Talking late....people just don’t understand averages.
I used to watch my neighbors child. He didn’t walk till he was 18 months, never crawled just got up one day and walked. Didn’t say two words till he was three, then spoke in full sentences.
Yet today at 30, he is a Special Forces Marine and highly decorated.
(((sigh))))
You’re right - it’s often nothing more than a numbers thing.
Years ago, Thomas Sowell wrote a book about children like your neighbors’. It was called “The Einstein Syndrome,” and dealt with late talking children who often showed signs of what many would consider autism.
The gist of the book was that there is a whole population of kids who are NOT autistic but seem to develop later than others, and who have exhibited some odd behaviors in early childhood. Many of these children spend years being misdiagnosed and medicated before finally being properly diagnosed.
I read the book when my own son was about 2 or so. Sadly, Johnny was not among those who would be classified as having “Einstein Syndrome.” Turns out he’d had a stroke in infancy and the delays he exhibited were the results of that event. Those delays were signs of the damage done to his brain — he’s 14 now, six feet tall, and terribly
handsome. If you saw him, you’d never know something was wrong. Until he spoke. THEN you’d know. While he shows no signs of autism, there is a definite intellectual deficiency.
Anyway, your neighbors might be interested in the book even though their son is grown — just to see if his symptoms matched Dr. Sowell’s theory.
Regards,