Diagnosing and treating language processing disorder

Language processing disorder is a common diagnosis these days. Find out what you as a parent need to know about language processing disorder.
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Diagnosing and treating language processing disorder

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A language processing disorder is typically diagnosed a little bit later, so less so in a very young child, younger than 5. So we’re really looking – 5 and above is where we’re going to start thinking about language processing disorder. And treatment for language processing disorders is going to be directed based on your testing. So you’re going to test the child to figure out what areas of language processing might be impacted and then based on that testing, you will plan your treatment accordingly. So, for instance, if the individual has difficulties with categorizing, so they can’t put words into categories – this might be more of a 5 or 6-year-old – then you help them with the categories. So you give them words and say, “Okay, so what category does this go in?” And you teach them how to categorize words. Or children who have very narrow expressive vocabularies, they’re using the same words over and over – you’re going to teach them concept development. So you’re going to say to them, for instance, “Pretend I just landed from Mars and I’ve never seen a horse before. Describe a horse to me.” A child with language processing is going to say it has a tail, an ears and it’s brown. A child with normal language processing will tell you it’s an animal, it’s got fur, it’s got a mane, it’s got a tail, it’s got four legs, you ride on it, you can put a saddle on it. You see the difference? So you want to teach the child how to really develop their concepts.

Language processing disorder is a common diagnosis these days. Find out what you as a parent need to know about language processing disorder.

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Erin Kayem, MS, CCC-SLP

Speech Pathologist

As a Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Neurodevelopmental Learning Institute/Brain Enhancement Institute, Erin Kayem is a Licensed Speech Language Pathologist, with a Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech Language and Hearing Association.

Erin graduated from the University of Manitoba, Canada, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Linguistics. She also graduated from the University of North Dakota with a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication Disorders. Once completing her undergraduate work, Erin went on to obtain her Master of Science degree in Speech Pathology from Fort Hays State University in Kansas.

Erin has had extensive experience working with children of all ages in various medical and clinical settings. This has given her a strong background in all areas of child and adolescent speech and language delays/disorders, including, neurogenic speech and language disorders, oral motor and swallowing disorders, voice disorders and apraxia. Erin also specializes in the treatment of auditory processing disorders and other learning disabilities as they relate to speech and language development. She is a national speaker, author, trainer, and mother. Her years of dedication to the field have helped both children and adults.

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Transcription: 
A language processing disorder is typically diagnosed a little bit later, so less so in a very young child, younger than 5. So we’re really looking – 5 and above is where we’re going to start thinking about language processing disorder. And treatment for language processing disorders is going to be directed based on your testing. So you’re going to test the child to figure out what areas of language processing might be impacted and then based on that testing, you will plan your treatment accordingly. So, for instance, if the individual has difficulties with categorizing, so they can’t put words into categories – this might be more of a 5 or 6-year-old – then you help them with the categories. So you give them words and say, “Okay, so what category does this go in?” And you teach them how to categorize words. Or children who have very narrow expressive vocabularies, they’re using the same words over and over – you’re going to teach them concept development. So you’re going to say to them, for instance, “Pretend I just landed from Mars and I’ve never seen a horse before. Describe a horse to me.” A child with language processing is going to say it has a tail, an ears and it’s brown. A child with normal language processing will tell you it’s an animal, it’s got fur, it’s got a mane, it’s got a tail, it’s got four legs, you ride on it, you can put a saddle on it. You see the difference? So you want to teach the child how to really develop their concepts.