Impaired Communication Ability
We speak of impaired communication ability if one of the levels of language expression is impaired in the child, and this impairment to different extents negatively influences the implementation of the communicative intent.
Problems may occur on the following language levels:
| Phonetic-phonological level |
– sound-related aspects of speech, pronunciation of vowels and consonants |
| Morphologic-syntactic level |
– grammar-related aspects of speech, reflects the overall level of intellectual development of the child |
| Lexical-semantic level |
– content-related aspects of speech, vocabulary |
| Pragmatic level |
– social exercise of communication skills |
The above language levels mutually overlap in the development of the child’s speech.
The following aspects of communication may be impaired:
• expressive component of speech (expression) or
• receptive component of speech (understanding speech)
• or both of these components at once.
Impaired communication ability may be either:
• congenital (e.g. palatolalia), or
• acquired (e.g. elective mutism).
It may also be a symptom of another dominant illness or disorder (e.g. mental or physical disability) – in such cases, we refer to symptomatic speech disorders. Impairment may be complete or partial, the individual may realize it, but may also not (e.g. in the case of tumultus).
Manifestations of a child’s behavior considered physiological at a given age should not be regarded as impaired communication ability, and are therefore natural development:
- For instance, in the period between the ages of 3 and 4, physiological problems with fluency may occur.
- Up to age 4, we also can talk of physiological dysgrammatism (insufficiently developed ability to form grammatically correct word forms).
- Incorrect pronunciation, skipping or switching pronounced sounds before age 5 cannot be considered impaired communication ability.