SOCIAL COMMUNICATION DIFFICULTIES

Speech-language pathologists (S-LPs) play a very important role in the assessment and treatment of preschoolers, school- aged children and adolescents with a social communication disorder.

Social communication difficulties occur in people with a distinct diagnosis such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Social Communication Pragmatic Disorder (social communication difficulties with no repetitive behaviors), social anxiety, ADHD, Severe Language Impairment (SLI) , language-based learning difficulties and more. In ASD in particular, social communication difficulties are a significant feature.

Children with a social communication disorder have difficulty with:

• Engaging in social interactions with others
• Understanding verbal and non-verbal cues
• Understanding someone else’s point of view
• Telling stories
• Expressing opinions
• School performance such as literacy

How Can a Speech-Language Pathologist Help?

Our speech-language pathologists are educated on the milestones and expectations at each stage of a child’s social communication development. The S-LP will take into consideration family and cultural differences and look at the child as a whole when determining whether there is a social communication issue. If so, therapy will be recommended.

Therapy may include:

• Learning social routines
• Learning how to make friends
• Social skills training (introductions, conversations, humor etc.)
• Group programming
• Parent training

S-LPs in all instances will provide education to families, teachers and other professionals to make sure there is more generalization of skills into the real world. They play a vital role in addressing this complex issue. Like all other communication issues, early identification by an S-LP can change the trajectory of a child’s social communication growth. SLP’s can make a difference in helping a child and adolescent reach their potential in social and academic situations.