Understanding Social and Pragmatic Language Difficulties

Pediatric therapy will work with your child’s strengths and weaknesses to help them thrive

Have you noticed your child persistently doesn’t make eye contact when speaking? Do they struggle to stay on topic or often talk over others? Social communication isn’t an innate skill, and while some children pick up on it naturally, others need a little help. The pediatric therapists at Skills on the Hill in Washington DC, and Arlington, VA are here to offer that help!

Communication in social situations is an incredibly complex blend of verbal and nonverbal cues that can vary based not only on the individual but also on their family and wider culture. While, as an adult, it may feel like you’re navigating the complex dance of social communication on instinct, you actually learned all these behaviors as a child.

Some children struggle with learning these behaviors more than others, which can cause them to struggle in social situations. They may find it difficult to make friends or have trouble at school, so it’s important to seek treatment if you suspect your child has difficulties with social communication.

At Skills on the Hill, we can assess your child’s communication skills and work with them to ensure they learn the skills they need to thrive. Request an appointment with us today!

The symptoms of social communication disorder

When a child persistently struggles with verbal and nonverbal language in social settings, it’s often called social communication disorder. While that might sound alarming, it’s primarily a way to group a set of symptoms so children struggling with these skills can get the treatment they need more easily.

Several behaviors indicate a child isn’t picking up on social communication skills as quickly as their peers, including the following:

• Persistently struggling to make eye contact while communicating (if it only happens occasionally, they likely just feel uncomfortable in that particular situation)
• Difficulty processing verbal and nonverbal social cues
• Only understanding literal language and struggling with metaphors, ambiguity, or inferential language
• Struggling to take turns in a conversation and frequently talking over others
• A tendency to tell stories in a disjointed or confusing manner

If you notice any of these behaviors in your child, don’t panic! One study estimates that between 7% and 11% of eighth graders struggle with social communication disorder, so your child is absolutely not alone. Furthermore, treatment is available, and the dedicated pediatric therapists at Skills on the Hill can work with your child to further develop their social communication skills. 

How pediatric therapists can help your child communicate

The goal of treatment for social communication disorder, or any social language difficulties, is to help the child develop the skills needed to communicate with others more effectively. To do this, our pediatric therapists will capitalize on your child’s communication strengths while improving their weaknesses.

Treatment begins with a thorough assessment consisting of simple tests and observations. Sometimes, your child’s communication difficulties may have another explanation (hearing loss, for example), at which point we can offer additional guidance. The assessment will also give us a sense of the severity of your child’s symptoms and their strengths and weaknesses. With this information, we’ll better tailor their treatment to suit their specific needs.

Our pediatric therapists can use several different treatment modalities to give your child the communication boost they need! We’ll work closely with your child to determine what treatment options will help them the most. Here are just a few of the approaches we might take:

• Behavioral techniques, in which we’ll modify existing behaviors through selective reinforcement
• Social communication intervention, in which we help your child set specific social goals, then carry them out
• Comic strip conversations, in which we use comic strips to illustrate how social communications work
• Computer- and video-based instruction
• Social skills groups, in which a group of children with social communication disorder interacts with each other under the guidance of a facilitator

No matter the specific area where your child is struggling, our team of dedicated pediatric therapists in Washington, DC and Arlington, VA  will help them build the skills they need to thrive in childhood and beyond.

Request an appointment with Skills on the Hill today

At Skills on the Hill, we understand seeing your child struggle in social situations can be challenging. The good news is that with regular pediatric therapy, your child can learn to communicate effectively with others, helping them to thrive for the rest of their lives.

To help your child learn to communicate in all kinds of social settings, request an appointment with Skills on the Hill today!

Sources:

https://www.asha.org/practice-portal/clinical-topics/social-communication-disorder

https://pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/2020_PERSP-20-00147

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-020-04737-4