Language disorders can be classified by a receptive language disorder or an expressive language disorder. A receptive language disorder is when your child has difficulty understanding what others say. Do you ever notice that your child does not respond to your name or follow simple commands? These examples could be signs that your child has difficulty with comprehension of language.
An expressive language disorder is when your child has difficulty communicating their wants and needs either through verbal communication or nonverbal communication modalities (e.g. signing). Your child may often point to objects desired or pull you or familiar people in the direction that they want. It is possible that your child can have both a receptive and expressive language delay.
Early intervention for expressive and receptive language is crucial for your child’s ability to communicate their wants and needs. If you notice that your child has difficulty with expression or comprehension of language, he/she may benefit from a comprehensive evaluation by a speech language pathologist.
Your child may benefit from speech services focused on expressive and receptive language delay:
- At 1 year old, your child starts to say their first word such as "dada" and is able to vocalize back and forth with familiar partners. Your child is also following 1-step simple commands such as "Don't touch, it's hot!".
- At 2 years old, your child is starting to combine two word combinations and imitating words said by others. Your child is also starting to follow 2-step simple commands such as "get the ball and put it in the basket" and can understand simple questions such as "where's mommy?".
- At 3 to 4 years old, your child is starting to expand their sentences by combining 3-4 words, answers simple wh questions (who, what, where), and combining nouns and verbs together such as "doggy go". Your child is able to identify body parts can be understood by others approximately 25% of the time.
- At 4 to 5 years old, your child's vocabulary is increasing rapidly and can produce 1,000 words! Your child is starting to share stories, can describe objects, and can be understood by others approximatley 50% of the time.Your child can also answer simple questions about stories.
- At 5 to 6 years old, your child is able to describe objects by their use (e.g. knife to cut), demonstrate understanding of spatial concepts (e.g. "on", "off", "behind", "over", etc.), and can be understood 100% of the time.
Language milestones are crucial building blocks for development and learning overtime. If you notice that your child does not exhibit these language milestones by the expected age range, they may benefit from a comprehensive evaluation by a speech language pathologist.