What is a Language Disorder?
A language disorder is a type of communication disorder that affects the ability to use language to express oneself and/or understand spoken language when interacting with others. Sometimes, a language disorder is misidentified as a speech disorder; however, they are two completely separate types of communication disorders.
Language disorders can make it difficult to navigate daily life, especially for children. Confidence and independence require the ability to effectively express one's thoughts, feelings, needs, and ideas and understand and interact with loved ones, peers, caregivers, and others. As with other communication disorders, language disorders can range in severity and, as a result, can impact daily tasks in a variety of ways.
Types of Language Disorders
Expressive Language Disorder: Individuals with expressive language disorders have difficulty effectively conveying their thoughts and ideas through spoken or written language. An expressive language disorder can make it challenging to describe and define objects or concepts, effectively tell stories or convey details, use correct grammar and sentence structure, or accomplish tasks that require detailed or precise written or spoken language.
Receptive Language Disorder: A receptive language disorder makes it challenging for individuals to understand and interpret the spoken or written language of others. This type of language disorder can make it difficult to navigate conversations and follow stories told by others, cause frequent misunderstandings, and make interpreting and following written or spoken instructions challenging.
Mixed Language Disorder: Individuals with mixed language disorders face challenges with both using language to express themselves and understanding language from others.
Additional Disorders:
Pragmatic Language Disorder (or Social Communication Disorder), is a condition that affects the social aspects of language and communication. This can make interpreting and using social cues and nonverbal communication, adapting language to various situations and interpreting non-literal language incredibly difficult. Individuals with a Pragmatic Language disorder typically struggle to navigate social situations and build meaningful relationships with others.
Specific Language Impairment (or SLI) is a developmental condition that causes significant challenges with language acquisition. Individuals with SLI will typically struggle to learn and use new words, find question words (who, what, when, where, why) challenging to use and understand, struggle with word selection (often using vague language such as "stuff" or "thing"), and find abstract or complex language particularly difficult to understand.
Language Processing Disorder is a neurological condition that leads to difficulties with the processing of language and information. An individual with a language processing disorder may struggle to process spoken language, often making them appear slow to respond. They may find it particularly difficult to understand and process spoken information when in a noisy environment or when multiple people are speaking at once. They may also struggle to retain information, understand jokes or figurative language, explain ideas, describe events, and formulate more complex sentences.
The Impact of Language Disorders
Living with a language disorder can have major impacts on many different parts of daily life, often making it difficult to form meaningful relationships, communicate thoughts and feelings, and succeed in social, professional, and academic environments.
Emotional well-being and self-esteem are typically heavily impacted by language disorders, as it can be incredibly frustrating and challenging to be unable to effectively communicate with those around us. More specifically, language disorders directly impact:
Academic Performance: It is common for children with language disorders to struggle to understand and follow directions, develop reading and writing skills, participate fully in classroom discussions and group projects, connect with peers and teachers, and learn new skills and concepts.
Social Skills: Language disorders can make building and maintaining relationships challenging. Navigating conversations, understanding and engaging with others, storytelling and problem-solving can all be negatively affected by a language disorder. Pragmatic Language disorders can also make it difficult to use and interpret social cues, which can result in awkward or uncomfortable interactions.
Professional Environments: Adults with language disorders can find navigating professional scenarios especially challenging. A language disorder can affect simple professional tasks such as writing or replying to emails, delivering presentations, participating in meetings, and creating professional relationships. Those with impaired language skills often struggle to advance their careers or secure more senior roles, making it incredibly challenging to achieve professional success.
Early intervention speech therapy for language disorders offers the best outcome for children who are struggling to communicate effectively due to a language impairment. The sooner a child begins to work with a speech and language pathologist to improve their language skills, the impact of their language disorder on daily life decreases dramatically.
However, early intervention isn't always possible for a number of reasons, and it is common for teenagers and adults to need support for a language disorder as well. Speech therapy for language disorders is highly effective at helping teens and adults overcome challenges relating to a language disorder and improve their overall communication skills, meaning it is never to late to work with a speech therapist, whatever your age may be.
The Benefits of Virtual Therapy for Language Disorders
Virtual speech therapy is quickly becoming a popular method of treating communication disorders, as it has been shown to be as effective as traditional in-person speech therapy, with some additional benefits. Online speech therapy for language disorders offers:
Flexibility: Our provides flexibility for appointment booking, with evening and weekend sessions available. This makes it easier than ever to fit speech therapy into busy family schedules.
Convenience: Virtual speech therapy means you no longer have to spend precious time commuting to clinics, finding parking, and waiting in waiting rooms. Online speech therapy is convenient, as sessions can take place anywhere you have a quiet space and a solid wifi connection.
Comfort: Many people, especially children, are most comfortable and relaxed in their own homes. By conducting speech therapy within a familiar and comfortable environment, it allows for fewer distractions and better engagement.
Personalized Care: Online speech therapy means it is easy to connect with a speech therapist who is perfectly suited to meet the needs and goals of each individual, instead of having to work with a geographically close speech therapist. This means therapists who specialize in specific ages and conditions can provide customized treatment plans, without being limited by location.
Access to Resources: Virtual speech therapy allows for easy access to a wealth of supportive resources, including educational information, online tools, and interactive games and exercises.
Supporting Your Child With a Language Disorder
While speech therapy for language disorders offers the most comprehensive support and help for a child, there are several things that parents can do at home to improve their child's language skills, including:
Creating a Language-Rich Environment: Parents should take every opportunity available to use language and encourage their children to engage. This can include describing tasks as you complete them, working together to create a shopping list, or retelling an interesting story to your child.
Reading Together: One of the best ways to support language development in children is to encourage and emphasize the importance of reading. Try reading aloud to your child, or enjoy a picture book together.
Engaging in Language-Building Games: Children love to play games, so engaging in language-building games is a great way to further development. Games such as "fortunately, unfortunately," in which you take turns creating a story by starting each sentence with "fortunately..." and then "unfortunately.." is a fun and silly way to play with language.
Tracking Progress: Be aware of your child's specific communication goals, and keep track of how they are progressing. Be sure to celebrate any achievements, no matter how small, to encourage your child to continue to work hard to reach their goals.
Getting Started with Our Virtual Therapy Services
Each speech therapy journey begins with an initial assessment call to identify the specific challenges, strengths, and goals of speech therapy for language disorders. We will connect you with your specialized speech therapist within 3 days of your initial call. From there, your speech therapist will develop a unique treatment plan to get you or your child started on the path to improved language abilities and greater success in all areas of life.
Contact Us Today
If you'd like to learn more about whether online speech therapy is right for your child or are ready to get started, simply schedule your free introductory call today!
Each of our therapists are highly-specialized, allowing our clients to be matched to address their specific communication needs. This level of specialization allows us to deliver the best service possible.