language disorder
What is language disorder?
People with a language disorder may have difficulties expressing themselves or understanding what others are saying (or both).
Language disorders can be linked to another disorder (e.g. Autism Spectrum Disorder) or can occur on their own (Developmental Language Disorder)
What might it look like if my child has a language disorder?
The following are some common symptoms / behaviours that may be present in children that have a language disorder. However, some of these things are related to normal language development. That is to say, just because your child is doing some of these things, it does not necessarily mean that they have a language disorder.
Top tips for helping children with a language disorder
People with a language disorder may have difficulties expressing themselves or understanding what others are saying (or both).
Language disorders can be linked to another disorder (e.g. Autism Spectrum Disorder) or can occur on their own (Developmental Language Disorder)
What might it look like if my child has a language disorder?
The following are some common symptoms / behaviours that may be present in children that have a language disorder. However, some of these things are related to normal language development. That is to say, just because your child is doing some of these things, it does not necessarily mean that they have a language disorder.
- Overuse of words like ‘um’ and ‘uh’
- Reduced vocabulary compared to other children of their age and difficulties learning new vocabulary
- Using certain phrases over and over again
- Using short sentences with grammatical errors
- Difficulty using words and connecting them to form sentences to describe or explain
- Reduced ability to have a conversation
- Repeating a question when thinking of an answer
- Leaving words out
- Confusing tenses
- Saying words in the wrong order
- Difficulty following instruction
Top tips for helping children with a language disorder
- Talk to your child throughout the day. Comment on what they are doing / playing with
- Create some 1:1 time to play and interact with your child each day (5 minutes is enough!)
- Respond to your child’s communication
- Be a good language model (e.g. child: points to biscuit, parent : “you want biscuit)
- Use plenty of visual support when communicating with your child (pictures, gesture, facial expression, signs, etc.)
- Use short simple instructions
- If an instruction appears to be too long, break it down into chunks
- If your child is having a difficulty with an open-ended question, offer them a choice (e.g. “what do you want to eat” may become “do you want pasta or sausages?”)
- Give your child plenty of time to process what you have said and form a response