Late Talker or Receptive Language Delay?
Are you concerned that your child isn't talking as much as you think he should be by his age? Are other children in your playgroup talking a lot more and putting words together more easily and following directions better? There might be more going on than just "he's not picking up words" or "he's just a late talker." A receptive language delay/disorder may be an underlying factor in why your child is not picking up words as easily as other children around him.
Late talkers often have a receptive language disorder that is overlooked. It makes sense that a chid can't use words that he doesn't understand. Words don't make sense to a child who is not understanding fully the meaning behind the words.
Children who have difficulty understanding language or processing language have difficulty following directions. This can easily be mis-diagnosed as a behavior problem both at home and at preschool or day care. You might think that your child understands just fine because he understands many words. The breakdown typically occurs, however, when it's all put together in longer utterances and when simple nouns that your child may know individually are combined with adjectives and verbs and prepositional phrases.
Some characteristics of children with comprehension or processing problems include the following:
- repeating the last couple words of a question instead of answering it
- ignoring questions
- not following more than a single step direction
- giving off target (unrelated) responses to questions
- shaking head for yes or no instead of answering
- may understand the individual words and vocabulary, but not when it's all put together in a longer direction or question
If this sounds like your child, I strongly encourage you to have your child evaluated by a speech/language pathologist or early intervention specialist. Click here to learn more about this process. The earlier your child receives intervention for this, the better off he'll be and the chances of overcoming this specific delay with be greater.
Ways you as parents can help at home:
- teach your child how to use words and what they mean - instead of just teaching them to say words
- teach words in context and generalize across many contexts (if you're talking about the word "shoe", use the word when you are tying his shoes and when you are putting your shoes on and when you go to a shoe store and see shoes or when you look at a book with your child and come across shoes, etc.)
- exaggerate words and actions while teaching meaning
- exaggerate vowels instead of consonants (b-a-a-a-l instead of b-b-bal)
- when giving a direction, break it way down if necessary
- shorten your sentences when giving directions and asking questions
- model the answer to help them learn how to respond and what you're expecting
- tell your child to do something - if he doesn't do it or doesn't understand, show him and then if necessary physically assist him
- don't just teach your child nouns, also teach verbs (action words), adjectives (descriptive words) and prepositions (location words)
In a subsequent post, I will address asking and answering questions with your child and what types of questions should be mastered by what ages.
I hope this article has been helpful. Please fill in below with any comments or questions you may have on this topic.
Thank you
Filed under Birth to 3 years old, Language Development, Receptive Language by Tami
Comments on Late Talker or Receptive Language Delay? »
Very true, was nice to read the summary of what we learn as moms of HI children.I will put this on my blog if it is ok .
rouchi
impem.blogspot.com
Ruchi Goyals last blog post..Audiogram
Hi Rouchi,
Sure you can put this on your blog. I would love it if you could link back to my blog though. Thanks.
Tami
Good article! Since receptive language comes before expressive language, it makes sense that a receptive language disorder can cause delays in beginning to talk, and disrupt the development of expressive language skills. In elementary school students, central auditory processing disorder (CAPD) can easily be mistaken for attention deficit disorder, since the behaviors often look very similar on the surface. However, treatment for ADD will not benefit a student with CAPD. Correct diagnosis is so crucial for successful treatment.
Robert, SLPs last blog post..TV and ADHD
Hi Tami, would do that.
Robert,
Thanks for your great comment.
Tami
Excellent! My guy is 3 1/2 and just diagnosed with expressive/receptive language disorder/ Processing Disorder…..He has been in ST basically his entire life though- Anyways, I am going to highlight your tips….I'd love to hear about answering questions…We do have a great ST ( and he recently started EC through the school district), but its always nice to get other professionals ideas) Its honestly EXTREMELY HARD working with these issues! If you have any discipline tips that would be great too….its maddening sometimes…..I get so frustrated, when I am not sure what he "gets" and I can't let me get away with everything…..AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Hi Sheri,
Sorry for the late response - life is busy as you know! That's great for him that he started preschool and will be getting speech therapy services at school too - right? I myself work for EC through one of our large school districts here in Colorado.
As far as discipline tips, all I can really come up with right now is just to make sure he's understanding by breaking down directions as much as you can and physically showing him what you mean if necessary. Don't expect that he's understanding more then even a single step direction.
A friend and fellow speech pathologist has made these CD's called Exploring Language Through Song and Play. They are fabulous for preschool age children and your son may really like them. The set comes with 2 activity books that go with the CD's. I'm selling them for her here on my site (upper right column) and I'll be incorporating them in my preschools as well.
Good luck - sounds like you are on the right track with him.
Tami
MY CHILD DIDNT NOT START SPEAKING UNTIL THREE AND HALF. HE FOLLOWED COMMANDS BUT WOULDNT SPEAK UNTIL I QUIT MY JOB AND HAD TO START HAVING ME SPEAK DIRECTLY TO HIM, HE WAS ABLE TO READ BY FOUR AND LEARNED ABC,S, AND THE TYPICAL 3-4. HE WENT TO K AND I THOUGHT THIS WOULD ENCHANCE HIS LANGUAGE MORE,IT DIDNT HE HAS COME A LONG WAY, THE SCHOOL DID NOTHING DESPITE HE HIM ABLE TO READ AND ALREADY LEARNED BASIC K SKILLS, NO ONE WORKED ONE ON ONE SAID SPEECH TECH DIDNT HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO WORK WITH HIM, THE PROGRESSION HAS BEEN A SUCESS
Hi,
Thanks for this interesting article. My son completing 4th year of his age on 28th January 2010 and he behaves in same manner as you described in your article for receptive/expressive disorder in a child. However I have certain question and I hope you will be kind enough to answer them in details.
1-At what age normally this problem is overcome by a child?
2-In adult life do these children lag behind others in any aspect of life?
3-Is this a congenital, acquired or some metabolic imbalance?
4-Do these children need any medical treatment beside speech therapy?
5-How does speech therapy help in overcoming this problem?
6-Do these symptoms appear in any other form in future on they completely subside by the time?
Your early reply will be highly appreciated.
Best Regards