Dysphasia is a specific, severe and lasting disorder of oral language. Rehabilitation, especially speech therapy, allows dysphasic children to progress despite the persistence of this disorder into adulthood. 

Definition of dysphasia

Dysphasia or Primary Oral Language Disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder of oral language. This disorder causes a severe and lasting deficit in the development of production and / or understanding of speech and language. This disorder, which begins at birth, is present throughout life, to a greater or lesser extent depending on the treatment during childhood. 

There are several forms of dysphasia: 

• Expressive dysphasia which is characterized by difficulty in producing a message 
• Receptive dysphasia characterized by difficulty understanding a message 
• Mixed dysphasia: difficulty producing and understanding a message 

Causes 

Dysphasia is a specific disorder which is not due to an intellectual disability, an oral-oral malformation or an affective and / or educational paralysis or deficiency, nor to a hearing disorder or a communication disorder. 

Dysphasia is linked to a dysfunction of the cerebral structures dedicated specifically to language.  

Diagnostic

The diagnosis of dysphasia cannot be made before the child is 5 years old. It is indeed already necessary to check if the observed symptoms disappear after a speech therapy and if there is not another cause such as an intellectual deficit.

The diagnosis of dysphasia and its degree of severity are established by several specialists after an assessment and evaluation by various health professionals in an individual practice or a referent language center: attending physician or pediatrician, psychologist or neuropsychologist, speech therapist, psychomotor therapist. 

The people concerned 

About 2% of people are affected by dysphasia, mostly boys (Source: Inserm 2015). Boys are three times more affected than girls. Dysphasia affects at least one in 3 children of school age each year in France. It is estimated that 100% of adults have suffered from dysphasia and keep a language that is difficult to understand. 

Risk factors 

Dysphasia is said to have a genetic component. Oral language development disorders or written language learning difficulties are more frequently found in parents and / or siblings of children with dysphasia.

Oral language disorders

Children with dysphasia suffer from impaired oral language. They speak late, badly, and have difficulty expressing themselves orally.

Signs of dysphasia

• The child cannot find his words 
• The child expresses himself in short sentences, in telegraphic style (no more than 3 words), for example “me play truck”
• He speaks little
• He hardly asks questions 
• He has trouble expressing what he feels, what he wants, what he thinks
• We don’t understand what he’s saying 
• He has syntactic difficulties (turn of sentences)
• His words lack meaning and consistency 
• There is a big gap between his comprehension and his oral expression
• He doesn’t understand simple orders (give, take)

The dysphasic child communicates non-verbally 

Children with dysphasia try to overcome their difficulties in communicating by using non-verbal communication (gestures, facial expressions, drawings, etc.)

Disorders associated with dysphasia 

Dysphasia is often associated with other disorders such as dyslexia / dysorthography, attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity (ADD / HD) or / and coordination acquisition disorders (TAC or dyspraxia) . 

The treatment is mainly based on speech therapy, prolonged and ideally planned. This does not cure but it helps the child to compensate for his deficits. 

Speech therapy rehabilitation can be combined with support from other specialists: psychomotor therapist, occupational therapist, psychologist, orthoptist.

Dysphasia cannot be prevented. On the other hand, the earlier it is taken care of, the greater the benefits and the more the child with dysphasia is likely to follow a normal schooling.