How can I tell if my child has a problem with receptive or expressive language?

Receptive and expressive language disorders are a type of communication disorder. A child with a receptive language disorder may have difficulty understanding or processing words. A child with an expressive language disorder may have difficulty with expressing meaning or messages to others. It is also possible for children to have both kinds of disorders, called mixed receptive-expressive disorder.

Children with receptive language disorders may:

  • Develop language more slowly than their peers
  • Have trouble following directions
  • Have limited vocabulary
  • Have difficulty understanding the meaning of words
  • Misunderstand what is asked or stated
  • Act disinterested when others are speaking

Children with expressive language disorders may:

  • Have difficulty putting words together in the correct order to form sentences
  • Have difficulty choosing the right words or cannot remember what things are called
  • Have reduced vocabulary compared to peers
  • Omit words like pronouns or verbs from sentences
  • Have trouble distinguishing between the past, present, and future tense
  • Use short sentences
  • Use incorrect verb tenses

The best treatment for a child with a language disorder is speech-language therapy.

Receptive and expressive language disorders can affect a child’s ability to communicate, learn, and play with others. For this reason, it’s essential to get treatment as soon as the problem is discovered.

If needed, we will provide your child with a comprehensive speech and language assessment by a skilled speech-language pathologist or SLP. We are highly trained to identify speech and language issues in children.

We believe that speech and language goals should be centered around your child and their communication needs. An individualized treatment plan for addressing your child’s specific language issues will be created and reviewed with you.