Parental Support for Language
What is Language Difficulty?
A Language Difficulty can cover a wide range of problems. People can be affected by only one area of difficulty or a range of difficulties.
Language is broken up into three main parts:
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Receptive language
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Expressive language
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Speech & articulation
Receptive Language is about understanding what has been said when spoken too, the message a person receives by listening to someone speaking or when reading information.
Expressive Language is about the way a person processes information to be able to express it to communicate. This could be verbally or in writing.
Speech & Language is the way a person is able to use the mouth, tongue and voice to speak and physically produce words.
These difficulties can be caused by:
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A persons genetic make-up
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Hearing problems
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Biological difficulty, such as a cleff palate
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An injury to the brain
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Illness, such as stroke, Multiple Sclerosis or motor Neurone Disease
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General learning difficulties
If your child appears to have a problem it is always wise to take them to your GP to talk about your worries and ask for a hearing test to be carried out. A doctor can also refer to a speech therapist.
Observations
You might observe that your child has some of the following characteristics:
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Has difficulty answering simple questions, even though they know the answer
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Speech problems; slow to learn to speak or may be difficult to understand
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Impatient and easily frustrated
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Has behaviour problems
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Has temper tantrums
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Has a poor short-term memory, often forgetting tasks learnt the previous day
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Lacks confidence
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Does not make friends easily
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Appears to be isolated, living in their own world and do not communicate with other children very well.
Useful web sites:
www.ican.org.uk
www.ukconnect.org
www.cafamily.org.uk
www.afasic.org.ukHelping Language
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Give your child simple single step instructions, not a list of things to do
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Show your child what you expect him/her to do
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Allow plenty of time for your child to answer simple question silence for thinking time is good
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Accept what your child says, but repeat the same words back correctly
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When your child speaks do not say no that is not right. Constant use of the word No will put him/her off trying to speak
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Have patience with your child to explain, demonstrate or picture what you want otherwise he/she could become frustrated and behaviour problems can develop
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Play games together to help to develop language skills, like: Who is Who, Scattergories, Junior Articulate
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Share action rhymes and songs,Simon Says,What is the time Mr Wolf,etc
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Sing nursery rhymes and songs together
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Involve him/her in everyday activities and talk about the tasks you are doing, when and why
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Read picture books and stories to your child and talk about what is happening in the story
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When your child is writing, help him/her to form ideas by brain storming and speaking their sentences out loud
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Do not hurry your child if they have problem with articulation
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Play role play games with fancy dress or puppets together and tell stories
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