Language Disorders - Types, Symptoms, Causes, Risks and Treatments

Language disorders generally develop in childhood when children frequently mix up words and include pause sounds such as 'uh' or 'um'. They even use utterly short and simple sentences.

A way to treat this disorder includes language therapy. Read along to know more about the condition.

It is a type of communication disorder where a person is unable to use, speak or write in a comprehensible language. This disorder is developmental, starting as a child learns his/her first words, trying to communicate in speech and continues till adulthood. Nevertheless, brain injury may even cause this disorder.

A person having the condition finds it challenging enough to learn things. They cannot connect with people regarding daily life events and tasks in speech and other communication mediums.

The condition develops at a tender age mostly and involves the following types:

• Receptive Language Disorder: This type of disorder involves a child’s inability to comprehend language in words they hear or read. Hence, they often respond in ways that do not make proper sense.
• Expressive Language Disorder: This is a condition where a child cannot express what they understand from the perception of a language. They are unable to express their needs, feelings and ideas through language. This condition may even affect sign languages.
• Mixed Receptive-expressive Language Disorder: As the name suggests, this disorder is a mix of receptive and expressive disorders. This disorder affects how a person perceives or receives ideas and how their expressions are directed by the same.

The symptoms are categorised into receptive and expressive language disorders. These are listed as under:

Receptive Language Disorder

• Facing difficulty or, rather, being unable to understand what people say.
• Having problems following instructions from teachers or other people at a young age.
• Facing issues with organising thoughts.

Expressive Language Disorders

• People with this disorder have difficulty arranging their words into sentences.
• They face difficulty finding the appropriate words while speaking.
• They have minimal vocabulary below their expected grade level.
• People with this disorder may use phrases repeatedly.
• This disorder includes asking parts of a question repeatedly.
• They may even use improper tenses in sentences.

The causes of this disorder may include the following:

• Having brain disorders such as autism spectrum disorder.
• A person has an injury in the brain or develops a brain tumour.
• Having certain congenital disabilities such as down syndrome, cerebral palsy and fragile X syndrome.
• Issues relating to pregnancy include malnutrition, foetal alcohol syndrome, low birth weight or premature birth.

The risk factors that entail this disorder are as follows:

• Having a stroke often leads to this disorder
• Having a family history of disorders of language
• A person having a dearth of thinking abilities

In order to diagnose this disorder, therapists perform an in-depth language assessment, including speech patterns. These include the following:

• An analysis of the history of hearing abilities in a child
• Assessing oral-motor functioning and the history of feeding
• Analysing the social development of a person
• Testing the flow and rate of speech

The following ways of treatment are available to treat this disorder:

Language Therapy

Speech and language therapy is a standard treatment for language disorders. This treatment depends on the age of the person affected and the severity of the symptoms. Early intervention often plays a notable role in successfully treating this disorder. This therapy incorporates one-on-one discussions with the therapist or group discussions.

Psychological Therapy

Facing difficulties in language interpretation and usage can be mentally distressing. This may often act as a trigger for aggressive reactions. Hence, counselling is necessary to address the patient's behavioural and emotional issues.

It is necessary to visit a doctor, given the aforesaid symptoms. A brief recapitulation of the same follows:

• Experiencing problems with receptive capabilities of the language.
• Concerns regarding expressive capabilities of the language in a person.
• A mix of both receptive and expressive issues with language.

Preventing this disorder may seem challenging; however, it is possible to manage the severity of the symptoms by consulting a speech-language pathologist at the earliest. Some other preventive measures include:

• Parents and teachers may help improve the surrounding atmosphere of a child in a way that helps them relax, reducing chances of anxiety.
• Waiting patiently enough as a child forms a sentence allows him/her the liberty to think properly.

Language disorders are most likely to begin in childhood, and if left untreated, the severity of the condition may increase as a person reaches adulthood. This may subsequently lead to other psychological illnesses. Hence, seeking the right treatment as early as possible is necessary. Therefore, it is essential to keep a close eye on the aforesaid symptoms in children and seek professional help to get noteworthy results.