or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
or
Amazon Prime free trial required. Sign up when you check out. Learn more
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
or
Get a £0.25 Amazon.co.uk Gift Card
Late-talking Children
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Late-talking Children [Paperback]

Thomas Sowell (Author)
3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
RRP: £11.99
Price: £11.75 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £0.24 (2%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.
Want guaranteed delivery by Friday, June 1? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details

Formats

 Amazon Price New from Used from
Hardcover --   -- --
Paperback £11.75   -- --
Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Late-talking Children for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.

Frequently Bought Together

Late-talking Children + The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late + The Late Talker: What to Do If Your Child Isn't Talking Yet
Price For All Three: £31.08

Show availability and delivery details

Buy the selected items together

Product details

  • Paperback: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Basic Books; New edition edition (12 Jun 1998)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0465038352
  • ISBN-13: 978-0465038350
  • Product Dimensions: 20.2 x 14.3 x 1.1 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 349,072 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

  • See Complete Table of Contents

More About the Author

Thomas Sowell
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.

› Visit Amazon's Thomas Sowell Page

Product Description

Product Description

One of Americas leading intellectuals offers a moving and deeply personal account of his experiences with his own son, a late-talking child, and offers hope, advice, and fellowship to parents who are faced with a similar situation.. The painful and baffling mystery as to why some obviously bright children do not begin talking until long after the normal time is explored in this book through personal experiences and the findings of scientific research. The authors own experiences as the father of such a child led to the formation of a goup of more than fifty sets of parents of similar children. The anguish and frustration of these prents as they try to cope with children who do not talk and institutions that do not understand them is a remarkable and moving human story. Fortunately, some of these children turn out to have not only normal intelligence but even outstanding abilities, especially in highly analytical fields such as mathematics and computers. These fascinating stories of late-talking children and the remarkable families from which they come are followed by explorations of scientific research that throw light on unusual development patterns.
Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
WITH SO MUCH SCIENTIFIC AND MEDICAL LITERATURE ALREADY available on late-talking children, why would anyone writer another book about them-especially someone who has no pretensions to scientific or medical expertise? Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
(8)
(7)
(7)
(6)
(5)
(4)
(4)
(3)
(2)
(2)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?

› Explore similar items

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
It is extremely surprising to me that a man of Thomas Sowell's erudition could write this book.

I am a parent of a late-talking child with high intelligence. He has some of the behavioral characteristics of the children whose case histories appear in this book, and like some of them, he was given a diagnosis of PDD-NOS. We have aggressively pursued treatment for him, with the result that his speech and socialization now appear close to normal. When he enters kindergarten in '99, there will be no question that he belongs in a normal classroom; the school he enters will be unaware that he has ever had problems, and his behavior won't tip them off. The same could have been true of the children described in Sowell's book; but it has not been, because those children's problems were not treated; everyone was too busy insisting that "my son couldn't be autistic; look at him, he can do puzzles/ math problems/ pick locks/ play on our computer!" It's time for a wake-! up call, parents; that's what mildly afflicted autistic-spectrum children of high intelligence do.

Even Sowell's statistics are questionable. He claims that it is noteworthy that every child in his sample had a close relative who is either in a technical field or a musician. Think about the proportion of engineers in the population; think about the number of families which, if one includes aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents, have technical members. For Sowell to leave this question of statistical strength unaddressed is shocking.

Yet, this book is important in that it focuses on bright children with mild autistic spectrum disorders, who may look autistic as young children but whose outcomes are often good. This class of children has long gone unrecognized by a mainstream autism community which refuses to believe that autism spectrum disorders can be treated effectively, to the point of near-recovery. But leaving these kids untreated isn't the way to go; one is leav! ing to chance what should be, and can be, taken into our ha! nds. If a parent starts specialized education early -- and effective treatement can start before the child is 2 -- the problem can be gone by the time the child reaches kindergarten.

There is a yawning gap in literature on, and awareness of, children with mild autistic spectrum disorders. Thomas Sowell has tried to fill the gap -- but badly and wrongly. His recommendation that late-talking children be left untreated, lest they be labeled by their school systems, is likely to leave many parents who latch onto his book, because of its heartening message, feeling terribly sick and sorry when their children are older.

Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
When I finished reading this book the first time, I was nearly in tears as I had read a description of my late talking, uniquely talented preschool-age son. The book gave me hope, advised me of questions I could ask in helping my son and directions to go to learn more. I believe his work in this area is the first step in the study of these unique, late talking children.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Although initially enamored and relieved by this book, I have come to feel betrayed by it. Our son, who appeared to us to be speech-delayed but otherwise fairly normal, has recently been diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum. I did not know about autism and the wide variety of severity and symptoms children on this spectrum can display. I read this book a year ago and it made me falsely suspicious of school officials who suggested that we get an autism evaluation but did not articulate why it was important to get one right away. The book also made us falsely trusting of our pediatrician, who asked a few questions and told us our son would probably grow out of it (he was well -meaning, but unfortunately not well-informed about the differences between typically developing children and those on the autism spectrum.). Given the lack of understanding and institutional biases of school officials, our pediatrician, and even our local medical school, I did not learn until very recently that our son is in fact autistic and that there is a relatively short preschool window of time during which children can benefit enormously from intensive intervention. If you are concerned about your child's late talking please consider getting him or her evaluated by autism experts immediately and/or dive at once into the many excellent books on this subject. (Your child may have another problem--the books on autism can help you figure that out.) For starters, I would read Bryna Siegel's World of the Autistic Child and Temple Grandin's Thinking in Pictures. (Siegel's book will really help you figure out for yourself if your child is on the spectrum or not--though I would never recommend foregoing a professional evaluation. Grandin's book is utterly fascinating for any thoughtful person and well worth reading no matter what your child turns out to be.) Shirley Cohen's Targeting Autism provides a well-researched and balanced view of the polarized treatment community. The leading behavioral therapy approach has been championed by Catherine Maurice, the mother of two autistic children who has written or edited several good books on the subject. Stanley Greenspan's deveopmental model has strong support, too. Frederick Volkmar's Handbook of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders is expensive and geared to the health care professional, but excellent if you are the type of parent who wants a high level of information (most but not all of it is accessible to the intelligent layperson). Good luck. There are many of us traveling the same road.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Interesting read
I bought this book when my daughter was approximately 18 months old and somewhat behind in her speech. Read more
Published on 27 Dec 2009 by Mrs. N. Millican
Thankyou Thomas Sowell
This book described my child perfectly, I can now make the right decisions for his future and disregard the negative advice given by so called professionals in the UK. Read more
Published on 26 May 2008 by Mrs. S. Vorster
False Hope
I fear that this book will be misleading to parents. The authorseems to be under the assumption that schools profit from labeling children as disabled. They do not. Read more
Published on 6 Aug 1999
Sowell dares to research these unique late talkers
The book Late Talking Children is an invaluable resource for many parents. The author's extensive research, and experience with his own child, are just a couple of reasons... Read more
Published on 16 July 1999
This book gave me a light of hope.........
When my daughter was diagnosed as developmentally delayed I became highly distraught. I wondered daily what I had done wrong. Read more
Published on 16 July 1999
Finally someone who really understands!!!
This book was GREAT! A must read for parents like me with a speech delayed child. It gives you so much hope! When I started to read this book all I could do was cry. Read more
Published on 10 July 1999
Interesting if unscientific exploration
It is a touching and helpful book. It has little in the way of statistics or scientific research to back up its observations. Read more
Published on 23 Dec 1998
This is a critical review from a teacher's viewpoint.
This book is a journey into the world of children who acquire language at a later than usual age. Through readable case studies of children and their families, Dr. Read more
Published on 8 Aug 1998
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject




















i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback


Amazon.co.uk Privacy Statement Amazon.co.uk Delivery Information Amazon.co.uk Returns & Exchanges