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Language Delays and Disorders

What are Language Delays?

A language delay is when a child has difficulty understanding and/or using spoken language. These difficulties are unusual for the child’s age. If a child has a language delay that doesn’t go away, it might be a sign of a language disorder. Early intervention is critical for language development for children with delays.
 

Early Intervention refers to a range of services and supports provided to young children (typically from birth to age 3) who have delays.  The goal is to enhance the child’s development, improve their abilities, and minimize potential long-term impacts.
 

Key aspects of early intervention include:
 

  1. Assessment: Identifying a child’s strengths and challenges through evaluations by professionals.

  2. Individualized Services: Creating a tailored plan that may include therapies (speech, occupational, physical), special education services, and family support.

  3. Family Involvement: Engaging families in the intervention process to ensure they have the tools and resources to support their child's development at home.

  4. Holistic Approach: Addressing various areas of development, including communication, motor skills, social-emotional skills, and cognitive abilities.

  5. Timeliness: The earlier the intervention, the better the outcomes, as young children’s brains are particularly adaptable during this critical period of growth.


Early intervention can lead to significant improvements in a child’s developmental trajectory and overall quality of life.


What are Language Disorders?

A language disorder causes significant  impairment with the use and/or understanding of spoken or written words. Language should not be confused with speech. Speech is how we say sounds and words. Language  is the words we use to share ideas and get what we want. A language delay causes a child to develop language in the same way as other children, but later than expected. However, a language disorder causes a child to develop skills differently than his or her peers and cannot be “outgrown”.

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Our Boca Raton Speech Therapist Can Help!

What are the Types of Language Disorders?

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  • A receptive-language disorder  is when a child has trouble understanding others and comprehending the meaning behind written or spoken words. 

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  • An expressive-language disorder  is when a child has difficulty sharing thoughts, expressing ideas, or communicating feelings.

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  • A mixed receptive-expressive language disorder is when a child has trouble understanding others and expressing ideas. 

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What are the Symptoms of a Language Disorder?

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  • Difficulty making requests

  • Difficulty following directions

  • Difficulty with language organization

  • Grammatical errors

  • Limited vocabulary

  • Decreased utterance length

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What are the Causes of a Language Disorder?

Many language disorders are caused by unknown reasons. However, developmental delays, neurological disorders, brain injuries, hearing loss, prematurity or genetic disorders can result in language disorders.

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What is the Treatment for a Language Disorder?

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A speech-language pathologist will perform a language evaluation to determine your child’s strengths and weaknesses, and determine what kind of language disorder is present. Then the speech-language pathologist will work on helping your child  improve their receptive and/or expressive language skills through goals tailored for your individual child's needs. 

Our South Florida Pediatric Speech Therapists treat pediatric language disorders.

If you would like to schedule your child for an evaluation please contact us here.

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