MERLD (Mixed Expressive-Receptive Language Disorder. Help!

[CrossRockMama]

Our adopted son is 5 and we've had him for 1 yr and 8 months. He has been diagnosed with a few things such as RAD, possible ADHD, DD, and possible LD. Along with these, he has also been given a diagnosis of the MERLD. I just am trying to find as much info on it as I can. From what I've read, it makes sense. He has a hard time getting what he wants to say across, usually not making much sense and often miss-understands what we say to him. Multiple times a day he's in his room throwing a fit over something I didn't even say! It's pretty frustrating. Just wondering what help there is for him out there and would love to talk to other parents of a child with MERLD. I fear it will be a long road ahead...

[ericswifey27]

Have you tried anything like a visual schedule with him? If is having trouble understanding, pictures of each activity he is expected to participate in will help him know (and prepare) for what is coming next. Look up "Picto Selector" it makes free pictures to print out, it even has clocks and timers. It is very easy to use and FREE! (Or ask the school district to make board maker icons but honestly this program rocks and is so easy to use!) If you are having trouble finding info on visual schedules type in "PECS" or picture exchange communication system"

Start taking a diary of what he says- what was said before? what was he reacting to? etc. Maybe you can unravel some of the mysteries. That's what we've had to do with my son, who has Asperger's/ HFA (high functioning autism). Could HFA be a possibilty as well? Has he been screened for Autism? (I just remember feeling like a lot of what my son said made absolutely no sense at all, it was totally irrelevant to what we were talking about, there were tantrums about seemingly nothing... it took a long time to figure out.)

[RiverTam]

To get a diagnosis of MERLD, the clinician has to rule out ASDs. MERLD isn't autism, although it can look like it.

MERLD is a long road, but it's not as long as you would think. DS#1 (7.5) has a diagnosis of MERLD. We started speech therapy last summer, and it has made a huge amount of difference for him. He still struggles, but it is getting better and better.

There isn't a lot of information out there for parents of kids with MERLD. The best information that I have found is on speech language pathology websites. There are some books available from Amazon that may help, and, as always, "The Mislabeled Child" has useful information.

There isn't a lot of information on long-term prognosis. Generally, what I've found is that kids with MERLD often respond well to speech therapy and many of their deficits remediate. However, they continue to show subtle deficits throughout their lives and into adulthood and it affects their functioning as adults. However, there is no reason to think that they won't be successful in careers or university or have families.

He needs speech therapy. Most programs are 1-2 hours per week. Daily practice at home will help a great deal.

[RiverTam]

The one other thing that I would tell you is that if you're looking for information about MERLD, try looking under the heading "Specific Language Impairment." You'll find more research under that label, than under MERLD.

[bsahlin]

natural late talkers

my son (age 6) was diagnosed with merld just before turning 4 and is doing phenomenally. he is still below peer level in his receptive and expressive language but is definitely on track to "normalize" by age 8 (i.e. catch up). according to the clinicians who did my son's evaluation, once merld normalizes, there are no long term ill-effects aside of social immaturity (because the lack of language impairs early social learning) that also corrects itself with time. maybe there are different types. we saw clinicians at vanderbilt in nashville who are known experts in the field, who do differential diagnosis and have a high rate of accuracy in their diagnoses/prognoses (stephen and mary camarata). here is a good website that has been a tremendous help to us in our journey (a forum for parents of "natural late talkers"): http://www.naturallatetalkers.com/. feel free to email me with any questions ([e-mail]).

[RiverTam]

Here's some of what I've found on outcomes:

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/j...TRY=1&SRETRY=0

http://journals.cambridge.org/action...line&aid=55623

(Those are two parts to the same study.)

http://jslhr.highwire.org/cgi/content/abstract/41/2/407

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/j...27288/abstract

[kme]

My son (age 6) has MERLD. He has come a long way in the past few years due to early intervention and speech therapy. He still takes longer than other kids to process verbal instructions and has some difficulty in following/keeping up with conversations. He often has trouble getting his words out and he has some "oddities" with his language. He uses words incorrectly and sort of makes up words that make sense to him but not to others.
However, considering he didn't talk till he was over 3, he is doing great. I have found "The Mislabeled Child" to be the best resource for MERLD.

[RiverTam]

Originally Posted by bsahlin

my son (age 6) was diagnosed with merld just before turning 4 and is doing phenomenally. he is still below peer level in his receptive and expressive language but is definitely on track to "normalize" by age 8 (i.e. catch up). according to the clinicians who did my son's evaluation, once merld normalizes, there are no long term ill-effects aside of social immaturity (because the lack of language impairs early social learning) that also corrects itself with time. maybe there are different types. we saw clinicians at vanderbilt in nashville who are known experts in the field, who do differential diagnosis and have a high rate of accuracy in their diagnoses/prognoses (stephen and mary camarata). here is a good website that has been a tremendous help to us in our journey (a forum for parents of "natural late talkers"): http://www.naturallatetalkers.com/. feel free to email me with any questions ([e-mail]).

It depends on whether the child has a language delay, not a language disorder. It's not the same thing.

Per Dr. Camarata: http://www.naturallatetalkers.com/delayed.php