Processing Disorders in Children: Language Processing

Many people, parents and professionals, think language processing and auditory processing are the same thing. They are not. With the increased awareness of and interest in auditory processing disorders, it is often assumed that any difficulty listening or processing language is the result of an auditory processing disorder. Actually, there are many other possible explanations and other disorders that include listening difficulty as a symptom. 


Although both disorders have to do with listening difficulties, language processing disorder affects the ability to understand the message; auditory processing disorder affects the ability to hear the message. Let’s talk about each of these processing disorders briefly.


Language processing is the ability to attach meaning to information and to express a response if appropriate. Language processing disorder usually describes difficulty processing verbal information, impacting listening and speaking. But it can also describe difficulty processing written language, impacting reading and writing. Of course, this doesn’t mean that your child doesn’t understand anything; it means that he doesn’t understand well enough to be successful at home, at school, and in the community. Being efficient in understanding and using our language is an important part of your child's wellbeing.


Auditory processing is the ability to hear sounds, but the brain does not process or interpret correctly what the ear hears. Individuals with auditory processing have normal hearing. The ears work just fine. The breakdown is in how the brain processes or interprets what the ears hear. 


Both auditory and language processing skills are very important and deficits in either can affect many areas of your child’s life, including social development and academic success. 


Now that we've distinguished between these two disorders, let's look closer at language processing.


Common Behaviors in Language Processing Disorder


If you suspect your child might have a language processing disorder, you may have noticed particular behaviors that cause concern. For example, you may think, “He doesn’t follow directions (especially long or complex directions),” or “He just doesn’t seem to listen (or understand).” Difficulty answering questions appropriately is often reported as a concern. 

Other common behaviors that might signal a language processing disorder include:

  • Trouble naming common objects or people
  • Using vague or non-specific language, such as “that … thing” or “…you know” when trying to describe
  • Taking a long time to answer a question
  • Giving an illogical or unreasonable answer to a question
  • Taking a long time to say what he or she wants to say 
  • Giving up on being able to say what he or she wants to say
  • Frequently saying “um” and “I don’t know”
  • Using hand gestures and body language more than usual
  • Mispronouncing words or using the wrong word


Children and adolescents with language disorders often "sound okay," but if you listen carefully to the quality of their speech and language, you may notice some of the listed behaviors or others that don't seem appropriate in everyday language. Trust your instincts; if something doesn't seem right, contact a speech-language pathologist. 


How Language Processing Can Affect Your Child


Many times children and adolescents with language processing difficulties seem to have trouble knowing what they are expected to do or say. They may seem distracted, uninterested, or even confused because it’s hard to say or do the right thing if you don’t understand what you’ve heard. Often, they are described as “quiet” when, actually, they avoid talking because they have difficulty understanding the speech of others, especially following the flow of conversation or a lecture or lesson at school. When children don’t understand at school, they usually don’t indicate that they don’t understand. Many children with language processing issues are not willing to participate in a conversation or classroom discussion for fear of embarrassing themselves. They do everything they can to avoid revealing that they don’t understand, especially when everyone else seems to understand. 

Language difficulties can also affect the speech areas. Your child may speak too loudly or lack appropriate tone and inflection. Speaking may be slower or fragmented because of the extra time it takes him to process what he has heard and to formulate a verbal response. It is not unusual for a child with language problems to have stutter-like behaviors in speaking. As a matter of fact, a language evaluation should be the first step in a stutter evaluation because language may be what is interfering with speech fluency. A thorough and comprehensive speech-language evaluation is necessary to determine if language problems are the source of speech difficulties.


The Role of the SLP


The role of the speech-language pathologist (SLP) is to evaluate, diagnose, and treat language processing disorder. Notice that our official title is speech-language pathologist. Those are our areas of expertise; that’s what we do. Other fields, such as psychology, might address language in a psychological evaluation, but I encourage you to seek out the services of an SLP if you suspect your child might have a language processing problems.

Postscript

Other disorders, such as ADHD and auditory processing disorder, share behaviors common to language processing disorder. That can be confusing and can also put your child at risk of being misdiagnosed. A thorough and comprehensive evaluation is necessary to determine if language processing disorder is absent or present. Treatment is different for different disorders, so getting the diagnosis correct will result in the best therapy for your child.

Contact me at 940-704-4324 to learn more.