Social Pragmatic Disorders

Space City Speech

Was there a time that you observed that your child has difficulty maintaining normal conversations? Have you noticed that they don’t get along with their friends? Do they usually intervene or state things that appear off? 

When you answer ‘yes’ to those questions, your child may have a social pragmatic communication disorder.

How can pragmatic language skills be improved?

The following are strategies you can practice to improve your pragmatic skills to communicate and interact in the surroundings more efficiently:

• Develop your language skills – Meaning considering how you use and understand the words in conversations with others.
• Improve your nonverbal communication: Enhance your ability to understand others’ body language, such as gestures and facial expressions.
• Apply executive functioning – It means taking note of details, remaining organized, and using correct behaviors to progress with various tasks, all connect to improving your pragmatics.
• Use self-regulation techniques to help you acclimate – Practice self-awareness, meditation, and other healthy coping tactics for disturbing minutes to improve your overall mood.
• Ask for feedback and questions – Don’t forget to reach out for feedback from your friends and people in your surroundings to know if there are some changes. They can also give important insight on how you can improve more.

What is social pragmatic communication disorder?

A social pragmatic communication disorder is a neurodevelopmental condition, meaning it develops during our early development. It refers to considerable difficulties with both verbal and nonverbal social communication skills. 

A child with SPCD will generally have no difficulties understanding specific words, forming a word, and understanding grammar. However, they will have a hard time with “pragmatic” language. Pragmatics deals with utterances and is sometimes characterized as dealing with the effects of context. For instance, children must have the ability to use language in another way when talking to an elderly vs. to a kid of the same age. 

SPCD is likely to become more apparent as your kid grows and matures because problems with pragmatic language get easier to detect as children enter more complicated social situations. Therefore, some professionals advise delaying SPCD diagnosis until children reach the age of 4.

What are the symptoms of social pragmatic communication disorder?

The symptoms of SPCD occur in early childhood. It may not be utterly explicit that a child is showing signs until later in development. 

SPCD symptoms may vary depending on the child’s age, expected development stage, and communication context. Below are some symptoms of SPCD:

• Problems with adapting communication skills to various social contexts, like greetings and starting a conversation
• Telling and understanding stories
• Failure to switch between informal and formal language
• Difficulties with exchanging during conversations
• Problems understanding the verbal and nonverbal signs of others in an interaction like hand gestures and eye contact
• Having a hard time interpreting nonverbal language in a conversation like idioms, sarcasm, and inferences
• Inability to adjust tone or volume of speech to suit the social situation
• Having a hard time getting and keeping friends
• Difficulty expressing emotions or feelings, and failing to grasp the feelings of others
• Getting too close to people when they speak

When you possess one or more of the said signs doesn’t necessarily suggest you have the condition. To be diagnosed with this Social Pragmatic Communication Disorder, the symptoms should hugely prevent:

• interpersonal relationships
• socialization skills
• school
• work

What causes social pragmatic communication disorder?

At this moment, there is no exact cause of social pragmatic communication disorder. Like in the case of various brain dysfunctions, nobody can tell really as to why they happen. 

A kid could have a greater likelihood of having SPCD if they have a family history of communication disorders or certain learning disorders, or perhaps a family member who has autism. Social communication disorder can likewise manifest aside from other disorders, like ADHD, speech delay, and intellectual development disorder. 

SPCD isn’t associated with intelligence. Individuals who suffer from it are equally brilliant as other individuals. However, it can generate difficulties at school, at work, and in day-to-day life.

Is social pragmatic communication disorder on the autism spectrum?

A social pragmatic communication disorder is a newer discovery and a symptom of Autism Spectrum Disorder. However, SCD can happen in people who do not fit the diagnostic criteria for ASD. Pragmatic language skill is considered an area of common deficiency in ASD. Individuals with both ASD and SPCD have more than social communication challenges.

What is the difference between social pragmatic disorder and Autism?

Among the major distinctions between SPCD and ASD – and a warning for parents who think their child has ASD – is that kids with autism have problems with social communication and display repeated  and/or rowdy behaviors. 

Examples of repeated or rowdy behaviors:

• Repetitive behaviors, like twirling, flapping, rocking, or spinning
• An excessive attachment to routines and rituals
• Placing things very neatly  and/or interest in things being in a particular position or arrangement
• Repeating of words, syllables, sound, and/or phrases excessively
• Extreme and obsessive preoccupation with particular item or materials
• Strange responses to sensory stimulation, particularly sound and visual chaos
• Trouble engaging in pretend or creative activity
• Any interruption to the pattern, sequence, and schedule or an offense to their feelings can cause rude, sometimes assertive, tantrums with hostility being self-harm or passed on to others (or things) in their current surroundings.

Whereas children with SPCD only have social communication difficulties. Therefore, to reach a diagnosis of SCD, autism must be excluded. Put another way, social pragmatic communication disorder cannot be diagnosed alongside ASD and the other way around.

How to diagnose social pragmatic communication disorder?

Diagnosing social pragmatic communication disorder can be a lengthy, complicated process. A diagnosis of SPCD is typically conducted around the age of 4 to 5 when the child is big enough to practice the verbal language. 

A speech-language pathologist performs diagnostic testing for SCD. Your SLP will need to monitor your child in a setting with others, interview them, have them answer questionnaires that measure aspects of language proficiency and obtain information from you. They’ll want to learn more about your family’s medical and educational history because there are a few prognostics that SPCD may be linked genetically. These pieces of information will provide your doctor with the things they need to diagnose your child correctly. 

Eventually, other medical and neurological diseases that impair speech must be excluded, like global developmental delay, intellectual developmental disorder, autism spectrum disorder, or another sickness.

How to help children with social pragmatic communication disorder?

There are ways in which you can help your child with Social Pragmatic Communication Disorder. Various exercises you can do at home to promote social communication skills according to the goals you establish with your child’s therapist.

• Take turns: Participate in turn-taking games, like board games, to show the kid that it is ‘alright to lose.’
• Roleplay: Participate in role play activities with other children and adults to simulate social situations
• Reading: Read books and stories audibly to your child. Concentrate on the feelings or emotions of the characters
• Playdates: Invite a friend around and have a well-thought-out exercise for the children to take part in. In the long run, you can invite several more kids to various places.
• Use visual supports: Visual supports can be especially beneficial in helping your child learn expectations and schedules.
• Video-based instruction. Stories told via video can be an exciting approach to illustrate social skills and develop social understanding.
• Social skills groups: Work with the school to establish small structured groups where social skills can be exercised

The necessary treatment for children with SPCD is speech-language therapy. Some therapists operate in private settings.