Expressive Language Delay: Everything You Need To Know

As parents and caregivers, we keep a close eye on our children’s development. Milestones like first steps and first words are easily recognized, but as their language develops, you may wonder if their communication skills are typical for their age. Your child may understand what others are saying, yet struggle to use words the way that you’d expect. You may even find yourself asking: "What's going on with my child’s communication?”. In this blog post, we will break down the topic of expressive language delay.

What is Expressive Language Delay?

Expressive language Delay refers to a challenge that children face in expressing themselves. Their ability to understand language (receptive language) is fine, but they struggle to express themselves using spoken language, gestures, writing, or other forms of communication. In other words, children with an expressive language delay may understand conversation, directions, or questions but struggle to respond in a socially typical way.

When a child is developing their expressive language skills at a slower rate than their peers, it is considered an expressive language delay. They still may catch up to their peers. When these struggles continue into school age and affect their ability to communicate, they may be diagnosed with expressive language disorder.

How to know if my child has a Expressive Language Delay

Some of the signs of an expressive language delay include:

Using single words or very short phrases compared to their peers

Example: “want cookie” vs. “I want a cookie please”.

Struggling with correct grammar. Sentences may sound choppy due to leaving out or misusing key verb tenses.

Limited vocabulary

Example: Using “that” and “thing” instead of the correct words for the objects.

Difficulty with language sequencing.

Example: when retelling a story or describing an event, they have trouble doing so in the correct order.

Pointing or using gestures frequently instead of verbalizing what they want, even though they seem to understand what's happening around them.

Social difficulties that result in fewer friends and hesitance to speak. Sometimes the hesitance to speak is misinterpreted as just being shy.

If your child is showing any of the above examples of expressive language delay, it would be beneficial to schedule them for a speech evaluation.

How to Treat Expressive Language Delay

The effects of expressive language delay will vary from mild to severe, with some resulting in a diagnosis of expressive language disorder. The good news is that early and focused intervention can make a significant difference.

Assessment and Diagnosis

The first step is a thorough evaluation with a speech-language pathologist (SLP). The SLP will assess their expressive language skills as well as their receptive language skills, vocabulary, grammar, social communication, and cognitive abilities. Most times, expressive language delays are present while receptive language skills are age-appropriate. If the child can understand the language to their age-appropriate level yet not express themselves at that same level, there is a good possibility that they have an expressive language delay.

Customized Therapy Plan

The SLP will develop a therapy plan that is individualized to the child’s needs and goals. The treatment plan may include:

Modeling correct language structure (vocabulary and grammar) in play and everyday activities.

Repetition and reinforcement

Guided practice in using language in social situations.

Sequencing activities

Working on sentence expansion. For example: transforming “want coat” to “I want my coat”.

Family Involvement

Families play a key role in the speech therapy process. Working with Great Speech makes that easier than ever, as we offer our services virtually (you can read more about the benefits of virtual speech therapy in our blog titled: How Effective Is Virtual Speech Therapy?). Strategies to reinforce what is taught in speech therapy may include:

Expanding on the child’s speech. If your child says “car go”, you can respond “Yes, the red car is going fast”.

Increasing exposure to language by reading together, asking open-ended questions, and speaking in longer and more complex sentences.

Creating opportunities for your child to participate in conversations. Ask them to describe what they are doing or to plan activities.

Encouraging turn-taking in conversations, with patience and time for them to respond, and celebrate when they do.

Monitoring and Adjustment

Progress is not always linear. At Great Speech, our SLPs will have regular check-ins with the child and their caregivers to track progress and adjust goals and strategies accordingly.

Does Speech Therapy Help With Expressive Language Delay?

Yes, speech therapy does help with expressive language delays, and early intervention often leads to better outcomes. A child who receives targeted therapy with a skilled SLP can see many improvements in vocabulary, grammar, sentence length, and overall expressive language skills. Our speech therapists at Great Speech are experts in virtual speech therapy for a variety of language delays and disorders. Book an Appointment to get started!