Language is the use of words in a structured or conventional way in order to communicate. Language includes meanings of words, parts of speech, putting words together in a way that makes sense, as well as choosing what words to use in what situation. When a child has difficulty with understanding what is said to him/her, he/she may have a receptive language disorder. When the problem lies in being able to use words, phrases, and sentences to share his/her thoughts or feelings effectively, the child may have an expressive language disorder. It is possible to have both receptive and expressive language difficulties at the same time.
Children with language disorders may also have problems with age-appropriate reading, spelling, and/or writing. For more information on Language Based Learning Disabilities, see this article.
If you believe your child's language abilities are not appropriate for his/her age, hope is here! Call us to schedule a Language Evaluation.
Articulation refers to how speech sounds are made. Acquisition of speech sounds occurs developmentally over a period of years. The age at which a child should be able to produce each particular sound varies, depending on the sound. Intelligibility refers to how “understandable” a child's speech is. Young toddlers (ages 1-2) are still learning how to speak and may only be understood by family members and friends about 50% of the time. By age 3 a child is usually understood by most listeners at least 75% of the time, and most 4 and 5 year olds are approaching 100% intelligibility.
Do friends and family have difficulty understanding your child? Does your child show signs of frustration because he/she is not being understood? Does your school-age child produce sounds in words differently than his peers? Hope is here! Call us to schedule an Articulation Evaluation to help your child improve his communication abilities.
Stuttering affects the fluency of speech. A child who stutters may be heard to repeat the first sound or syllable of words (I w-w-w-want to go too!), make certain sounds too long in words (Can I sssssee that?), or even have “blocks” where the words just won't “come out.” Everyone has dysfluent speech at times, and many young children go through a developmental phase where stuttering occurs but goes away on it's own. If you have noticed a prolonged pattern of stuttering in your child (6 months or more), have a family history of stuttering, or if you or your child have strong fears or concerns about your child's ability to speak fluently, contact us for an evaluation. Hope is here!
Social learning challenges can affect children with average, below average, or even above average language skills. Social knowledge and the ability to think about what others are thinking socially are important skills not only for the task of “making friends,” but also have an impact on academic tasks which require this type of knowledge (reading comprehension, written expression, making inferences, and working within a group). Neurotypical individuals learn the rules of social behavior and forming relationships intuitively from birth. While parents and teachers do need to shape these behaviors throughout the child's development, teaching social concepts in a factual, concrete manner is usually not needed, and not a common practice.
Children with weak social knowledge need explicit help with initiating communication, listening with the ability to observe and interpret non-verbal messages, making inferences and thinking abstractly, understanding the perspective of others, getting the “main idea”, and understanding humor and other ways to interact. For more information, see the iLAUGH model, created by Michelle Garcia Winner.
If your child is challenged in the areas above, hope is here! Contact us for more information on Social skills assessment and treatment.
