Speech and Language Pathology in School Settings - Common Communication and Language Disorders

Common Communication and Language Disorders

Disorders that affect children may affect adults differently, or even not at all. As the body grows and develops, the types of disorders that affect an individual change. Children typically exhibit developmental language disorders, but may also experience problems due to illness or injury.

In developing children, language disorders are often related to congenital disabilities or neurological or physiological results of childhood illness. These seemingly unrelated problems can have a serious impact on speech and language development. Children that have cognitive impairments are often delayed in development of communication skills. Different genetic syndromes that often cause cognitive impairment, such as Down syndrome or Williams syndrome, often affect different areas of speech. Children with autism tend to have difficulty communicating and expressing their emotions or desires. Sometimes this is due to specific problems with articulation or semantics, but often it is an issue of neurological development directly related to autism. Brain injuries, tumors, or seizures in children can also cause loss of language skills. Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) commonly have learning difficulties which also affect their language development. Emotional disturbances early in childhood can also have an impact on the growth of basic communicative skills. Perhaps more obvious are the developmental and communicative consequences of childhood hearing loss (Boone 200-05).

Some disorders commonly diagnosed in children: