Mixed Receptive-Expressive Language Disorder

[*LC]

Okay, I just typed a long post with the results of my daughter's neuropsych testing, but it seems to have disappeared. I guess it was a hint to skip to the important stuff.

 

She is nine and diagnosed with mixed receptive-expressive disorder. I know I've seen that here, but my search didn't pull up much. So, what would you want to know if your were new to this diagnosis. What helped? What didn't?

 

This child just started in public school for reasons unrelated to her. In theory, she qualifies for an IEP, because of a brain abnormality. I have given the school the report, but I haven't pushed the IEP yet. I think it will be necessary, because everything at this school is words based. For example, even math is wordy. It is not just word problems. A lot of the fact work is presented in word form if that makes sense.

 

Thanks

[AHASRADA]

:bigear:

 

I am on a waiting list to have my dd11 tested by an SLP for the same disorder (she has already been diagnosed with severe dyslexia).

 

I have been able to find plenty of resources to improve her reading and fluency, but am eagerly awaiting testing and (hopefully) recommendations for how to help her comprehend the material I read aloud to her, the dialogue in movies and documentaries, and to increase her vocabulary as well as recall.

 

So, I am hoping other members of the Hive will have experience in this area and have some useful recommendations.

 

In the meatime, :grouphug:.

[Renee in NC]

Honestly, Mixed Reveptive-Expressive Language Disorder is a symptom of a problem, not the problem itself. The real problem is whatever is causing the language delay. I would keep digging if the neuropsych didn't give you anymore detail than that.

 

I have two with the same disorder. One was caused by severe ADHD that was remedied with proper medication and speech therapy. He made little to no progress until he was medicated - now, a year later, he is being discharged from his SLP and no longer has the language diagnosis.

 

My other ds has very severe auditory processing disorder (below the 1st percentile.) He also has the same mixed expressive-receptive disorder. His therapy is ongoing.

 

Both also have dyslexia.

 

The IEP will get your child in-school speech services, but I would recommend you get private speech and language if at all possible. You can probably get accomodations for testing, reading, etc.

[*LC]

Honestly, Mixed Reveptive-Expressive Language Disorder is a symptom of a problem, not the problem itself. The real problem is whatever is causing the language delay. I would keep digging if the neuropsych didn't give you anymore detail than that.

 

I have two with the same disorder. One was caused by severe ADHD that was remedied with proper medication and speech therapy. He made little to no progress until he was medicated - now, a year later, he is being discharged from his SLP and no longer has the language diagnosis.

 

My other ds has very severe auditory processing disorder (below the 1st percentile.) He also has the same mixed expressive-receptive disorder. His therapy is ongoing.

 

The IEP will get your child in-school speech services, but I would recommend you get private speech and language if at all possible. You can probably get accomodations for testing, reading, etc.

 

Renee,

 

I hear what you are saying.

 

Where would I look for something else causing the language disorder? Does neuropsychological testing normally address auditory processing? I have pages of results, but I don't see anything called audiotory processing. Her ranking on the OWLS Oral and Written Language Scale for Listening Comprehension is less than 1 percent. They also have a number of tests for verbal memory, and her scores on those range from 2 percent to 25 percent.

 

My daughter had mild hydrocephalus that never required treatment. I think in her case the assumption is the resulting malformnation of her brain caused the language disorder. In fact, the report says, "The ventricles in the brain are important for providing a smooth flow of chemicals that bathe the brain. If the ventricles are large, it means they are crowding out other important area that are crucial for development. In this child, her language area appears to have been affected so that she qualifies for a diagnosis of Mixed Receptive-Expressive Language Disorder. While she has compensated well for those issues with her nonverbal strenghts, there are still major gaps in her ability to process complex verbal information and to prodcue it."

 

It also states this abnormal brain development has caused a form of "acquired" attention disorder. She has started medication. I don't know if it is helping at school, but it is making her difficult at home.

 

She already has an IEP for speech, and she has been in speech therapy for 6-1/2 years. It has done wonders for her articulation and understandability, but it has not helped with these language issues.

 

It is conference time at the school, and I am going to start the process for an IEP for assistance for this disorder. I have met with her teachers before when they were concerned about her reading comprehension. This was after I had given them the neuropsychological report. They had wanted to increase the level of assistance she is given in notches. I haven't seen any difference in what/how she does in her work. So, I think it is time to start the process.

 

With the testing results, I have been changing how she studies at home. She has vocab tests in science and social studies. I have her draw something to remind her of the definition. We then study the words in related batches. After a week of study, we put all the words together. Then, in a couple of days, she is able to do them without the cards, if the cards are nearby. She still can't tell you the definition, but she can give you the word when given the definition. For some reason, her tests don't come home, so I don't know how this translates into a written test. I do know she knows the words.

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

[rafiki]

.

[Crimson Wife]

Auditory Processing Disorder testing is typically done by an audiologist with special training. You may need to travel to a children's hospital to find an AudD. who does it.

[peacefully]

.

[MomtoMERLD]

My daughter has MERLD. We took her to Success in Mind in NC and they diagnosed her with it. Their recommendations were intensive language therapy, moving to the front of the class, significant classroom modifications, etc. They did indicate that although she has this, she can still perform very well with the modifications. She also has an attention problem, but the real question is which one is the cart and which is the horse. I am a believer in her case that the attention is the cart and the language issues are the horse. I don't have any good recommendations at this point. We have been in speech/language therapy now for years and we have been working with a Learning Specialist. All this helped some and probably more than if we had done nothing. One thing I can say for sure is that a typical classroom does NOT work for MERLD. To understand it more, it is like speaking English in France...you pick up some words but not all of them. And that makes it hard to process. She does well working one on one or in a small group setting. I took her out of private school and am homeschooling her now. It's still a struggle but she DEFINITELY works better one on one. I know I didn't help much!