Accompanying Conditions Psychosocial Factors causing a child to be "at risk" for a speech and/or language delay or impairment.


Speech development can be slower in:

• Twins
• Children born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder
• Younger siblings
• Children in lower socioeconomic class
• Children of deaf or mute parents
• Children exposed to more than one language

Children identified as at-risk or high-risk, such as those from neonatal intensive care units, should be tested early and at regular intervals.

Other risk factors include diagnosed medical conditions , such as chronic ear infections; biological factors , such as fetal alcohol syndrome; genetic defects , such as Down syndrome; neurological defects , such as cerebral palsy; or developmental disorders, such as delayed language.

Children with no obvious high risk factors should be evaluated if their speech and language is not similar to that of other children of the same age.

see: http://www.ldanatl.org/aboutld/parents/early_childhood/identification.asp

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