Pragmatics and social language difficulties

Pragmatic language encompasses the social aspects of your child's communication skills, including conversation exchanges, turn-taking, maintaining eye contact, asking questions, staying on topic, and using appropriate language for different situations. Nonverbal social language involves facial expressions, gestures, body language, and respecting personal space during interactions.

Who might benefit from speech therapy targeting pragmatics?

- Children struggling with turn-taking in conversations.

- Children having difficulty staying on topic during discussions.

- Children experiencing challenges in providing appropriate responses, using correct body language, gestures, and facial expressions.

- Children facing difficulties understanding abstract ideas and language, such as idioms.

- Children having trouble referencing and providing background information during communication.

A speech-language pathologist can conduct a comprehensive evaluation to identify signs of expressive language disorders related to pragmatic skills. Following the assessment, the clinician can recommend ongoing therapy services tailored to address the child's specific needs and enhance their expressive language skills.