Language is how we use words to convey and understand meaning, encompassing verbal, written, signed, or other communication forms. It includes receptive language (understanding oral or written communication) and expressive language (using language verbally or in writing).

Language involves five key domains: speech sounds, grammatical units (like plural -s), sentence structure, word meaning, and language use in conversation and writing. Language disorders occur when there is a breakdown in one or more of these areas. While language disorders can persist throughout life, symptoms may evolve, and effective speech-language therapy can significantly improve communication skills in spoken and written language.

Here are some common signs of language disorders in children:

• Following complex directions is hard, and Peter might only complete part of the direction.
• When Sarah tells you about what happened at school or on her play date, details are missing and you have a hard time following along.
• Jake often uses short sentences and nonspecific language, like “we played stuff,” instead of “first we played Candy Land, and then we went outside to the playground.”
• Carter has a hard time understanding nonliteral language in conversations with friends and family. Sarcasm, idioms, and metaphors are difficult to understand and cause communication breakdowns and frustration.
• School is becoming more frustrating as academics become more challenging. Christian likes being around his friends, but learning is hard.
• Isabella seems to be having a hard time learning to read and write. People keep telling you to just “wait and see,” but her frustration is telling you there might be something more going on.

Speech sound production is how we make words and sounds when we talk. It's how we can tell that “ball” and “tall” are different words. A child might have a speech sound disorder if they struggle to make sounds in words correctly. This might be due to motor skills, like trouble moving the tongue for the /k/ sound. Or it could be phonological, where a child simplifies words, like saying “tat” instead of “cat” or “tar” for “car.”  

Speech sound disorders are fairly common in children, and children typically progress well in skilled speech therapy. Children with speech sound disorders are at risk for challenges in reading and writing, so it's important to address these skills early on.

Here are some common signs of speech sound disorders in children:

• Armaan loves to talk, but you notice that he always says a "w" sound for "r," so "red" sounds like "wed."
• You can usually figure out what Greg is saying, but you're noticing that as he gets older and has more language, it's getting harder to understand him, not easier.
• Crystal always forgets to say the last part of words. You thought she'd grow out of it, but now she's in preschool and you notice the other kids say all the sounds in words.
• You notice that Emma has to repeat herself several times to others, and sometimes she still isn't successful. She gets frustrated and sometimes acts silly to avoid having to repeat herself.

Social communication involves using words, facial expressions, and body language for social interactions. It's about understanding others' feelings, adapting our words for different situations, following conversation rules, telling stories, and grasping figurative language like sarcasm or idioms.

Here are some common signs of weaknesses in social communication in children:

• Abby loves to meet new people, but she has difficulty knowing what to do when she approaches a group of kids playing.
• Joel gets really upset whenever someone is sarcastic with him. You try to explain that it's just a joke, but he doesn't seem to get it.
• When Jordan tells stories, he never thinks about what your do or don't know. You have to stop him several times to get background information that he assumes you knew.

Cognitive communication is all about how our thinking skills help us talk and understand others. Sometimes, people might have trouble with this because of how their brain works. Executive function skills like planning, problem solving, working memory, attention, and self-monitoring are important for both speaking and writing. Difficulties in executive function can happen for various reasons, like a head injury, ADHD, autism, or genetic disorders

Here are some common signs of weaknesses in cognitive communication in children:

• Carlos always has a hard time remembering what he's supposed to do for homework. You've even tried using a planner, but nothing seems to help.
• Erica always seems to rush through her projects at the last minute. Even if they were assigned weeks ago, and you gave reminders, she never seems to manage her time well enough to do the project over several days rather than all at once.
• You know that Marcus knows how to do these math problems, but it seems like he makes careless errors, and he never goes back to double check his work.