Semantic Pragmatic Disorder (SPD)

Children with SPD find it more difficult to extract the central meaning or the saliency of an event. They tend to focus on detail instead, for example:

they may, find the duck hidden in the picture, but fail to grasp the situation or story in the picture, or may point out the spot on your face before saying hello.

Current thinking is that children with SPD have many more problems than just speaking and understanding words; the underlying difficulty may be in the way they process information.

What is SPD? 

Often associated with the autistic spectrum disorders, semantic pragmatic disorder (SPD) is a communication difficulty, usually identified between 18 months and 2 years. Semantic refers to the meanings of words and sentences and pragmatic to understanding language in context.

Recognising SPD

Typically a child has good hearing, but few if any real words, and has problems with comprehension (but responds well to speech therapy).

By school age the child appears ‘different’ – sometimes appearing to follow very little conversation, while at other times giving a detailed explanation of an event. Frequently they will have difficulty in processing all the information from a situation and will have problems understanding when and how to speak and respond appropriately, often with little regard to others. Later on in school they are often good at maths, science and Information and communications technology (ICT), but have great difficulty in writing a coherent sentence or playing with other children. They may have difficulty with sharing and taking turns. They can appear aggressive, selfish, bossy, over-confident, shy or withdrawn.

In school, they may be misdiagnosed as children with behavioural problems.

See also

ASD - Asperger's syndrome and autism

The Autistic Spectrum - Pervasive Developmental Disorder