Many preschool age children are diagnosed with a speech and/or language delay. Often times, words are used by speech therapists that are unfamiliar to parents. This article was written by a speech language pathologist who happens to have a child with a speech and language delay. I have been on both sides of the table, as they say, and feel fortunate to have a background which allows me to understand his needs and help him at home. I hope you will gain confidence in working with your child and understand what you can do to help at home.
What You Should Know
You may have heard the terms “expressive” or “receptive” used when describing your child’s language skills. It is helpful to understand the difference between these two speech terms.
- Expressive Language
Expressive language is a term used to describe your child’s ability to use words when describing events, thoughts, and feelings. Expressive language is made up of several different skills each one contributing to your child’s overall ability to effectively communicate. Expressive language skills include vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure. Preschool age children with expressive language delays may talk using short, incomplete sentences, point or gesture to communicate, and mix up things such as pronouns or plurals in their speech. - Receptive Language
Receptive language is a term used to describe your child’s understanding of language. Children with a receptive language delay have difficulty extracting meaning from words. Your child hears what is being said but the words don’t have much meaning. Your child may understand only a word or two of what was said and simply guess about the rest.
Myths
There are several myths about language delays in the preschool age child. Here are just a few:
- Intelligence Myth
Some parents fear that because their child has a language delay, he will not be as smart as a “normal” child. This is simply not true. Many children with language delays are typically developing in all other areas, including intelligence. If you suspect your child has something more than just a language delay, look for developmental milestones in other areas (e.g. social skills, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, cognition, etc.) - Paying Attention Myth
Parents may feel like their child is just not paying attention and that is why he has difficulty answering questions, retelling stories, asking for objects, etc. This myth is completely false, barring any medical diagnosis such as attention deficit disorder. It is important for parents to understand language influences nearly every activity with a preschool age child. Processing time in children with language delays is longer than with other children. You can help by giving your child extra time for your words to “sink in” and by providing a visual cue when possible. Visual cues are anything your child can see that will help him understand what you are saying. By providing your child with longer response times and visual cues you can alleviate the feeling he is not paying attention.
What You Can Do At Home
There is a lot you can do as a parent to encourage your child’s language development. As your child’s first teacher, you play a primary role in all aspects of his development. Setting a tone of confidence and respect will encourage your child’s feelings of acceptance and self-esteem.
- Provide a language rich environment for your child. Your child needs to hear you use language throughout his entire day. Speak slowly and clearly as you describe each and every activity. Think of yourself as a commentator for life.
- To help encourage your child’s language skills, take what he says and build on it. For example, if he says “cookie,” you say, “That is a cookie. That is a yummy, chocolate chip cookie. Would you like to eat that cookie?” This technique provides your child with the vocabulary and sentence structure models he needs to hear.
- Asking your child questions is a great way to encourage his language development. Language delayed children often have difficulty answering questions correctly. Your child may give you a “where” response to a “who” question. You can provide your child with the practice he needs by asking him questions as you complete daily routines. Phrase your questions in such a way that your child answers using more than one word. This will provide him with extra practice talking, open ended questions are a great tool.
- Following directions can be a difficult task for language delayed children. When you give a direction to your child speak slowly and make sure he understands each part of the direction. Do not assume he understood you the first time. Holding up one finger if he has one thing to do or two fingers if he has two things to do is a helpful visual cue to remind him of your directions.
