Hello again, everyone! Is anyone else counting down the days until we see more sunshine and warmer temperatures? Welcome back to the blog where we are discussing the differences between expressive language delay, and a speech delay. In the previous blog post I outlined for you what an expressive language delay looks like, as well as, some examples of what it does not look like. As a quick refresher, expressive language is achieved by conveying our needs wants emotions feelings and desires out into the world through a variety of different mediums, including talking, gestures, signs, pictures, writing, etc. Obviously the criteria and expectations for the complexity of what kids are expected to express increases as they develop and get older, but how does this differ from a speech delay?
I think the first thing to mention in this blog is a reminder that speech and language are two different concepts. Speech being the way that we move our mouth and produce sounds in order to form words and verbal speech. Language on the other hand is the way that we are understanding others and expressing ourselves as well as using this language to interact with others, receptive language, expressive language, and pragmatic language. Please go back and read the previous blog post regarding expressive language if you need more clarification. A child with a speech delay is different than a child with an expressive language delay in many different areas. Simply put, a speech delay is when a child is unable or unwilling to babble, combine sounds, use word approximations, or produce intelligible speech at the same level as their same age peers.
In my previous blog post, I outlined an example of a child who had upwards of 200 different signs that she was able to use to express her messages but did not yet have any spoken words. This would be a great example of a child who has a speech delay compared to an expressive language delay. This child had a way to express many different things to those around her, but was not yet producing verbal speech. Since her family does not speak ASL, and this child’s receptive language, or ability to understand things was so high, this speech delay was going to cause problems for her. We typically say when a child has good language skills, and their speech can’t keep up, it is a recipe for frustration. Imagine being trapped inside yourself where everyone else is talking and you understand them perfectly but when you try to express yourself by talking others either do not understand you or you cannot express the complexity of your messages adequately.
In the past few months, I have been working with a higher number of children with a speech delay, but who do not have a simultaneous expressive language delay. It is quite possible to have both a speech delay and a language delay, but figuring out which one your child has and coming up with a treatment plan that addresses their specific challenges is essential and vital for their progress. Come back to the blog next time for an update on why some children make experience a speech delay!
Kasey