Quick Guide to Language Disorder

A language disorder is a communication disorder that can affect kids. Children with a language disorder may have trouble understanding and expressing language. They may struggle with written language, spoken language or both. Kids with a language disorder may use short or simple sentences, mix up the order of words, or have difficulty finding the right words to say. These challenges can cause problems at home, at school and with other children.  

A language disorder is different from speech sound disorder. A child with speech sound disorder will have difficulties producing sounds. A child with a language disorder may accurately produce the sounds in words, but may have challenges with other aspects of their language, such as grammar, comprehension, semantics and pragmatics.  

Signs that a child might have language disorder include: 

• Trouble learning and using spoken and written language 
• Struggling to learn and use gestures 
• Difficulty with vocabulary, sentence structure or having a conversation 
• Having a hard time following directions or organizing thoughts 
• Using short, simple sentences 
• Putting words in the wrong order 
• Using the wrong tense (like saying “I go to school” when they mean “I went to school”) 
• Leaving words out of sentences  
• Saying things like “um” a lot while trying to remember the right word 
• Repeating parts of questions or entire questions before answering them 
• Avoiding talking to people they don’t know well 
• Not knowing a lot of words 

A language disorder is usually diagnosed by a speech and language pathologist, though it may also be diagnosed by a psychologist, psychiatrist, or pediatrician.  Evaluation includes  various testing measures that assess a child’s vocabulary knowledge, grammar and syntax, and ability to use language to learn and to communicate.  A child is diagnosed if they have marked impairments in their language skills.

Language disorder often runs in families. A child is more likely to have language disorder if they have a parent or sibling who also has it. 

Language disorders are best treated with speech and language therapy, where a specialist works with a child on listening to, understanding, and expressing language. This type of therapy can help the child develop vocabulary, use grammatical markers, construct meaningful and accurate sentences, and use language to learn and communicate. Children with language disorders can have secondary challenges that impact learning and social interactions, as well as self-concept and self-esteem.

Children with a language disorder may have a hard time making friends as it may be difficult for their peers to understand them, or the child may have a hard time understanding their peers. This can cause them to feel depressed or have social anxiety.  

• Let the child know in advance before calling on them
• Let the child know it’s okay to ask you to repeat or rephrase what you say
• Encourage them to take notes
• Take time to break down directions for assignments with the student one-on-one
• During a lesson, pause for a few minutes to allow them to process the information before moving on to the next topic
• Choose reading material that uses simple sentence structures and language

• Simplify your language when speaking
• Be direct in your language
• Have your child repeat back what you said to make sure they understand
• Place them in a classroom that has two teachers or includes a special education teacher
• Make sure your child’s teachers know about their disability and how to support them
• Take your child to a speech pathologist