Article 5: Why is Language So Important for Social Development and Emotional Growth?
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hen we think of school, we most often think of it as a place that supports the intellectual development of children. Great schools, however, understand that cognitive development is only one facet of a child’s growth. Other important features include language development, social development, emotional development, and physical development. Each has its own markers and stages of progression. They are all, however, profoundly connected. “The various aspects of child development are like strands in a braided rope,” says William Harrison, Ph.D., Middle School Psychologist at The Gateway School. “It’s almost impossible to talk about one without referencing the others.” Intellectual development describes the kinds of cognitive skills that children develop at various stages of life. These include memory, problem solving, creative thinking, and learning. Physical development describes the growth of a child’s body and the development of fine and gross motor skills. It also marks a child’s ability to move about and interact with the world around them. Language development describes the process of understanding and communicating. Typically, receptive language skills develop before expressive language skills. Social-emotional development describes how children develop the ability to express and control their emotions and to interact in appropriate and satisfactory ways. These last two facets of child development– language and social-emotional growth–are inextricably linked. Social interactions are the basis for language development, and effective social interactions depend on language. Early language development is primarily based on the relationship between a child and caregiver. Babbling is the initial stage during which a child tries to use verbal sounds to communicate thoughts and emotions. Language is not formally taught. Instead, the adult labels the child’s experiences and emotions, and they learn vocabulary, syntax, grammar, and tone through trial and error. Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Staff Developer at The Gateway School, recounts the time when upon seeing her sons sitting in a twin stroller, a child described them as “a baby and a co-baby.” On another occasion, a child explained the positioning of a couple of objects as “side by
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each.’’ Such mistakes are commonplace, frequently endearing and, once gently corrected, fleeting. The exchanges between a caregiver and child, known as reciprocity, teach the child language and how to use it in a social context. According to American Speech-LanguageHearing Association (ASHA), pragmatics refers to “the rules associated with the use of language in conversation and broader social situations.” In social situations, pragmatic language describes a person’s ability to know what to say, how to say it, and when to say it. For reading comprehension, it refers to comprehending the author’s point of view, the audience’s needs, or the intention of a message. Eleni Siderias, Associate Head of School at Gateway, explains, “It is common for students with language-based learning disabilities to encounter conflict due to the misuse or misunderstanding of language.” Harry will excitedly tell Dylan, “You must go to Space Mountain!” Dylan’s grasp of language is concrete, so he misses tone. He exits the conversation angry and indignant. He believes Harry is bossing him around. Before the weekly art class, Kerry appears in the division director’s doorway repeating, “It’s time for art. It’s time for art.” She sends her on to class where Kerry drops her head to the table and after the teacher finishes giving directions, stands up and storms out. Kerry is so embarrassed and scared, she is unable to explain that she cannot follow the directions and is haunted by the terrible experience she had with last year’s art teacher. A student with a language-based learning disability may misuse language unintentionally, struggle to describe emotions, misperceive others intentions, and more. Not only is language at the heart of social interactions, meeting the child’s need to communicate, to express ideas and emotions, and to engage socially, it also plays a role in their internal development. Language is crucial for the self-reflection that is the basis for self-regulation and maturation. It is the tool a child uses to process experiences and learn new behaviors. “As a child matures, so do language expectations,” says Heather Ironside, Director of Language and Literacy at Gateway. “There are milestones within language that call for more sophisticated usage as children grow older.” For example, sarcasm and slang emerge in adolescence alongside the ability to distinguish when it is appropriate or not. Peers, teachers, and
Lauren Feiden, Ph.D. Social Development Psychologist Gateway’s Lower School
SPECIAL REPORT
other adults employ increasingly nuanced language that also becomes more abstract and demands the listener infer meaning. Discussions in class, like conversations by the lockers, assume an ever more sophisticated language system. A treasure trove of words that are organized and associated, convertible to alternate forms or meanings, is employed flexibly. The norm is facile use of grammar and syntax to sequence words and create sentences that express simple to complex thoughts. As language develops, the ability to name and analyze one’s own feelings and the feelings of others, and to adjust self-expression and behavior to suit social situations, expands. “For a child with a dual diagnosis of language-based learning disability and ADHD, self-regulation can be even more difficult,” says Dr. Christy Brockhausen, Director of Lower School. “If all a child has to rely on to communicate his or her need is behavior, it can appear as though the child is being oppositional. Too often, the response in schools is to address a behavior instead of treating the underlying cause of the problem, the deficits in a child’s language skills.” The Gateway School recognizes the importance of language skills for social and emotional growth. “We think about language–not just the language needed for academics, but also the language children need to understand and express themselves in various social contexts,” says Ms. Ironside. In small groups, students participate in discrete language therapy
and social development sessions. These classes directly connect language with social-emotional development. Students are seen in the same groups so they learn skills in each developmental strand in a consistent and coordinated fashion. For example, in Lower School, a group will be directly taught the language for a conversation and then practice reciprocal conversation. In social development, they will approach conversation by learning what to talk about, examining the impact of their word choices and phrasing, and how to manage their impulses and emotions. Through adult modeling and by reconstructing conversations, students ensure the intended meaning is clear and their understanding of what was said is clear. In Middle School, the language therapist and school psychologist address skills such as taking perspectives, how to joke appropriately, and how to self-advocate and advocate for others. To foster healthy social-emotional growth, teachers do not merely encourage students to treat each other with respect; they explicitly show them how to empathize or self-advocate. At Gateway, the approach to socialemotional learning revolves around the idea that the school has to teach skills directly. “By graduation,” says Dr. Harrison, “our students are self-reflective, know who they are and where they came from, and can handle themselves well in lots of situations they would have found challenging.” n
Article 6: Diagnosis and Treatment/Intervention
I Carolyn Salzman Head of School The Gateway School
n a widely circulated essay, Emily Perl Kingsley compared her experience of raising a child with a disability to planning a much-anticipated trip to Italy, only to find that her plane had landed in Holland. At first, there was surprise and anxiety that she hadn’t reached her desired destination. But soon, she came to realize all of the joys and wonders that Holland has to offer. For a parent with a child who has a learning disability, this sense of surprise can make it hard to figure out how to begin to support a child’s needs. With a first or only child, parents don’t have a reference point, so they may not even know if anything is amiss. When it comes to language-based learning disabilities, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and executive function disorder, many children don’t present symptoms until preschool or later. A bright child can mask their difficulties for years.
“Despite the presence of specific disorders that are readily apparent to the trained eye, parents can be so successful at scaffolding and intervening in support of their child, it becomes harder for them to embrace the extent or implications of their child’s issues,” says Carolyn Salzman, Head of School at The Gateway School. “Often, it is not until the demands of homework, the inability to solve word problems in math, or the struggle to write a three-paragraph essay are so overwhelming for the child that parents are persuaded to take a close look. The loss of time on the field with a beloved sports team can also motivate parents to seek answers because suddenly it’s clear the child doesn’t understand the coach or cannot remember the rules and plays.” If a parent suspects there are issues affecting their child’s development, a first step is a conversation with their child’s pediatrician. The child’s doctor can measure their progress against expected developmental markers and highlight any areas of concern.
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