Language
Receptive Language:
Receptive language is how we understand language; it’s how children listen and understand the world around them. Building a receptive vocabulary is the foundation of all language skills. Children need to understand language before they can express themselves effectively. Receptive Language deficits present when a child has difficulty processing and/or understanding spoken language. An important part of receptive language skills is following directions, simple or multi-step. When a child doesn’t follow directions it is often a result of decreased attention, difficulty processing or poor recall skills, and not due to non-compliant behavior.
Expressive Language:
Expressive language is how we communicate with others and express our thoughts and needs. Deficits in expressive language may include a limited vocabulary, difficulty formulating sentences to convey thought and trouble responding to questions. Children may also present with word retrieval difficulties and use non-specific vocabulary such as” this” or “that”. As your child develops their language skills, they should be able to relate past events. Retelling a story requires sequencing skills that incorporate temporal concepts such as first, next and last. These skills are fundamental to develop age- appropriate reading comprehension skills. Additional expressive language skills needed to enhance reading comprehension and writing include the ability to use synonyms, antonyms and figurative language (idioms and analogies).
Articulation:
Articulation is the ability to produce and sequence sounds to form intelligible words. A speech sound disorder occurs when mistakes continue past a certain age. For each sound, there is a timetable for when a child will develop the ability to accurately produce a specific sound.