Expressive language disorders can be described as when a child has difficulties with utilizing verbal and spoken language to communicate with peers and others. This may include describing their thoughts and feelings. While they may be able to understand what people are saying to them, they express difficulties with responding to their own ideas back in conversation. This can also affect their written language skills.
Receptive language disorders on the other hand can be described as when a child is having difficulties with understanding verbal and spoken language that he or she is hearing.
Generally, children will have both disorders at the same time and typically be diagnosed between 3 and 5 years of age. It is important to note that learning another language or more than one language does NOT cause a language disorder in children. However, if a child has a language disorder in one language, they will typically have the same problems in all languages.