Late onset canonical babbling: a possible early marker of abnormal development.
By their 10th month of life, typically developing infants produce canonical babbling, which includes the well-formed syllables required for meaningful speech. Research suggests that emerging speech or language-related disorders might be associated with late onset of canonical babbling. Onset of canonical babbling was investigated for 1,536 high-risk infants, at about 10-months corrected age. Parental report by open-ended questionnaire was found to be an efficient method for ascertaining babbling status. Although delays were infrequent, they were often associated with genetic, neurological, anatomical, and/or physiological abnormalities. Over half the cases of late canonical babbling were not, at the time they were discovered associated with prior significant medical diagnoses. Late canonical-babbling onset may be a predictor of later developmental disabilities, including problems in speech, language, and reading.
Oller
D K
DK
University of Maine, Orono 04469, USA. kimoller@maine.edu
Eilers
R E
RE
Neal
A R
AR
Cobo-Lewis
A B
AB
D000367:Age Factors; D002663:Child Language; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology*