Aphasia Language Disorders in Children
Aphasia is an acquired language disorder that impairs a child’s ability to speak and understand others. It can affect their ability to think of the right word, to express ideas and to understand what they hear or read. Indications of aphasia in children are categorized as receptive (i.e., the ability to understand others) and expressive (i.e., the ability to speak). If a child is experiencing any of the following problems, this may indicate an aphasia language disorder.
Receptively:
- Difficulty following directions and/or completing instructions
- Difficulty comprehending long or complex sentences
- Difficulty comprehending the meaning/context of words or sentences
- Difficulty distinguishing different sounds
- Does not appear to be listening to others; appears to be ignoring others
- Is unable to keep up with peers, either in school or socially
- Exhibits behavioural problems in and out of school
- Easily distracted/drifts off when listening to others
- Exhibits forgetfulness
Expressively:
- Uses poor sentence/grammar structure
- Speech is devoid of meaningful content
- Confuses meaning/grammar
- Uses short simple sentences
- Has trouble making their point
- Difficulty initiating/participating in conversations
- Difficulty remembering/relaying information
- Difficulty completing verbal and written stories/assignments
- Difficulty coming up with the correct words
To read more about how our therapists help our children at Canoe Therapy, read Anna Mersov’s post about helping children to improve their narrative skills.
