Language Processing Disorders
Language Processing Disorders
Divergent Thinkers & Problem Solvers!
ETIOLOGY
The specific cause of LPD is unknown but there are certainly many factors that influence the development of the disorder. Such factors include genes, neurological disorder, disease or damage (e.g. brain injury, degenerative disease), otologic disease, disorder or injury, and prenatal/neonatal factors. When language disorders are caused by specific damage to the brain, they’re referred to as aphasia.
ONSET
Signs of a language disorder may appear as a child is learning to talk, or they may emerge after he’s enrolled in school. Language disorders, unlike most other learning disabilities, usually show signs long before a child starts school — in fact, symptoms can appear as early as one year old. Language disorders can be frequently misdiagnosed and are often misidentified as ADHD, autism, or even just “laziness” — so it’s important to work with someone who is familiar with speech and language. development.
SYMPTOMS
People that suffer from LPD have difficulty in basically any area of language: reading, spelling, writing, and/or speaking.
PREVALENCE
An estimated 5 percent of children in the United States have some type of language disorder, though many remain undiagnosed. Language processing disorders usually go undiagnosed, and therefore untreated. Currently over a 1 million children are receiving special education specific to language disorders in the U.S. public school system.
Language Processing Disorder (LPD) is a type of Auditory Processing Disorder (APD). APD is the perceptual processing of auditory information in the central auditory nervous system and the neurobiological activity that underlies that processing. LPD is a learning disability that affects the processing of language in the brain. The disorder can affect expressive language (what one says) and/or receptive language (how one understands what others say). The disorder may affect the form, content, and/or the function of language.
Types of Language Processing Disorder
Expressive
People with expressive language disorders have a difficult time expressing their thoughts. Someone with an expressive language disorder will:
- Have a limited vocabulary for their age
- Use a lot of filler words like “um,” or use “stuff” and “things” instead of specific words
- Confuse verb tenses
- Repeat phrases when telling a story or answering a question
- Have trouble learning new words
- Feel like words are constantly stuck “at the tip of their tongue”
Receptive
People with receptive language disorders struggle to understand what others are saying or to follow a conversation. Someone with a receptive language disorder will:
- Seem disinterested in conversations or social situations
- Have difficulty following directions
- Often misunderstand what is asked and answer or act inappropriately
- Have difficulty getting jokes
- Seem shy or withdrawn
Areas of Difficulty
- following multi-step directions
- paying attention in noisy environments
- following spoken directions
- understanding and participating in conversations with peers and adults
- vocabulary and sentence structure
COGx & LPD
COGx programs may help learners with LPD by targeting and strengthening the core processing skills relied upon for language acquisition, speech, comprehension, etc. Further, COGx programs can be customized to account for the individuals LPD symptoms while still improving underlying skills &/or other unrelated learning struggles.
