Question
What are speech and language delays?
Answer
The developmental delay descriptors for speech and language are made up of five components:
- Attention and listening
- Receptive language
- Expressive language
- Speech
- Interaction skills
Let's talk about each of those components. Thinking about attention, a child needs to be able to attend to relevant things in their environment in order to be able to learn. They need to be able to listen and attend to relevant sounds or activities and to focus on the sound or activity for long enough in order to learn from it. Receptive language is the ability to understand the content of what is said, including the facts, the significance, indicated by tone of voice, body language, and possible subtleties of language, including inference. For example, a child with a delay in receptive language may not seem to understand or respond to what people say.
Expressive language is the ability to choose the right words to communicate a message (content). It is the ability to use grammatical constructions such as word order, word endings, and verb tenses. It also includes the ability to use language to perform a variety of purposes such as greetings, describing, arguing, etc. For example, a child with a delay in expressive language may have difficulty expressing his or her needs using typical words or motions or may not articulate letter sounds clearly. When you have a preschooler and their articulation is not clear, that is a sign to see if a referral is needed.
Speech is the ability to use speech sounds to build up words, saying sounds accurately and in the right places. It is the ability to speak fluently, without hesitating, prolonging, or repeating words or sounds. It is the ability to speak with expression and a clear voice, using pitch, volume, and intonation to support meaning.
A child with speech, language, and communication delays might struggle to say words or not understand words that are being used. They may have difficulties holding a conversation or have a very limited vocabulary. Earlier, I gave you an example that typically developing children by age of two will have 50 or more words in their vocabulary. If you have a child who by age two only is saying mama or dada or more, those will be the concerns to consider. As with other skills and milestones, the age at which kids learn language and start talking can vary. Many young toddlers happily babble mama or dada well before their first birthday and they say about 20 words by the time they are 18 months old.
Interaction skills includes the ability to take turns with other speakers, maintain conversation, change the subject, and adapt to fit the flow of the conversation. It also includes the ability to hold a continuous stream of speech for explanations or narrative and to able to talk through the idea or argument. It is also the ability to predict, infer, and make connections (reason) as well as to be able to use language in social situations (functional language).
This Ask the Expert is an edited excerpt from the course, Working with Children with Disabilities: Inclusion Works!, in partnership with Region 9 Head Start Association, presented by Piret Leonetti, EdD.
