When a child talks later than expected parents can worry. But, a new study found that children who were late talkers when they were two years old were not at a higher risk to develop behavioral and emotional problems later in childhood, Pediatrics reports this week.
The study tracked more than 2,800 families in Australia until their children were eighteen years old.
Children who were late-talkers had mild levels of behavioral and emotional problems at age 2, but are at no greater risk of these problems during childhood or adolescence. Study authors conclude these findings support a wait-and-see approach for late-talkers with otherwise normal development, but they also note the scientific evidence linking persistent language problems with psychiatric difficulties. “Late-Talking Kids Usually Turn out OK’’ Research Summary. Pediatrics. 7/4/11.
(Check out the abstract here and the full article here.)
New Resource for RTT 2: The federal government released new details of Race to the Top II last week, so we decided to start featuring resources to help navigate the competition.
One of the earliest resources is at CLASP, which built a new webpage to help states start planning applications for RTTT. The site offers help with everything from “Leveraging Existing Funding Sources to Support EHS-like Services” to “Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care.” It looks like a good place to start, and the clock is running. The competition ends on Dec. 31, 2011.