How to Identify Language Disorders in Children. One of the most common reasons for visiting a pediatric office is related to a child’s language development disorder. And it is possible that the minor manifests different types of problems in this area, ranging from difficulties in the articulation of phonemes to much more complex situations such as the lack of understanding of the spoken message, among others. On this occasion, we will try to identify what are language disorders in children and why it is important to correct them in time.
Language Disorders in Children
In general, the communication process begins from the first months of life, developing in a natural way in the child. The correct development of language should allow the child to obtain the ability to hear, understand and remember. However, for some children, this language acquisition process can be very slow and complicated.
Specialists refer to this problem as a failure in language development or developmental dysphasia, a classification that is applied to those cases that cannot be attributed to hearing failure or alterations of neurological origin.
In addition, according to the type of inconvenience, it can be classified as expressive language disorder, in case the child shows difficulties in communicating or being understood, or receptive language disorder, in cases in which the child shows problems understanding others.
However, there are also other conditions or disorders that can complicate communication in children, so it is essential to turn to a specialist to evaluate the child and identify their problem with language.
Now, a delay in speech and language is usually a much more common fact than is thought, having a higher incidence among boys than among girls. Thus, according to statistics, about 5% of children present some type of symptom of language development disorder, manifesting itself in a large part of the cases, before 4 years of age.
How do identify language Disorders
In order to identify language disorders in children, it is necessary to pay attention to some of the symptoms they may present, which could occur at different levels of severity: In the cases of children with expressive language disorder, they show complications in expressing their needs, with signs that are manifested by not being able to organize simple sentences or phrases, often altering the order of words. In addition, they use fillers and find it difficult to find the right words when they speak.
For their part, children with receptive language problems may have difficulty clearly understanding what other people say. In addition, they manifest serious inconveniences in keeping their thoughts and actions organized, as well as in following instructions.
Some signs in the child will allow us to identify certain types of speech disorders. One of them is childhood stuttering, which consists of the alteration of the rhythm and verbal fluency, which leads him to repeat words constantly. This problem can be treated professionally from its first manifestations.
Childhood dyslalia is also another the speech disorder, perhaps the most common among children between 3 and 5 years of age and is characterized by the child’s inability to properly articulate phonemes. Other signs refer to the difficulty that some children have in pronouncing certain letters, such as R and J, these being the most difficult to learn.
what can I do to help my child?
In addition to the professional help that a speech therapist can provide, parents can also begin to reinforce certain aspects at home, with a view to improving their child’s condition. In principle, it is advisable to find out as much as possible about the difficulties the child is going through, in order to find the best way to help him both at home and at school. Having patience and control is essential to improving your communication problem.
It is important to stay alert and carefully observe the child’s behavior; this will help identify behavior patterns and language difficulties. If the signs can be recognized, it will be possible to establish the most appropriate plan of action to help you.
Even when it’s hard to communicate with your child, it’s important that you listen and talk to your child all the time. Asking her how her day went, telling her an anecdote, going for a walk, and describing what she sees, are actions that will stimulate the desire to communicate with him.
Also, it is advisable to organize the tasks at home and make them participate in them through simple instructions that they can comply with. Involving the child in activities that represent steps to follow, such as teaching him how to prepare a dish or the procedure for ordering a piece of furniture, will help him organize his ideas and improve his communication.
Talk to the specialist about what you can do at home to help your child develop language skills. Likewise, there are training programs for parents that are very useful since they have activities and dynamics aimed at controlling the child’s anxiety and raising her self-esteem. In addition, this type of meeting also serves to connect families who are going through similar situations, in order to exchange advice and experiences.
Treating the child’s language problems in time will allow the minor to express, without problems, everything they think and feel while managing to organize their thoughts properly. It is essential to keep an eye on the process of natural language development; If some of the symptoms appear, it is necessary to go to the specialist so that he can evaluate the case and indicate the procedure to follow.
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