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Speech and Language Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between speech and language?

Language is a code that is made up of a series of rules which we use to express our wants and needs.  Forms of language include reading and writing, gesturing, and talking.  Speech is the actual spoken form of language. 

What is the difference between receptive and expressive language?

Receptive language is the language that an individual understands.  Receptive tasks include being able to identify objects and actions, act out (follow directions), and make judgments about the appropriateness of a word or a sentence.  Expressive language is the language that an individual produces.  Expressive language begins with the use of gestures and sounds and progresses up to production of sentences within conversation. Alternative forms of expressive language may include use of sign language or augmentative supports such as pictures or high-tech voice output devices.

Will problems with hearing affect my child’s speech and language development?

Yes.  Parents should ensure that their child participates in regular hearing evaluations with an audiologist.  This is especially important if your child has a history of ear infections, allergies, or frequent illness.  It is important that your child’s hearing be assessed as early as possible because the earlier in life a hearing loss is detected, the better the potential for a child’s learning through speech, hearing, or other avenues of communication.

What is an auditory processing disorder?

Auditory processing is how auditory information is interpreted and used by the brain.  Auditory processing disorders may include difficulty with (among MANY others):

• discrimination of sounds
• auditory memory
• making inferences based on information heard
• following directions
• separating background noise from foreground noise
• rhyming
• recognizing individual sounds in words
• identifying the number of sounds in words

My child repeats sounds and words sometimes when he or she is trying to tell me something.  Is this a stutter and should I be worried?

All young children experience repetitions and hesitations in their speech due to the difficulty of learning language.  Normal dysfluencies may include the repetition of words and/or phrases, hesitations in speech, and fillers such as “uh” and “um”.  It is generally believed that this is typical in children up through the age of 5 years.  There are of course exceptions to this general belief and if you have questions it is best to talk to a speech-language pathologist who can determine if there are any factors contributing to the child’s dysfluency.

What is a social language disorder?

A social language disorder is also referred to as a pragmatic language disorder.  Pragmatics is the area of language that is concerned with appropriate use of language for communication.  Children who exhibit social language disorders may exhibit some of the following characteristics which can lead to strained interactions with peers:

• decreased eye contact with communication partner
• personal space issues
• inability to read or use various facial expressions
• difficulty requesting items or actions appropriately
• problems interpreting and conveying emotions appropriately
• difficulty taking turns within games
• problems maintaining a topic of conversation or taking turns within a conversation
• inability to take another person’s perspective