Practitioner review: early developmental language delay: what, if anything, should the clinician do about it?

Early developmental language delay is characterized by slow development of language in preschoolers. The condition is frequent among two- and three-year-olds, causes concern among parents, and generates differences of opinion as to significance among informed professionals. Poorer long-term outcomes are much more likely if language delay persists until the later preschool years, and if the delay is not specific to language and/or includes problems in understanding. Specific language delay in the preschool period is better characterized as a risk factor than a disorder; most children with specific language delay recover to the normal range by five years of age.