Category — 2.10 Children with Communication Disorders

Children with CD struggle with language. They may struggle with one or more aspects of language (please see below). These children appear to be developing typically in every way except language. They usually have typical intelligence but may struggle with various aspects of development because of the difficulties that they experience with communication.

There are many types of communication disorders. The most common types are:

• Language disorders:
  • Receptive language disorder;
  • Expressive language disorder;
  • Apraxia.
  • Articulation disorders;
  • Fluency disorders;

Having a communication disorder can have serious impact on development:

• Cognitive skills: most children who have a CD have typical intelligence, but many have IQ scores (see full Glossary) that fall in the low average range. Also, because cognition and language are related, delays in language could impact the development of some cognitive skills, such learning about colors (Fig. 1), shapes and other concepts;
• Academic skills: most of what children learn in school (for example, reading and writing) is language-based. Delays in language could have a negative impact on language development ;
• Social/emotional: social skills are related to good language skills. Most of us communicate with others by using language, so  a language delay could have a negative impact on the child’s social skills. Children who have difficulties with their social skills may have low self-esteem and poor self-confidence, which affects their emotional skills.

Figure 1. Colour wheel

In the next sections, we will discuss the major types of CD.