Receptive and expressive language

Receptive language is your child's skill at understanding words, like following directions and answering questions. Expressive language is the skill of putting words together to share thoughts and needs. That includes naming objects, using gestures and building sentences. It doesn't have to be spoken, since signing, writing and other gestures count too.

The two can grow at different rates, so a child can be stronger in one than the other. A speech-language pathologist (SLP) checks both, often with a hearing test, because hearing problems can affect language. Some language disorders aren't found until middle or high school.

Milestones show the difference. By 18 months, most children can follow a one-step direction like "give it to me" without a gesture. That's receptive. Most also try to say three or more words besides "mama" or "dada," which is expressive. By 2, most can point to things in a book when asked and put two words together, like "more milk."

Most children reach these by that age, so they aren't hard cutoffs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises acting early if your child misses milestones or loses skills, or if you have other concerns.

• Both sides of language: Ask your Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) or your child's SLP how your child is doing with understanding and with expressing, since the two can differ.
• A hearing check: Ask whether a hearing test is part of your child's language evaluation.
• More than one language: If your family uses two languages, ask how the evaluation looks at both, since a true expressive difficulty shows up in every language a child uses.