Mississippi Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics - University of Mississippi Medical Center

Does your child have difficulty with language, speaking to others and/or understanding what others are saying?

Children with communication disorders often have difficulty speaking and/or understanding others' speech. These difficulties may involve speech production (i.e., limited vocabulary or making errors in tense), comprehension (i.e., understanding sentences, words, or word concepts), or interpretation.1
There are several different types of communication disorders that present with different types of symptoms.1

Children and adolescents diagnosed with Expressive Language Disorder have a great deal of difficulty producing language, particularly compared to their ability to understand others' language and their level of measured intelligence.
Children and adolescents diagnosed with Mixed Receptive-Expressive Language Disorder have difficulties with both producing language and understanding or comprehending others' language.
Children and adolescents diagnosed with Phonological Disorder are not able to produce speech sounds appropriate to their developmental level (i.e., articulation difficulties, sound substitutions, disorganization or skipping of sounds).
Children and adolescents diagnosed with Stuttering make frequent and uncontrollable repetitions of certain words or sounds, lengthen or interject sounds, pause at sounds within words, and/or repeat entire words.
It is important to note that to be diagnosed with a communication disorder, the difficulties children may have with their speech and/or language abilities must interfere with their schooling and/or their ability to communicate with others.

Communication disorders occur in different numbers of children and adolescents, depending on the age of the child and the disorder.1

Expressive Language Disorder, in the form of language delays, is very common in very young children, occurring in 10% to 15% of children under the age of 3 years. However, Expressive Language Disorder is less commonly diagnosed in children entering school, and is diagnosed in 3% to 7% of school-age children.
Mixed Receptive-Expressive Language Disorder has been estimated to be diagnosed in up to 5% of preschool children and 3% of school-age children.
Phonological Disorder has been diagnosed in approximately 2% of early elementary school children, but is diagnosed in less than 1% by early adulthood (age 17).
Stuttering has been diagnosed in approximately 1% of school-age children and is diagnosed in fewer than 1% of adolescents.

Expressive Language Disorder and Stuttering are more common in boys than in girls.1
While communication disorders are typically diagnosed in early childhood, less severe forms of the disorders may not be evidenced and diagnosed until adolescence.1
Communication disorders are more commonly diagnosed in children whose parents have been diagnosed with a communication and/or learning disorder.1

Visit a pediatrician or your child's health care provider who can assess your child for a communication disorder. You may also want to visit http://otolaryngology.umc.edu/contact_us.html for more information. If you are outside the central MS area, please click on the following link(s) to learn about community mental health resources in your area: http://www.dmh.state.ms.us/pdf/CYSDirectory-Arial-9-15-08.pdf, http://www.nami.org/MSTemplate.cfm?Site=NAMI_Mississippi
Speech and language difficulties may arise as part of problems other than a communication disorder (i.e., hearing or other sensory problems, mental retardation, learning disabilities, developmental delay, stroke).1 As a result, it is important that as part of any communication disorders assessment that a thorough history be obtained.
Additionally, speech and language difficulties may be due to a medical problem, such as encephalitis, head trauma, irradiation, or a neurological condition.1 Therefore, it is very important that a thorough medical history be obtained when assessing a child or adolescent for a communication disorder.
The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDOC) hosts a website with links to several helpful organizations providing information for parents and families of children diagnosed with communication disorders. The NIDOC website (and list of resources) is found at http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/directory/.

1American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed. rev.). Washington, D. C.: Author.