Do bilingual children NECESSARILY start speaking later?

Recently I have been to congresses and conferences in which the well-established view that bilingual children ALWAYS start speaking late might constitute a fallacy. No one has presented a paper on it, but I came across this article by a researcher interested in the matter. I highly recommend reading it. I also found out through observation of bilingual children that there are SOME (yes, some!) processes of language development. Some kids will start babbling, producing sounds, syllables and then words, others will start humming and will bring in words later.The process is not so cut-and-dry... Click on the link to the article:

bilingualism and language delay

I also recommend reading this Q-A between a specialist in bilingualism and a concerned teacher. The context is that the language delay might be connected to bilingualism and the concern seems to be: "is it language delay or autism?"
Before reading the article, it is important to make it clear to all: there is NO EVIDENCE whatsoever that bilingualism or multilingualism CAUSE language disorders such as autism (which is genetically driven). I have not yet come across any studies which show such evidence. Any "opinions" by professionals connecting language disorders to bilingualism results from sheer lack of information. ALWAYS look for a second opinion, preferably from a professional who understands the context of bilingualism/multilingualism.

Bilingualism and language disorders

Pesquisas em Bilinguismo e Aquisição de L2 - UNIFESP

Aos alunos e interessados que escreveram no blog perguntando sobre cursos e grupos de estudo, informo que iniciarei um grupo de estudos "Pesquisas em Bilinguismo e Aquisição de Língua Dois" (PeBALD) na Universidade Federal de São Paulo em 01 de março de 2013. Os encontros devem ocorrer sempre na 1a sexta de todo mês às 18h. Os interessados em participar, por favor escrevam para mim no email marcello.unifesp@gmail.com

Bilingual children and literacy

"O estudo, publicado na revista Child Development, comparou o desenvolvimento cognitivo verbal e não-verbal de 100 crianças de seis anos, monolíngues em inglês e bilíngues em Inglês-Chinês, Francês-Inglês e Espanhol-Inglês. [...] não importa qual a outra língua escolhida - todas as crianças bilíngues têm vantagem sobre as monolíngues em termos de controle cognitivo não-verbal." O link com a matéria completa publicada na revista Child Development é o http://news.yorku.ca/2012/02/​08/​bilingual-children-gain-better-​focus-literacy-skills-york-u-s​tudy/  e  http://www.ensinobilingue.com.br/2012/06/criancas-bilingues-se-alfabetizam-mais.html

Bilingualism and Language Acquisition

Getting acquainted with bilingualism and language acquisition

1) Book recommendation: The language instinct: how the mind creates language by Steven Pinker. There's a site about the book.

2) Article: Bilinguismo no Brasil: significado e expectativas by Marcello Marcelino.