Strategies to help with a language impairment are Phonemic Cues and Semantic Cues

Many individuals come to speech and language services for many different reasons. Not all are looking for help with articulation; many are having difficulty learning language skills. Language disorders often accompany difficulties such as attention deficit disorder, learning disabilities, developmental delays, or cluttering. Some children who have sustained a physical injury, such as a closed head injury (eg: concussion/stroke), or have perceptual difficulties, such as a hearing impairment, may also have difficulty learning language.

Language disorders can be broken down into two areas: Receptive Language and Expressive Language. Receptive language disorders include, but are not limited to: difficulty following directions, difficulty with reading comprehension, difficulty understanding written/ spoken language, difficulty with auditory processing, difficulty with sequencing events, and difficulty with visual relationships. Receptive language can affect performance in reading and math and contribute to disruptive classroom behaviour.

Expressive language disorders include but are not limited to: delayed vocabulary, inability to initiate a conversation, weak grammar skills, poor spelling and writing skills, inability to categorize objects, difficulty defining word meaning, word finding difficulty, and inability to complete sentences. Expressive language disorders are often misinterpreted as “shyness,” or “poor study habits.”