What is a language disorder?

A language disorder is a communication disorder characterized by persistent difficulties in the acquisition and use of language. These difficulties can include problems processing a range of different kinds of linguistic information, including vocabulary, sentence structure, and discourse. Language disorder can affect all kinds of linguistic communication: spoken, written, and gesture, and it can affect both a child’s ability to comprehend language and produce it. Children with this disorder do not have problems producing speech sounds. Language disorder is distinct from speech disorder, which involves difficulties in producing speech sounds, but not necessarily difficulties in producing language. Language disorder can affect a child’s ability to function at home, at school and in social situations.

What to Look For

Language disorder is present from early childhood, though symptoms may not be evident until later in life when the demands for more complex language increase. If a child has difficulty comprehending language, she may have trouble understanding or processing what other people say. As a result, she may find it unusually hard to follow directions and organize her thoughts. Her sentences may be unusually short or simple, or the order of her words might seem odd or incorrect. A child with language disorder may omit words from sentences, or rely on placeholder sounds, such as “um,” while searching for the “correct” word. Other signs of the expressive side of language disorder include repeating, or “echoing” parts of questions, or questions in their entirety, and the incorrect use of tenses. A child with language disorder may appear shy or reluctant to talk, especially to someone who is not a family member or otherwise familiar to them. Language disorders run in families, so children who have family members with a history of language impairment are more at risk.

Language Disorder: Diagnosis

To be diagnosed with language disorder, a child must have deficits in age-appropriate communication, including reduced vocabulary, limited sentence structure, and impairment in using language to communicate information or carry on a conversation. Speech and language pathologists can administer standardized tests to gauge a child’s ability to both comprehend and express language. The doctor should also rule out other factors, such as deafness, which is one of the most common causes of difficulties with communication and language.

Language Disorder: Treatment

If a child is diagnosed with language disorder, the best treatment for him or her will be speech and language therapy. Psychotherapy, cognitive behavior therapy in particular, may also be helpful in treating the emotional and behavioral problems that often accompany language disorder.

Language Disorder: Risk For Other Disorders

Because language disorder can affect a child’s ability to interact with other children and build relationships, the disorder may be complicated by feelings of depression and social anxiety.

Auditory Processing Disorders

At a Glance:

Auditory processing disorder (APD) makes it hard to know what people are saying.
It isn’t related to hearing problems or intelligence.
APD can impact people of all ages, and in different ways.

If you know someone who has trouble understanding what people say, you may have heard the term auditory processing disorder (APD). It’s one name for problems recognizing the sounds in speech.

The challenges aren’t related to hearing. People hear the sounds others make when speaking. But they have trouble processing and making sense of those sounds in the brain.

APD also isn’t related to intelligence. People who have it are as smart as anyone else. They just struggle with a specific group of skills.

Learn more about APD, and the effect it has on understanding sounds and words.

What Is Auditory Processing Disorder?

APD refers to challenges in how the brain understands speech. The sounds may be loud and clear. But people with APD don’t pick up on the subtle differences between them.

For example, people with APD may not recognize the difference between cat, that, and bat. The words seventy and seventeen may sound the same. Words can also get scrambled, so the question “how are the chair and couch alike” might sound like “how a cow and hair are like.”

There are four auditory processing skills that people with APD may struggle with:

Auditory discrimination: noticing, comparing, and distinguishing between separate sounds
Auditory figure-ground discrimination: focusing on the important sounds in a noisy setting
Auditory memory: recalling what you’ve heard, either immediately or in the future
Auditory sequencing: understanding and recalling the order of sounds and words

It’s not clear what causes APD. But the difficulties impact people of all ages, and in different ways. Here are some common signs of auditory processing disorder:

Trouble following spoken directions, especially multi-step ones
Often asking people to repeat themselves or saying “Huh?” or “What?”
Trouble following a conversation, especially if there are multiple speakers or lots of background noise
Being easily distracted by background noise or sudden, loud noises
Trouble remembering details of things that are read or spoken
Trouble with reading or spelling, which require processing sounds
Taking longer to respond when someone speaks
Trouble knowing where sounds/speech is coming from

There are many ways to support people with ADP including:

Using simple, one-step directions
Speaking at a slower rate or slightly higher volume
Providing a quiet spot for doing work
Being patient and repeating things people miss

Schools may give students extra support in class under a special education plan called an IEP. For example, kids might be seated at the front of the room, away from distractions. Or they might get written instructions instead of spoken ones. These types of supports can also be helpful at work. Learn more about accommodations for APD, and technology that can help.

The main treatment for APD is speech therapy. Schools might provide therapy for free under an IEP, if the child has a language disorder. But there are also speech-language pathologists who work in clinics or in private practice. The earlier treatment starts, the better.

APD can create challenges at school, at work, and in everyday life. But with the right help and support, people who have it can thrive.

People with auditory processing disorder have trouble recognizing sounds in words.
The main treatment for APD is speech therapy.
To find out if someone has APD, you need to rule out hearing problems first.

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Language Disorders