If you’ve ever tried to have a conversation with someone who just didn’t seem to understand what you were saying, you’re probably familiar with how frustrating it can be both for you and for the other person. Children can also have trouble understanding others as they learn and develop their speech and language skills. But sometimes they can still struggle following directions or answering questions—even simple ones. This can be caused by a receptive language disorder, which impacts a child’s ability to understand what others are communicating to them. Keep reading to learn more about receptive language and how our experts at Dynamic Therapy Specialists can help if your child has a receptive language disorder.

Receptive language disorder is a communication disorder where a child has difficulties understanding spoken language. Children with receptive language disorder may struggle to comprehend verbal instructions, follow conversations, or grasp the meaning of words and sentences.

For example, if you tell your child to “go get your shoes and put them on,” but they look confused and can’t do what you’ve asked, they may have a receptive language disorder.

The exact causes of receptive language disorder can vary and may include genetic factors or developmental delays. Some children may experience a receptive language disorder as a result of other underlying conditions, such as autism spectrum disorder, hearing impairment, or auditory processing disorder.

There is no singular known cause for fluency disorders. Some children may struggle with fluency if other people in their family also do, while others may experience fluency challenges after an injury to their brain or nervous system. Even though the exact cause is unknown, there are many ways that pediatric speech-language pathologists can help children overcome fluency disorders.

The most common signs of a receptive language disorder include:

At Dynamic Therapy Specialists, we take a holistic approach to pediatric therapy. Rather than simply teaching children how to compensate for the skills they struggle with, we take a bottom-up approach by focusing on remediation first. By evaluating the foundational areas of your child’s speech and language development, we can identify and address the root causes of their receptive language challenges.

Think of it this way: you have to learn to walk before you can learn to run. It’s not that you can’t learn how to run, but if you never learned how to walk first, you’ll be missing the basics that you need to support learning how to run. By prioritizing skill remediation over compensation, we empower children to build a strong foundation for future growth and development.