Receptive Language
What is Receptive Language?
The term “receptive language” simply refers to one’s ability to take in what he hears, and to listen, understand it, and remember it. In the first few years of life, a child’s ability to learn and understand words and concepts grows rapidly. However, there are times when a parent senses that his child does not understand as well as he should. Perhaps the child doesn’t seem to recognize the name of a person or object he has heard many times. Or maybe when asked to follow a simple direction, the child gets confused or does the wrong thing. Possibly the child uses the wrong concept words to describe, as when he says, “I’m cold.”, when he really means that he is hot. When a child just doesn’t seem to “catch on” as expected, we would be happy to evaluate him to determine his receptive language abilities.
(http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/communicationdevelopment.htm)
How do you test Receptive Language Skills?
First of all, it is important to rule out any possible hearing difficulties which may contribute to the child’s delay (Please refer to our information on Hearing for additional information.)
An evaluation for receptive language for a young child may involve simply observing the child and completing a rating scale. As a child becomes a little older, formal testing can be administered. This assessment usually involves following directions, pointing to pictures, and responding to questions.
What do the results of testing tell you?
After such an assessment, we can provide you with an estimate of your child’s receptive language age and let you know if therapy is warranted. If your child requires therapy, we would create a program designed to strengthen his skills. During our therapy sessions, we present the child with activities that may target improving his listening skills, building the child’s understanding of vocabulary and concepts, providing strategies and exercises for increasing memory skills, and increasing his ability to follow directions. We also give the child home activities and provide the family with general information for helping to develop the child’s skills.
What can I do to help?
The type of support for a child with receptive language weakness is dependent upon his particular areas of difficulty. Following are some suggestions:
1. The child who does not respond. When a child does not respond to a question, direction, or conversation, it should not be assumed that the child cannot do so. It is up to the adult to determine the reason why the child does not respond at a particular moment. Questions to ask yourself are: Did the child hear me? Was the child distracted/attending to something else? Is the child just ignoring me? Does the child not realize that I am expecting a response? Were there words in my language that the child did not understand? Was my message too long/complex for the child to understand and process?
After the child does not respond the first time, it is helpful for the parent to approach the child, get down on his level while encouraging eye contact, and gently repeat the message. If the child still does not respond, see if you can simplify your message. Following are some examples:
Parent: It is so nice outside today. How about we take a stroll in the neighborhood?
Child: (no response)
Parent: (getting down to the child’s level) Do you want to take a walk with me?
Child: Yes!
Parent: Before we eat, I need you to pick up all of your toys, put them in the toy box, go upstairs and change into your pajamas.
Child: (continues to play)
Parent: (getting down to the child’s level) Let’s put the toys in the toy box. What are we going to do?
Child: Put the toys away.
Parent: Good. (toys are put away) Now, put on your pajamas.
Child: OK
2. The child who does not easily remember. Poor memory abilities affect both children and adults. In our therapy sessions, we provide exercises and strategies for developing memory skills. At home, it is important to keep in mind the child’s weakness when asking him to follow directions. Instructions should be broken down into single steps or more, depending upon how much the child can remember. It is also helpful to ask the child to repeat a direction once or twice before completing it. This “rehearsal” not only helps him better recall the instruction, but it also allows you to determine if the child did in fact understand the direction.
Weak memory skills have the potential to affect the child in the classroom and when completing homework assignments. Some children need to hear or read information more than once to recall it. We find that helping the child to become a more active listener or reader aids the comprehension and recall process. It is helpful to use strategies such as visualization (where the child tries to imagine what he hears or reads) and association (relating new information to known information).
3. The child who has a weak vocabulary. Children with language deficiencies often need to hear or read a new word many more times than children without such weaknesses, before that word becomes a part of his vocabulary. For young children, it is important to talk about what you and the child are doing, seeing, and experiencing. A new word should be brought to the child’s attention and used a few different ways. Following is a sample dialog:
Parent: Look, there’s an acorn. The acorn fell from that tree. Let’s find some more acorns. I found another acorn.
Child: I found two acorns. This one looks different.
Parent: That acorn lost its cap. See the cap on this one? It looks like a little hat.
Child: Uh-oh, this acorn lost its cap, too!
Older children may need help with the vocabulary related to school work. If the words are not understood, comprehension and grades are sure to suffer. It is important to make sure your child realizes the need to let someone (you, the teacher) know when he does not understand something. It is also crucial to help your child attend to new words, perhaps by creating a special “new word” journal and learning self-reliance skills with a dictionary.
Most of all, it is important that a child with some receptive language weaknesses develop a good self esteem and self image. Sometimes such struggles serve to deflate a child’s ego. Allow the child to focus on all the things he does well, praise him for his hard work, and support him whenever possible.