Receptive speech disorder: causes, symptoms, diagnosis

Receptive speech disorder is one of the forms of specific speech and language development disorder, in which speech comprehension with intact physical hearing is significantly below the level corresponding to the child's mental development.

Synonym: mixed expressive/impressive language disorder.

ICD-10 code

F80.2 Receptive language disorder.

What causes receptive language disorders?

The cause of the disorder is unknown. Patients show multiple signs of cortical insufficiency. The main affected area of the brain is the temporal lobe of the dominant hemisphere.

Symptoms of Receptive Language Disorder

Early signs of the disorder include the inability to respond to familiar names in the absence of non-verbal cues. Severe forms of the disorder become apparent by the age of two, when the child is unable to follow simple instructions. Children do not develop phonemic perception, do not differentiate phonemes, and do not perceive words as wholes. The child hears but does not understand speech addressed to him. Outwardly, they resemble deaf children, but unlike them, they respond adequately to non-verbal auditory stimuli. They demonstrate the ability to socially interact. They can engage in role-playing games and use sign language to a limited extent. This level of receptive speech disorder is usually defined as sensory alalia. With sensory alalia, a connection between a word and an object, a word and an action is not formed. The result is a delay in mental and intellectual development. In its pure form, sensory alalia is quite rare.

In this type of disorder, bilateral EEG abnormalities are quite common. In this variant, concomitant emotional and behavioral disorders (increased anxiety, social phobias, hyperactivity, and inattention) are most often observed.

Differential diagnosis of receptive speech disorders

Differentiation from secondary disorders caused by deafness is based on audiometric examination data and the presence of qualitative signs of speech pathology.

Differentiation from acquired aphasia or dysphasia caused by neurological pathology is based on the statement of the period of normal speech development before the injury or other exogenous-organic effects of the manifestation of the endogenous organic process. In doubtful cases, instrumental methods (EEG, EchoEG, MRI of the brain, CT of the brain) are used to conduct differential diagnostics and establish the anatomical lesion.

Differentiation with general developmental disorders is based on such signs as the absence of internal language in children with general developmental disorders; imaginary play, inadequate use of gestures, disturbances in the non-verbal sphere of intelligence, etc.

Differentiation with childhood autism is based on the absence of qualitative disorders of social interaction.

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