The painful and baffling mystery as to why some obvisiouly brightchildren do not begin talking until long after the "normal" time isexplored in this book through personal experiences and the findings ofscientific research. The author's own experiences as the father of sucha child led to the information of a group of more than fifty sets ofparents of similar children. The anguish and frustration of these parentsas they try to cope with children who do not talk and institutions thatdo not understand them is a remarkable and moving human story.Fortunately, some of these children turn out to have not only normalintelligence but even outstanding abilities, especially in highlyanalytical fields such as mathmetics and computers. These fascinatingstories of late-talking children and the remarkable families from whichthey come are followed by explorations of scientific research that throwlight on unusual development patterns. Praise for Late-Talking Children "For parents ofchildren with language problems, Thomas Sowell combines a compassionatefirst-person account with sound, clearheaded advice. And it is all donein Sowell's style: indefatigably researched, sharply reasoned, andbeautifully written."

--Steve Pinker, Professor and Director of theCenter for Cognitive Neuroscience at MIT, and author of The LanguageInstitute and How the Mind Works "Written with uncommonclarity, compassion, and common sense, Late-Talking Children gives parents the understanding, the confidence and the fortitude tostand up and to fight for what is best for their child."

--Sally E.Shaywitz, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics, Yale University School ofMedicine; Co-Director, Yale Center fot he Study of Learning andAttention