A child with developmental language deficits can present with either a receptive (difficulty understanding), an expressive (difficulty expressing) language disorder, or a mixed receptive-expressive language disorder). Children may also present as functionally nonverbal, indicating that they communicate with very little or complete absence of verbalizations or functional speech. Early evaluation and subsequent speech therapy sessions on a regular basis help in yielding the most effective outcome.

Adults can also experience deficits in receptive and/or expressive language, often as a result of neurological damage such as a stroke, and can greatly benefit from speech therapy to relearn comprehension and production of language skill.

At Cornerstone, we address limited language skills or presence of nonverbal status with a highly interactive approach. A play therapy model is often used with children, allowing for a variety of interactive opportunities to increase comprehension and expression of language, either verbally or through use of an augmentative device as necessary.