone suggested that exposure to another language may have contributed to the speech delay.

A colleague at work (who used to be a nursery teacher) told me that late talkers tend to also turn out to be dyslexic. Is this true?

I don't really know what being dyslexic means? Should I be worried? Is it true that late talkers tend to be dyslexic? I'm sorry if I sound so ignorant!

I would love to hear stories -positive or negative - about late talkers and/ dyslexia. I just want to understand things better and be more prepared.

[JellyMould]

Most late talkers don't become dyslexic, though many dyslexic children were late talkers. Dyslexia just means difficulties in reading and spelling. It sounds like she's progressing well. Children exposed to more than one language can make a slower start, but it's often beneficial in the long run.

[Jellyandjam]

My DS has been a late talker. Like your child his understanding was very good he was just unable to articulate the sounds correctly. He started school this year and has done brilliantly with his reading. It's too early to tell but he shows no signs of dyslexia or nah other problems with his learning. His speech has developed well over the last year too (he had private therapy once a week and is now about to be discharged).

[ikeaismylocal]

I'm dyslexic but I apparently spoke normally ( first word on my first birthday and sentences shortly after).

I would be surprised if ds isn't dyslexic as we have dyslexic people on both sides of the family, he's 18 months and his speach is average but he is bilingual sohe has an average amount of words in both his languages. On dp's side of the family it actually tends to be the early speakers who have been diagnosed as dyslexic.

I know lots of bilingual children and although research shows that exposure to 2+ languages shouldn't cause a speach delay anecdotally it often does seem to effect some children. From my experiences working with bilingual children it tends to be the more careful children who speak later, they often seem to be trying to sort it all out in their head before they dare to say actual words/sentences, my ds is the sort of child who just throws himself at a challenge without having thought through the challenge.

Even if your child is dyslexic it isn't a terrible thing, there are positives about being dyslexic and schools are very aware of dyslexia and how to teach dyslexic children now. 10% of the population is dyslexic so there is a fairly high chance a child will be dyslexic.

[Sleepytea]

My ds had a speech delay. I had read that reading is often tricky for late talkers so was all ready to teach him to read by sight but amazingly he picked up phonics very quickly. He was a free reader by the end of year 1 and as an example he was able to read the Harry Potter books when he was 6.