When a child is late to talk, parents frequently attribute this to a sibling doing the talking for him or her. But is there any truth to this? Is there a relationship between birth order and delayed language development?  Do later-born children really take longer to develop speech than first-born children?

Several studies have shown that the language development and skills of first-born and later-born children are similar.  Based on the research, parents can be assured that language delays are NOT caused by older siblings talking for their younger siblings or by parents paying less attention to their later born children.

If you have questions or concerns about your child’s language development, please call us at 1-888-623-6363 to speak with a Speech-Language Pathologist.