Auditory Deficits ( including Central Auditory Processing Disorder and Hearing Loss) often affect an individual's receptive and expressive language. Speech Disorders and Language Disorders : A speech disorder refers to a problem with the actual production of sounds, whereas a language disorder refers to a difficulty understanding or putting words together to communicate ideas.
Speech disorders include:
Articulation disorders: difficulties producing sounds in syllables or saying words incorrectly to the point that listeners can't understand what's being said.
Fluency disorders: problems such as stuttering, in which the flow of speech is interrupted by abnormal stoppages, repetitions (st-st-stuttering), or prolonging sounds and syllables (ssssstuttering).
Resonance or voice disorders: problems with the pitch, volume, or quality of the voice that distract listeners from what's being said. These types of disorders may also cause pain or discomfort for a child when speaking.
Language disorders can be either receptive or expressive:
Receptive disorders: difficulties understanding or processing language.
Expressive disorders: difficulty putting words together, limited vocabulary, or inability to use language in a socially appropriate way.
Pragmatic Language/Social Language:
This is the area of language function that embraces the use of language in social contexts (knowing what to say, how to say it, and when to say it, and how to "be" with other people (Caroline Bowen, 2001). Deficits in pragmatic language are symptomatic of difficulty with use of eye contact, excessive talking about specific topics, unwarranted questioning, lack of interest in others, be short of the ability to observe perspectives, interpretation of facial expressions and body language, and often have literal concrete understanding of language.