It's like my ds is not a native English speaker

[razorbackmama]

My oldest has been diagnosed with Mixed Receptive-Expressive Language Disorder. When he was evaluated, they found that he struggled with idioms and figures of speech, so naturally that is what his therapy is focusing on. Inferences are difficult at well. But really it goes into just everyday usage of words too. Are any of y'all familiar with these sort of examples, so I can figure out how to best help him?

 

Example 1: My fil and ds were e-mailing back and forth, prior to a visit we made to fil's house. Fil said something like, "Maybe you'll get a buck or a doe." Ds replied, "Yes, a buck or a doe, or maybe a deer too.":confused: When fil was telling me about it, he thought maybe ds didn't know what a buck or a doe was, which struck him as odd, since he's 13. But I told him that yes, ds DOES know what a buck or a doe is. So that made us even MORE confused...why did he need to say "or a deer too?"

 

Example 2: Ds posted the following on his youth director's FB page: Hey i heard you took a job interview at the christian book store on m street. Did you pass?

 

When I read that, it hit me - he sounds like someone whose native language is not English, and although he does speak English very well, he confuses certain words or can't quite figure out when to use them.

 

I've been wondering about CAPD as of late...would that show up in this sort of way?

 

Is there something I can do to help him? We do lots of vocabulary work, he's in speech/language therapy, we talk often about how words are used, etc. I have been trying to make a point of reading aloud to him more (which he HATES), to fill his head with the proper use of language.

 

Or might this be just a way that his MRELD is showing up, and there's not a lot I can do about it?:glare:

[peacefully]

Just wondering... You posted two examples of your son's writing. Does he speak this way too? I ask because when I was a high school English teacher, some of my students would write the most confusing, bizarre sentences. They didn't talk this way, but they wrote from such a different part of their brain.

[razorbackmama]

Just wondering... You posted two examples of your son's writing. Does he speak this way too? I ask because when I was a high school English teacher, some of my students would write the most confusing, bizarre sentences. They didn't talk this way, but they wrote from such a different part of their brain.

 

 

VERY good question!!! Yes, he talks like this too.

[Laurie]

In case you don't have it already, Scholastic has a dictionary of idioms that's been useful for us.

[razorbackmama]

Thanks! I will check that out.

[Leonor]

There is a set of books for idioms/sayings/similes that explains them visually with pictures. Here's a link to the amazon page. There's A Frog In My Throat, In a Pickle, etc. You can find them at the library.

 

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_27?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=there%27s+a+frog+in+my+throat&sprefix=there%27s+a+frog+in+my+throat

 

Yes, this can be part of an auditory processing issue as well. There is a subtype of apd that is Auditory Associate Deficit that children have some of these issues. Now that doesn't meant that is the type he has. Only a capd evaluation as described in When The Brain Can't Hear can assess which type, if any, might be affecting him.

[razorbackmama]

Thanks so much! And thanks for mentioning that auditory processing book - I found it at my library and have it reserved. I have 1 and potentially 3 others that I suspect with some form of an auditory processing disorder, so I can't wait to read it!