The vestibular system isn’t just about balance and movement. It also plays a role in how a child processes sounds and language. When this system isn’t working well, it can lead to challenges in coordination and communication. Understanding this link is important for helping children overcome difficulties.
In this article, you’ll learn about the connection between vestibular dysfunction and language problems. I’ll provide practical advice on how physical therapy and other strategies can support your child’s overall development.
Understand the Vestibular System
As they research their child’s disability, many parents learn about sensory integration and the vestibular system. This system is a crucial part of the body’s sensory network. It helps coordinate movements, maintain balance, and develop normal muscle tone.
What parents might not immediately realize is that the vestibular system does more than just support physical coordination. It also plays a broader role in how a child processes sensory information and interacts with their environment. This affects focus, learning, and social engagement, making the vestibular system vital for a child’s overall development.
Connection Between Vestibular System and Language
The vestibular system’s role in physical coordination is well-known. However, its influence on auditory-language processing is less obvious but just as important. The vestibular system contributes to language development. Children with vestibular dysfunction often struggle with processing auditory and language information.
The vestibular and auditory systems are closely linked. Both begin processing sensations in the ear. Together, they help a child interpret movement and sound. These are essential for developing strong language and communication skills. Recognizing this connection is key to identifying and addressing potential language issues related to vestibular dysfunction.
Auditory Processing and Language Development
Audition, or hearing, is the ability to receive sounds. We are born with this basic skill. We can’t learn how to do it; either we hear, or we don’t. The ability to hear does not guarantee, however, that we understand sounds.
We are not born with the skill of comprehension; we acquire it, as we integrate vestibular sensations. Gradually, as we interact purposefully with our environment, we learn to interpret what we hear and to develop sophisticated auditory processing skills. Some auditory processing skills include the following:
- Auditory discrimination – differentiating among sounds
- Auditory figure-ground – discriminating between sounds in the foreground and background
- Language – the meaningful use of words, which are symbols representing objects and ideas.
Speech and the Vestibular System
Language is a code for deciphering what words imply and how we use them to communicate. Language that we take in, by listening and reading, is call receptive. Language that we put out, by speaking or writing, is expressive. Language and speech are closely related, but they are not the same.
Speech is the physical production of sound. Speech skills depend on smoothly functioning muscles in the throat, tongue, lips, and jaw. The vestibular system influences motor control and motor planning that are necessary to use those fine muscles to produce intelligible speech.
Common Signs of Auditory-Language Processing Issues
Because the vestibular system is crucial for effective auditory processing, the child with vestibular dysfunction frequently develops problems with language. How do these problems play out? Here are some common characteristics of children with poor auditory-language processing:
- May seem unaware of the source of sounds and may look all around to locate where the sounds come from.
- May have trouble identifying voices or discriminating between sounds, such as the difference between bear and bore.
- May be unable to pay attention to one voice or sound without being distracted by other sounds.
- May be distressed by noises that are loud, sudden, metallic, or high-pitched, or by sounds that don’t bother others.
- May have trouble attending to, understanding, or remembering what she reads or hears. She may misinterpret requests, frequently ask for repetition, and be able to follow only one or two instructions in sequence.
- May look to others before responding.
- May have trouble putting thoughts into spoken or written words.
- May talk off topic, e.g. talk about his new shirt when others are discussing a soccer game.
- May have trouble closing circles of communication. i.e. responding to others questions and comments.
- May have trouble correcting or revising what he has said in order to be understood.
- May have weak vocabulary and use immature sentence structure (poor grammar and syntax).
- May have difficulty with reading (dyslexia), especially out loud.
- May have trouble making up rhymes and singing in tune.
- May have difficulty speaking and articulating clearly.
- May improve her speaking ability after she experiences intense movement. Moving activates the ability to speak.
Role of Therapy in Managing Vestibular and Language Issues
The child with vestibular and language problems benefits greatly from therapy that simultaneously addresses both types of dysfunction. Speech-and-language therapists report that just putting the child in a swing during treatment can have remarkable results.
Occupational therapists have found that when they treat a child for vestibular dysfunction, speech-and-language skills can improve along with balance, movement, and motor planning skills. And even without the assistance of therapists, children who move spontaneously often show enhanced ability to verbalize their thoughts.
Excerpted from The Out-of-Sync Child: Understanding and Coping With Sensory Integration Dysfunction.
How Physical Therapy Can Help
Physical therapy (PT) can be a great way to help kids with vestibular problems. A physical therapist will assess your child’s balance and motor skills, then suggest exercises tailored to their needs. These exercises are usually simple and can be easily added to your child’s daily routine.
Doing these exercises regularly, ideally every day for about 12 weeks, can improve your child’s balance, coordination, and ability to keep their eyes steady during movement. This, in turn, can help them with language and listening skills since these areas are all connected.
Getting advice from a physical therapist means you’ll have exercises that are right for your child’s age and abilities. With consistent practice, you might start noticing improvements in how your child moves and communicates.