Causes, Signs and Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment and Prognosis of Receptive Language Disorder
The two basic parts of language are expressive and receptive skills. Receptive language refers to the words and language concepts that we understand, such as the meaning of the smile (a noun) versus smiling (an action). Receptive language forms the foundation of language from which expressive language develops; that is, your child must first understand the meanings of words, phrases, and sentences in order to use them in spoken language. When the underlying receptive language skills are impaired, your child will show signs like not following simple directions (“Show me the apple.”) nor answering age-appropriate questions (“How old are you?”).
Language concepts, such as comparatives and superlatives (big, bigger, biggest), may be difficult for the child to learn. Although not as common, it is possible for a child to have greater expressive than receptive skills; in this case, the child’s language may sound age-appropriate when speaking, but upon deeper testing of his or her specific skills, the breakdown in understanding becomes apparent, such as not knowing specific prepositions (above, below, next to, inside) or not following multi-step directions (Put the ball in the cup then close the lid on the box). The speech-language pathologist (SLP) will examine your child’s language in parts in order to tease apart the specific areas of strengths and needs. Note that it is uncommon for a child to have a receptive-only disorder with normal expressive language skills. So, when receptive language is impaired, the child will likely receive a diagnosis of mixed receptive-expressive language disorder.
As you can see, if your child has been diagnosed with an expressive language disorder, it will be helpful for you to learn which of the many areas of language are impaired.