Problems with "Wait and See"

Early identification and treatment for young children with speech and language delays is now considered best practice. Research in speech-language pathology and related fields has shown that early identification of problems and therapy to address those difficulties leads to better results and can prevent other problems, such as in reading and writing (https://www.asha.org/public/early-detection-of-speech-language-and-hearing-disorders/). Parents are typically the best judge of their children and are very good at observing when speech and language problems might be occurring. You may suspect that your child is experiencing problems with speech (making sounds and saying words clearly), language (using and understanding words and sentences), or communication (understanding and using the social "rules" of communication. At times, parents are told by physicians, or other service providers, friends or family, to "wait and see" if the child grows out of the problem. The problem with this wait and see approach is that some children will outgrow or catch up in speech, language or communication and some will not. Speech/language pathologists are able to carefully evaluate the child to determine which outcome is most likely for them. The bottom line is if you think your child is having speech/language/communication problems, see a speech/language pathologist for an evaluation to determine if they are having difficulties beyond expected for their age, and if they would benefit from speech/language therapy. It's better to know earlier than later!