What is a speech and language disorder?

Language is about understanding words spoken to you and using words to communicate ideas to others.Language is used in just about every situation in life and is vital for learning.

Language is very complex and children can have difficulties with developing the skills required to use language effectively.

A specific speech and language disorder is not part of a wider disability, such as hearing impairment. It is a disability in its own right and affects a child's ability to learn.

For more information, you can take a look at information provided by A.F.A.S.I.C.

Children diagnosed as having a speech and language disorder may experience difficulty with one or many aspects of communication.

Here are some of the areas with which a child may have difficulty.

Children attending a Language Unit may have difficulty in any of the above areas of language development.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comprehension

(understanding the meaning of language.)

 

A child's ability to understand what others say will vary from situation to situation and is dependent upon factors such as:

the number of ideas in a sentence...

This can be difficult to understand

 

This is easier

 

 

 

the amount of other (non verbal) information available

Here it is possible to understand using clues around you rather than the words.

 

the complexity of the language or the ideas themselves

 

 

Children may also have difficulty understanding words where there is no obvious object to which they can link e.g "cat" is easy to see and touch whereas words such as "before" and "later" are difficult to explain. Also the way some sentences are put together: ie the "grammar" used, can be difficult to understand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Expression (the ability to express words using language.)

Some of our children can form words successfully but have severe difficulties with finding the words they need and organising them to make the sentence say what they mean.

Is the child:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using Language

Some children experience difficulty with how words and sentences are used rather than with the words and sentences themselves.

 

They may find it hard to judge the amount of information to give and to stick to the subject.

 

They are not always able to read the signs from others within a conversation.

Children experiencing difficulty in areas such as these may be described as having a semantic/pragmatic disorder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using Speech Sounds

Some children have great difficulty in selecting and/or producing the correct sounds and sequences in order to form words. They may also experience difficulty in organising and planning the complicated movements needed for speech.

Often children with severe speech sound disorders understand what is said to them and are able to produce long and complicated sentences in reply, but can be virtually unintelligible to others.