Peggy Ployhar

The United States Department of Health states that “approximately 7 to 8 percent of children in kindergarten” struggle with a language disorder of some type. Why then does an article on MedicalExpress.com refer to “language impairments” as “one of the most common childhood disorders that you’ve never heard of”? Likely it is because terms and diagnoses used to classify children who struggle in this area change depending on how issues exhibit themselves and at what age their impairment is detected.  

 

Language disorders can exhibit themselves when a child talks late, when a preschooler is unable to follow explicitly given instructions for a simple task or pick up on social cues, or not until a student starts struggling to learn to read or memorize facts. Most children with language disorders have no intellectual disability. Instead, they just can’t utilize language properly to receive information, express information, and/or process information. Thus, the main classifications of language disorders are Receptive Language Disorder, Expressive Language Disorder, Mixed Receptive-Expressive Language Disorder, and Language Processing Disorder.

 

 

Key Indicators a Child is Struggling with a Language Disorder

 

Children with Receptive Language Disorders generally struggle with:

  • Understand what others are saying
  • Following simple directions
  • Picking up on the meaning of gestures
  • Learning new words
  • Completely answering a question
  • Describing an object

Children with Expressive Language Disorders generally struggle with:

  • Building their vocabulary
  • Using complete sentences
  • Completely expressing their ideas, feelings, and thoughts
  • Using descriptive words
  • Using words in context properly
  • Telling stories
  • Repeating a poem or song
  • Identifying objects

Children with Language Processing Disorders generally struggle with:

  • Understanding jokes or sarcasm
  • Word sounds
  • Sequencing in words and decoding
  • Reading comprehension
  • Understanding long or complex sentences
  • Figuring out the main idea of a reading text or discussion
  • Joining in on conversations
  • Following spoken or multi-step directions
  • Rhyming
  • Loud environments

 

 

Strategies for Homeschooling a Child with a Language Disorder

 

Strategies for working with children with Receptive Language Disorders are:

  • Provide outlines of reading material using charts, pictures, or an organizer
  • Break down reading into smaller parts
  • Act out what the child is reading
  • Break down complex tasks into smaller sub-tasks
  • Encourage questions and asking for clarification
  • Check a student’s understanding of a lesson frequently while teaching a new concept to ensure there are no gaps
  • Use the same words to refer to the same thing. Keep language consistent and understandable
  • Talk at a slow and consistent pace when providing instruction
  • When giving directions break down sequence order and if needed provide a checklist for steps
  • Accommodate with word lists, term glossaries, or a customized student dictionary

Strategies for working with children with Expressive Language Disorders are:

  • Provide communication tools or assistive technology to aid communication
  • Be a good communicator that your child can mimic
  • Use prompting to gently guide your child to help them express what they want to say
  • Don’t rush an explanation or answer
  • Ask for clarification to ensure you understood what your child was communicating when needed
  • Occasionally repeat your child’s words with an additional descriptor word added in

Strategies for working with children with Language Processing Disorders are:

  • Use pictures and other visuals to expand upon language-based lessons
  • Provide extra time for a child to process a concept and understand the information
  • Use a collaborative approach to learning that requires back and forth interaction between you and the child to ensure understanding is taking place
  • Make lessons shorter, allowing for time in-between lessons for the child to process information while playing or doing a non-learning activity, and then return to the subject to

 

Overall, it is important to understand as a parent that you can’t teach these language disorders out of your child, nor can you find a curriculum that will “catch your child up” to a norm. Your child needs to be taught at the pace he/she can learn and you have to do your best to be encouraging and patient with whatever progress he/she is able to make.

 

Additional resources for language disorder teaching strategies

 

 

 

 

 


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