Late Talking Children - The Einstein Syndrome

My son was a very late talker. At the age of five and a half he is just beginning to use sentences. When he was younger, I read anything I could about late talking and came upon the Einstein Syndrome and found it absolutely fascinating. Although I do not believe my son has Einstein Syndrome, I was compelled to share what I learned.

Please read and enjoy what I learned on my path to unravel my son, the mystery and hopefully help those who are on the same path.

The Einstein Syndrome is a phrase coined by Thomas Sowell. It implies that although there are different types of late talking children, there is a small group of these children who are very gifted.

It is believed that these children talk late because parts of their brain are developing at a faster pace than other children, therefore, their language suffers. This is what they believe happened to Albert Einstein.

There are different aspects of these children's lives that seem to follow a pattern. The children are not social with peers, they are stubborn in nature, potty training usually happens later than other children, they are usually great analytical thinkers. Lastly, they come from the same parental background. Their parents, grandparents and aunts/uncles are in three various professions: musicians, mathematicians (analytical thinkers) and engineering. Most importantly, these children do not suffer from any underlying speech disorders. Their hearing is fine and they do not have motor skills that are affecting their speech.

My personal experience with these children is with my oldest son. He is 2.7 years old and although has some words, very few are clearly spoken. He never babbled as an infant and began doing this at around 8 months. He had 2 words at 18 months and to this only has about 5 true words. Now at 3.1 years old, he has about 50 words.

He is a very caring young man and is very athletic. At 7 months he had a perfect pincer grab and was able to roll a ball back and forth with us. At 1.5 years he could accurately hit a golf ball, baseball off a t-ball and run with the dexterity of a child much older. At age three he is very nimble and can compete with children physically, that are aged 5 and 6. It should also be noted that my son loves puzzles and has been able to do full alphabet puzzles for awhile now. He can do any board puzzle and is even able to complete basic box puzzles that have up to 20 pieces.

I do not want to mislead anyone. If your child has been clinically diagnosed with any other disorder, than your child will not fall under this category. Although your child may be genius in what they do, they are a genius with a different disorder. The number of late talkers that will become diagnosed with Einstein Syndrome is very small and you would have to personally visit Dr. Camarata to receive the diagnosis.

Einstein syndrome is very specific about the child not having any other diagnosis. Children who have Einstein Syndrome have been tested for every different thing out there...

- Hearing impairments
- Tied tongue
- Analyzed for neurological disorder
- Apraxia
- All other speech and language disorders
- Aspergers
- ADD and ADHD
- Down's Syndrome
- PDD-NOS
- and the number one comparison/companion disorder, autism. Autistic children cannot share this diagnosis.

12 months - Able to say one to five real words.
14 months - Able to say seven real words although may have 20 words that are only understandable by family. Also, child uses inflection to infer a question.
16 months - Child is using many common consonant sounds (such as t, d, n, w, and h)
18 months - Able to say and use 50 - 75 words
20 months - Child is learning about 10 new words a day.
18 - 24 months - Child is now putting two word combinations together.
25 - 30 months - Child is able to construct sentences and is able to start using proper tenses.
31 - 36 months - Child is able to carry on a conversation at length. Strangers can understand the child.

Info found on http://www.babycenter.com

Many of these children excel in different ares. Some are known to be gifted musically, others are able to use a computer at a very young age and navigate it without trouble. Some of these children are able to read from a very young age.

The two books by Sowell explain this phenomenon with his own research and then with the research performed by leading expert Dr. Camarata. Dr. Camarata in fact will accept visits from parents and their children to have the child diagnosed. His wife works closely with the children and the parents also and they have helped numerous parents learn exactly who their children are and what special gift they possess. Many times parents have been given an incorrect evaluation and speaking with the Camaratas is the most comforting thing they have ever decided to do.

The books have given me a wonderful peace about my son's late talking and it has helped me learn to enjoy his personality without worrying about his speech. I hope these books give you the same.