The ability to communicate effectively is essential for human development. However, there are cases in which this natural process is affected, causing the pathology known as specific language disorder.

In this article we want to tell you in detail its types, causes and characteristics, and how to deal with it effectively.

What is specific language disorder?

Also known as SLI , for its acronym in Spanish, specific language disorder is a disorder that affects the development of language , and can generate certain difficulties, which, if not treated in time, will become serious and long-lasting.

It is a disability of genetic origin , and can be detected from two years of age.

It is classified as “language specific” because there is no evidence of an intellectual deficit, emotional disorder or injury.

Characteristics of specific language disorder

As a general characteristic, these children have a vocabulary that is below the level of other children of the same age. As they grow, they may have difficulty learning new words and maintaining conversations.

Other characteristics that they may present are the following:

• When speaking, they leave words out of sentences.
• They repeat the phrases over and over again.
• They may present a certain degree of hyperactivity and disruptive behaviors.
• The level of non-verbal intelligence is normal.
• Normal hearing.
• When they reach school age, they have problems with reading and writing, and with mathematical calculations.

What are the types of TEL?

The simplest and most widely approved classification distinguishes three types of disorder:

1. Expressive language disorder : affects the ability to express thoughts and ideas.
2. Receptive language disorder : they represent the inability to understand.
3. Mixed disorder : demonstrates inability to both speak and understand what others say.

Causes of specific language disorder in children

According to experts, the exact cause of this disorder is unknown, but a strong genetic component has been identified . Children with SLI are likely to have parents or siblings who have also had speech difficulties and delays.

Psychological causes are also evaluated, due to low environmental stimulation; Environmental factors can play a role, but they are not the main cause. These are some of them:

• Limited linguistic stimulation, when children receive little stimulation.
• A disadvantaged socioeconomic environment (low sociocultural level). The environment in which a child adaptation period grows up, including the quality of interaction with caregivers and exposure to language, can influence speech and language development.
• Inadequate management of bilingualism can hinder language development.

How does a child with specific language disorder behave?

In the initial stage, a child with specific language impairment (SLI) may present any of the following behaviors:

• He doesn't speak or when he speaks you don't understand what he says.
• It is difficult for him to tell what he has done or repeat long sentences.
• He has a vocabulary limited to a few words, but does not put together sentences.
• Has comprehension difficulties.
• They take longer to start talking and to combine words into sentences compared to other children.
• They have difficulty learning new words and conversing.
• They have difficulty following instructions

How is SLI diagnosed?

The doctor interacts with the child in different ways and fills out a questionnaire to obtain more information about his or her development. Subsequently, he performs a series of tests, including a hearing test.

Upon confirming that the child does not have hearing or neurological problems, the patient is referred to a speech and language therapist for appropriate treatment.

It is complex to identify this pathology in children under three years of age, even at this age, care must be taken when carrying out the evaluation.

It is important to highlight the fundamental, which is early discovery learning and diagnosis. When you notice that a child does not communicate in a similar way to children of the same age, you should discuss it with the pediatrician.

How is specific language disorder treated?

Specific language disorder is a pathology that is treated through language rehabilitation methods.

There are different therapies for children with SLI, this will depend on the patient's age, type and severity of the disorder. The most common therapies include behavioral therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and emotional support therapy.

• Speech and language therapy : the speech therapist is the professional in charge of using specific strategies and exercises to correct pronunciation, language understanding and other communication skills. For oral motor disorders, the specialist helps improve the muscle control necessary for speech.
• Behavioral interventions – Addresses specific aspects of communication, such as stuttering.
• Use of technological devices : in some cases, the use of tablets with communication applications can facilitate the expression of ideas.
• Educational support : children with language disorders require support classes and certain strategies to improve understanding.

Joint work must be done between parents, teachers and doctors. Parents have to continue at home with the same exercises that are done in the office. As for the school, it must be informed of the diagnosis and the type of treatment that has been chosen, so that it helps improve the child's communication skills and normalize his or her school life.

Exercises and activities for children with SLI

People who live with children who suffer from specific language disorder must collaborate with the child in order to speed games for kids up their improvement. These are some strategies that you can apply.

1. Talk to him slowly, look him in the eyes.
2. Gesture when speaking, to facilitate understanding.
3. Use simple vocabulary, with short phrases, appropriate to your level.
4. Model the language.

On the other hand, child psychologists recommend some activities, such as the following:

Activities to improve previous abilities

Imitation activities: consisting of imitating sounds, reproducing lists of words, songs, tongue twisters, etc. Imitate social gestures, appropriating them to each situation.

Perform rhythmic series through songs, hits, claps.

Attention and memory: look for differences, remember objects on a picture, memory game with colorful and eye-catching objects such as time teacher watch of Kiddus

Breathing and blowing exercises: using candles, feathers, balloons, straws, etc.

Relaxation exercises: contraction to relaxation exercises, exercises listening to music and lying down.

Oral-facial exercises through praxias in children to acquire agility and coordination in movements.

Activities to work on Phonetics-phonology

Produce isolated sounds, first /p/ /l/, then /b/ /r/, /f/ /r/, then make them followed by /fr/ /br/ /pl/.

Then add vowels. Bra /pla / fra.

Evoke disyllabic words containing symphonies, then longer words, sentences and finally automate it into spontaneous speech.

Games to speak better: we start from situations where the child produces words and phrases, but integrated into simple didactic games for children that will usually be supported by visual stimuli such as cards, lotuses, phonetic bingos, etc.

Classify images in boxes according to whether they contain a certain symphony.

Activities at the syllable level: count number of syllables; add syllables to words; reverse the order of syllables; replace syllables, segment syllables.

Activities to improve perceptual deficits (auditory training): auditory discrimination tasks (same-different), recognition tasks such as identifying the common initial sound, pointing out words that begin with a certain phoneme through drawings, repetition tasks.

Activities to relate the images with the spellings.

Activities to work on morphosyntax

Sentence creation tasks using “teach me to speak.”

Work on the past, present and future with different images using simple phrases playing with a character.

Grammatical closing activities, stories.

Activities to complete or order sentences.

Production of directed sentences.

Description of events and invention of stories.

Sentence comprehension activities: listen to a sentence and associate it with an image, read three sentences and associate the appropriate one with its image, draw a phrase, command exercises.

Activities to work on the Lexico-semantic component

To increase vocabulary, you can do evocation activities, I see-I see word games, synonyms and antonyms, and recognize the object being described.

To improve the semantic relationships between words, you can ask questions, similarity-difference activities, analogies, form semantic families, categorization, logical pairs.

Spontaneous activity: based on spontaneous play situations, suggest that they incorporate intervention objectives into their play activity: in dramatizations, constructions; conversations; turn-based games.

Exercises to express feelings, narratives to name and describe: “Tell me why.”

Order temporal sequences and ask questions about what has happened, action-cause.

Conclusion 

Considering that early diagnosis of specific language disorder pathology will increase the chances of improving the child's communication skills and achieving adequate linguistic development, it is imperative to promote public awareness about the importance of going to a specialist in language disorders. first years of the child's life.