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Communication Disorders: Not Much Talked About!

HELLO, Everyone

In today's post I'll be talking about 'Communication Disorders'. In my previous posts we have read about what is Communication and the barriers in effective communication. These two parts are interdependent and we have seen the whole communication process as a whole in these two. If you haven't read up here are the links: How Do We Communicate? & Modes of Comm. & Common barriers.

Now we are going to know, what are Communication disorders.? These come under the clinical domain of the very topic. Communication disorders by it's name depicts the inability to communicate with others. And please note that, these are not just the barriers in communication. These are clinical pathological condition of a person (mainly children), who are not able to communicate with others.



Children with Communication Disorders (formerly known as developmental speech and language disorders) have difficulty in producing speech sounds, using spoken language to communicate with others or in understanding what other people say. In DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual), communication disorders include the diagnostic subcategories of Expressive Language Deficits (under Language Disorder), Mixed Receptive-Expressive Deficits, Speech Sound Disorder (formerly known as Phonological Disorder), Child-Onset Fluency Disorder (Stuttering). These subcategories are distinguished by the exact nature of the child's impairment.

The detailed explanation of each disorder has been given below:

Expressive Language Deficits (under Language Disorder): Expressive language deficits are present when a child demonstrates a selective deficit in expressive language development relative to receptive language skills and nonverbal intellectual function. This disorder occurs when a child's language mature at least 12 months behind their chronological age and is not associated with another known disorder such as intellectual disability. Children's language development follows specific steps, although every child has their specific time period to process through the steps at a different rate. A defining characteristic is that, the discrepancy between what children understand (receptive language) and what they are able to say (expressive language). The linguistic abilities of children with this disorder vary significantly, based on the severity. Speaking begin late, progress slowly in their development, vocabulary is mostly limited and they use short sentences and simple grammatical structures, when they should have reached that developmental stage. Children with expressive language disorder do not suffer from mental retardation or any of the pervasive developmental disorders that affect speech and language.

Mixed Receptive-Expressive Deficits: Children with both receptive and expressive language impairment may have impaired ability both in sound discrimination and in auditory processing. They also might have poor memory for sound sequences. Children with mixed receptive-expressive disturbance exhibit impaired skills in the expression and reception (understanding and comprehension) of spoken language. The expressive difficulties in the children suffering with this particular disorder may be similar to those of children with only expressive language deficit. Children with receptive language difficulties could also be experiencing additional deficits in basic auditory processing skills, like discriminating between sounds, rapid sound changes, association of sounds and symbols, and the memory of sound sequences (Kaplan & Sadock, 11e). These deficits may lead to a bunch of communication barriers for a child. In severe cases, the child's ability to understand basic vocabulary or simple sentences maybe impaired, and there may be deficits in auditory processing of sound and symbols, storage, recall and sequencing (APA,2000).

Speech Sound Disorder (formerly known as Phonological Disorder): Children with speech sound disorder (DSM-V) have difficulty pronouncing speech sounds correctly due to omissions of sounds, distortions of sounds, or atypical pronunciation. Formerly called as phonological disorder, typical speech disturbances in speech sound disorder include removing the last sounds of the word or substituting one sound for another sound. Distortions in produced sounds by the children, can occur when they allow too much air to flow from the side of their mouths while saying sounds like 'sh' or producing sounds like 's' or 'z' with their tongue protruded. Speech sound errors also occurs in patterns because a child has an interrupted airflow instead of a steady airflow which prevents their words to be pronounced. The diagnosis of a speech sound disorder is made by comparing the skills of a given child with the expected skill level of others of the same age.

Child-Onset Fluency Disorder (Stuttering): Child-onset fluency disorder (stuttering) usually begins during the first years of life and is characterized by disruptions in the normal flow of speech. Stuttering can include specific disruptions of fluency, including repetitions in sound or syllable, prolongation of sound, dysrhythmic phonations, and complete blocking or unusual pauses between sounds and syllables of words while speaking. In severe cases, the stuttering may be accompanied by accessory or secondary attempts to compensate such as respiratory activities, abnormal voice phonations, or tongue clicks. Associated behaviors, such as eye blinks, facial grimacing, head jerks, and abnormal body movements, can also be observed before or during the disrupted speech. Early intervention is important in the case of stuttering, because children who receive early intervention have been found to be more likely to have full resolution of their stuttering.

(References: DSM-V, Abnormal Psychology by Butcher, and Kaplan & Sadock, 11th Edition)

These are the subcategories of Communication disorders. Please note that, thorough and proper diagnosis is required before we can come to any conclusion about a child having any of these disorders. Psychologists do particular assessments to identify, if the child really having any of the communication disorders. Some children might take more time than others to develop their speech and language, but that doesn't mean that child is having any of these disorders. So, it's very much needed to be diagnosed by a professional and not by anyone's assumptions. Always seek professional help whenever in need or doubt.


Hopefully, I could impart some knowledge about this topic. These disorders are not well versed by people in our society, so I tried to put a little light upon these. Parents of new born kids should be aware of these. This will help you in understanding your kid's language or any issues they are having.

If you have any queries do write in the comments or write to me through Email/Dm (details given in pages beside home button).


Thank You & Take Care..😃

~ Angira Gupta

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