Book excerpt: Help your little one overcome childhood speech delay—with expert guidance and simple strategies you can use at home! For parents of young children, speech milestones are monumental—from baby babble to first words to full sentences. It’s natural to worry when they don’t arrive “on schedule” or when your little one seems to lag behind their peers. In What to Do When Your Child Isn’t Talking, speech and language therapist Nicola Lathey and journalist Tracey Blake offer parents much-needed reassurance and solutions—at a moment when speech delay and regression is more common than ever. Organized by major milestones from birth to age four, this don’t-panic guide will empower you to: Identify early signs of speech delay and possible causes— “glue ear,” tongue tie, suspected autism, or simply your child’s individual pace of learning. Help your child practice specific speech sounds and words that they find tricky with fun activities, from classic clapping games to filling a “story sack.” Get to the root of toddler tantrums, chronic shyness, unclear speech, stuttering, social anxiety, and other issues stunting your child’s self-expression. Communicate better with your child, and watch them thrive! Publisher’s note: What to Do When Your Child Isn’t Talking is an updated and revised edition of Small Talk.