Dealing With Speech and Language Disorders

Speech and language disorders are disabilities that we often forget to address in special-needs ministry. We can look at a child entering in a wheelchair and know that physical support is needed. A child coming in with a feeding tube will have us quickly asking caregivers questions to keep the child safe.

A language disorder, however, is one that is not obvious at first glance. We can’t look at a child and know what to do. Most students coming into our special-needs ministries will have either a language disorder or delay. Speech and language disorders often co-occur with autism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome, intellectual disabilities, multiple disabilities, and more. In this post, I’ll give you 3 tips for working with children with speech and language disorders.

1) Listen to the Child

When we hear the term “speech disorder”, we often think that the child will be hard to understand. This isn’t always the case, but let’s start out with it.

Start by talking to parents and caregivers about how the child communicates. If the child is hard to understand, parents and caregivers can tell us what to listen for or let us know what the child’s favorite words are.

Listen intently to the child. Use context to help “hear” what the child is saying. Children who are hard to understand can be easily frustrated and stop trying to communicate with us.

For children who are hard to understand, careful listening and using nonverbal cues such as nodding or smiling can acknowledge what they are saying and help establish a relationship.

2) Talk at the Child’s Level

Children will let us know what they can understand and say. If a child is only using a few words, don’t go into a long story about the whole life of Moses. Pick out a key concept and repeat it. It may be only three words long, such as “Moses obeyed God.”

If we give too much detail and use long sentences, the children will tune us out. Simplifying language is an easy way to connect with a child with a language disorder.

And if you read this tip thinking you need to physically be at the child’s level, that’s not a bad idea.

3) Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

It takes at least 12 repetitions for typically developing children to learn and process new words and concepts. It can take up to 45-75 or more repetitions for children with language disorders. That’s a lot of saying, “God loves you,” over and over again. If we are going to reach children, those repetitions must be done.

If volunteers are getting bored repeating key concepts, turn it into a game. See which volunteer can meaningfully work in the key concept the most times.

Intentional listening and acknowledgement, simplifying language, and repetitions are three ways to reach children with Biblical concepts.

Laura Deeken, All Y’all Need Co-Creator

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