The process of speech evaluation can be overwhelming. Between the interview questions, forms to fill out, and emotions involved, understanding your child’s assessment can be difficult. 

Common Speech Terminology

Receptive Language 

Receptive language is used to describe how a child comprehends language.   How well they can understand words, such as places, people, actions, simple questions and directions. Having trouble understand what is being said, for example, “Where’s is the dog?”  and “Give me the cup”.

For older children, receptive language includes following more complex directions and questions. Such as “Go get the blue block from the basket” and “Where did you get that cupcake?”.

Expressive Language 

How a child expresses themselves refers to expressive language. This pertains to how they share thoughts, feelings, and ideas. This includes difficulty expressing information or conveying speech, writing, or gestures. 

Expressive language includes verbal and nonverbal communication skills, including: facial expressions, intentionality, gestures, vocabulary, morphology, semantics (word/sentence meaning),  and syntax (grammar rules).

Speech 

The physical production of sounds and pronouncing words. Communication can be an issue if the child is not understood. Voice disorders, stuttering, and articulation, are considered speech disorders. 

For young children this can include developing accurate speech sounds in early stages, such as “m”, ‘“b”, and “p”. Combining babbling and making combination words such as “mama”. For older children, accurately producing speech sounds, being understood with more complex sounds. 

Speech therapy is a very broad term, more appropriate may be communication therapy

“Speech and language communication skills are a strong indicator of a child’s future success in academics, personal relationships and employment. The National Institutes of Health estimates 8% of kids 3 to 17 have a voice, speech or language disorder that requires therapy,” according to an article in Florida Weekly

“What we know is that the sooner the issues are addressed by a professional, the better chance the child has of getting on that normal developmental progression,” said Elise Davis-McFarland, president of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

If you have any questions or concerns about your child, we encourage you to contact Orlando’s First Words Therapy. We take a holistic approach to speech-language-therapy to help your child communicate more effectively.