Expressive Language Disorders

Does your child's teacher say that your child has trouble speaking or writing? Does it appear that your child is having issues conveying their thoughts in writing or speech?

Symptoms of expressive language disorder differ from one child to the next and depend on the child’s age and the degree of the impairment. Common symptoms include:

- making grammatical errors, leaving out words and using poor or incomplete sentence structure (for example, ‘He going work’ instead of ‘He’s going to work’ and ‘I talk’ instead of ‘I can talk’).

- using noticeably fewer words and sentences than children of a similar age

- using shorter, simpler sentence construction than children of a similar age

- having a limited and more basic vocabulary than children of a similar age

- frequently having trouble finding the right word

- using non-specific vocabulary such as ‘this’ or ‘thing’

- using the wrong words in sentences or confusing meaning in sentences

- relying on standard phrases and limited content in speech

- sounding hesitant when attempting to converse

- repeating (or ‘echoing’) a speaker’s words

- being unable to come to the point, or talking ‘in circles’

- having problems with retelling a story or relaying information in an organised or cohesive way

- being unable to start or hold a conversation

- not observing general rules of communicating with others

- having difficulty with oral and written work, and school assignments.

(https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/expressive-language-disorder)

If you find your child is having difficulty with any of the above, please call us today. Expressive Language disorders are treatable.