[10] Words are related to things in the toddler's environment, such as body parts, toys, clothes, etc.
[12] Late talkers differ from toddlers with language development disorders and disabilities in the sense that their only characteristic is that they experience limited expressive vocabulary for their age, as opposed to a lack of receptive language or cognitive abilities.
[14] Expressive language screening between the ages of 18 and 35 months help determine if LLE is "secondary to autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, hearing impairment, receptive language delay, or demographic risk".
This symptom may be secondary to problems with their vocal tract or hearing, autism, neglect, or abuse.
[13] For toddlers to be diagnosed as late talkers, they need to see a doctor and a speech pathologist.
[19] A speech pathologist works with the parent or caregiver of the child to decide on the most appropriate assessment.
[19] Language sampling must be used with standardized assessments to compare and diagnose a child as a late talker.
This type of assessment is useful in determining whether a child is a late talker or if his language delay is a factor of another kind of disorder.
[19] Analog tasks consist of the assessor observing the child participate in play in a staged environment that simulates a real-world situation.
[8] Language interventions (with the help of speech pathologists) are needed, so late talkers eventually catch up.
[25] The parent or caregiver is then required to repeat the child's utterance, regardless of how incorrect it is, and complement this with semantic and grammatical detail.
[25] Focused language stimulation requires the parent or caregiver to have a list of goal words for the child to learn and produce.
[25] The adult has to produce the target language in a meaningful and functional context, such as in a sentence or question form.
[22] Milieu teaching involves changing the child's environment to give them as many opportunities to talk and produce the target language.
[25] Incorrect production of target language follows by the adult modeling the word for the child to imitate.
[30] Speech pathologist are responsible for choosing a treatment that is culturally appropriate for the child and his family.
[22] These methods are adapted to meet the needs of other cultures in the community for the child to have a higher success rate.
[22] The nature and context of social interactions is observed when modifying a standard treatment to meet the norms of a child's culture and background.
[30][22] The treatment is then adapted for other family members (siblings, cousins, other peers) to deliver the intervention.
[13] Around 50 to 70% of children who experience LLE reach normal language level by the time they enter school.
[31] Their chances of successfully catching up decrease when language delay is still present by the time they are 3 years old.