Early Talkers Are Late Walkers: Myth or Reality?

Almost everyone you meet will want to weigh in about how normal (or abnormal) your child's development is. As your baby starts hitting major milestones like sitting up, walking, and using simple words, you'll likely hear an old adage repeated: "Early walkers are late talkers," and its counterpart, "Early talkers are late walkers." Like most little bits of folk wisdom, there's some truth to this common advice, but the pattern isn't as universal or as pronounced as one might think.

My own daughter, now a healthy four-and-a-half-year-old, was the post-child for this type of development, known clinically as "asynchronous development." At fifteen months, she still hadn't quite figured out walking… but was already speaking in full (but short) sentences! Meanwhile, our neighbor across the street had a son who had been walking since eight months of age but only said three or four simple words.

According to my daughter's pediatrician, asynchronous development is quite common. Tots who spend much of their time learning physical skills are less likely to focus on social and verbal skills, and tots who are busy learning to talk and communicate may not care much for exploring. Some degree of uneven development is considered quite normal. For example, a child who walks a month earlier than average may say form two-word sentences a month later than average, but will still fall within the very broad spectrum of normal development.

In some cases, asynchronous development can be so extreme that it warrants some form of intervention. If your child has any red flags for a developmental delay, even if he's excelling in other areas, it can be a sign that something is amiss. No matter how brilliant and verbal your tot is, she'll need to be seen by her pediatrician if she can't walk by 16 months. And no matter how strong, mobile, and athletic your youngster is, he'll need an evaluation if he's not speaking on time. Check here to make sure your little one isn't showing any red flags for a developmental delay.

Several possible issues may underlie asynchronous development. One is simply that "early walkers" really are "late talkers," and that the child just needs an extra boost in one area or the other so he can keep on par with his peers. Another reason for extremely lopsided development is that your child is gifted-especially if she's speaking fluently but is uninterested in physical activity. These are mild problems (if they're even problems at all!) but still need to be checked by a pediatrician if your kiddo has fallen well behind the curve.

In more serious cases, your early talker/late walker or early walker/late talker might have an undiagnosed condition. Autism, hearing impairment, vision problems, sensory processing disorder, neurological diseases, muscular dystrophy and many other conditions might cause your tot to experience lopsided development. Early diagnosis is extremely important for kids with these conditions, so it's critical that you seek an evaluation if your child is showing red flags.

Odds are high that there's nothing wrong with your little one if he's focused on learning physical skills and not verbal skills (or vice versa). However, any time your child is developmentally lagging behind his peers, it's important to seek professional help to make sure there isn't anything seriously wrong. Early intervention can mitigate long-term problems and help your child grow best within his own unique learning pattern.