Communication

Disorder Fact
Sheet

IDEA Definition:
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act officially defines
speech and language impairments as a communication disorder such
a stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice
impairment that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

Academic, Social, Behavioral, Physical/Health:

Having a communication disorder can affect one’s social behavior in the
fact that it will be very difficult to communicate your needs to others.
Common Characteristics: Communication disorder traits start to become
prominent at a young age. Some characteristics include: Problems with following
verbal directions, difficulty with pre-academic skills, phonics problems, poor
word attack skills, difficulties with structural analysis, problems learning new
materials, word substitutions, deficits in reading comprehension, inability to
understand abstract concepts, difficulty connecting old learning to new learning.

Educational Approach:
When teaching people with communication disorders you must pay close attention
to the words you are using. You must teach them specific key words to pay
attention to, as well as how to ask questions. Children with communication
disorders need help with figuring out the concept/ answer, and also with knowing
how to put their answer into words. Another method of teaching students with
communication disorders is through categorization. For instance, you could make
a language model for a student with a communication disorder that’s categorized
into certain conversation/academic subjects.

Instructional Strategies:
Language Models, allow sufficient time to process information (just to make
sure they understand the meaning of words), Opportunities to interact with
peers/adults, Organizational tools, Wait-time (extended), Encouragement,
Positive enforcement, Visual supports – written and gestures.