Is it true that some children pick up speech as late as 3 or 4 years of age?
Some children do pick up speech at 3 or 4 years. But then a 3-year-old without language skills has a difficult time coping, and so do his caregivers, as they find it difficult to communicate with him. In many cases, these late talkers have trouble in school despite being normal in intelligence. Therefore, if there is a delay in speech & language (Refer Table of speech & language development) it is better to consult a Speech Language Pathologist.
