Language = Ways children and adults express themselves through words, writing, signing or other gestures (expressive), or how they receive, comprehend and understand questions (receptive).
Speech = Pitch, loudness and quality of your child’s speech when using the muscles of the lips, tongue and jaw.
Identifying expressive and receptive language challenges in your child is essential for their development. Parents and teachers have noticed certain signs that indicate struggles in children, which may necessitate professional assistance or further observation to gauge their progress. To help you recognize such challenges, a checklist of signs and indicators is provided for assessing potential learning development gaps in your child.
A general speech and language delay is the most common cause of a child’s speech and language delay. Children with this type of delay often learn at a slower pace than other children his or her age. It is most likely a temporary situation and can be resolved with some speech therapy and at-home activities. Children who eventually develop speech and language skills can quickly catch up to their peers.