During childhood, doubts arise regarding the communication of our children or the children around us. There are two neurodevelopmental disorders that are very difficult to distinguish during childhood with respect to how communication develops; TEL and TEA.

There is an extensive classification of both disorders and establishing it is very important since this will allow a treatment to be carried out that is as adjusted as possible to the characteristics of these people. This post will focus on the communicative aspects of these two disorders. However, although communication is a fundamental factor to consider to find out what disorder we are facing, many other cognitive skills should also be assessed.

Specific Language Impairment (SLI)

SLI is a language disorder where there is a delay in its acquisition in children who do not have hearing disabilities or suffer from any other cause of delay in their development. The cause is unknown but most studies relate its origin to genetic alterations. Therefore, it is very likely that the parents of a child with SLI have had a history of language difficulties.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

ASD is a group of conditions characterized by alterations in social behavior, communication and language with different degrees of impairment and by a restricted, stereotyped and repetitive repertoire of interests and activities. The cause of this disorder is based on multiple factors , including genetic and environmental factors.

Why are SLI and ASD confused?

What happens is that in both cases the child cannot relate to the environment through language , either because it is altered, scarce, or due to its total absence. You may also have problems understanding what other people say to you . As a consequence, the child tends to isolate and escape, thus avoiding interacting with the social environment.