Understanding and Expression
Here in Tayside, we know that every child is an individual and will develop their understanding and use of language at different times. Sometimes this can worry parents, but it is not always helpful to compare your child to others.
If your child communicates in other ways such as using gestures and facial expressions, this is a child who is likely to follow typical developmental patterns.
Understanding refers to a child’s ability to understand what is said and to follow instructions. Children gradually learn to understand longer and more complex sentences.
Expression means the ability to put thoughts into words and sentences, in a way that makes sense and is grammatically accurate. If your child is speaking in sentences but is difficult to understand.
If your child communicates in other ways such as using gestures and facial expressions, this is a child who is likely to follow typical developmental patterns.
Understanding refers to a child’s ability to understand what is said and to follow instructions. Children gradually learn to understand longer and more complex sentences.
Expression means the ability to put thoughts into words and sentences, in a way that makes sense and is grammatically accurate. If your child is speaking in sentences but is difficult to understand.
What to look out for
Understanding
The child may:
The child may:
- Not do as he is told
- Be very active
- Be quiet or withdrawn
- Have poor attention skills
- Rely on situations/routine/gesture/watching others
i.e. non-verbal cues to know what to do
- Follow what others do
- Have a lack of awareness of what is going on around him
- Gives inappropriate answers
- Echo what has been said to him
- Be very verbal, but the actual content of what he says may be limited
i.e. uses a great deal of social or learned phrases
Expression
The child may:
The child may:
- Rely on gesture/pointing instead of speech to communicate their needs
- Have a small vocabulary
- Be using mainly single words, with few two word combinations
- Still babble or use jargon words
- Not ask simple questions e.g. what, who, where questions
For further information on understanding and expression and how you can help your child talk please visit:
If you would like to check your child’s progress please click on the link below where you will then be asked a number of questions. Answer these as well as you can, and you will receive an indication of the progress of your child:
If you feel that your child is not meeting expected milestones, you can informally contact us for a chat via our facebook or twitter or phone us, please see our ‘contact us’ section for details or alternatively, complete our Request for Assistance form and return it to your local Speech and Language Therapy Department
If you would like to check your child’s progress please click on the link below where you will then be asked a number of questions. Answer these as well as you can, and you will receive an indication of the progress of your child:
If you feel that your child is not meeting expected milestones, you can informally contact us for a chat via our facebook or twitter or phone us, please see our ‘contact us’ section for details or alternatively, complete our Request for Assistance form and return it to your local Speech and Language Therapy Department