Social (pragmatic) communication disorder

Social (pragmatic) communication disorder (SPCD), also known as pragmatic language impairment (PLI), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in the social use of verbal and nonverbal communication. Individuals with SPCD struggle to effectively engage in social interactions, interpret social cues, and use language appropriately in social contexts. This disorder can have a profound impact on an individual's ability to establish and maintain relationships, navigate social situations, and participate in academic and professional settings. Although SPCD shares similarities with other communication disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), it is recognized as a distinct diagnostic category with its own set of diagnostic criteria and features. It has only been since 2013 that SPCD has become its own category in the DSM-5. In creating this new category it allowed individuals to be considered with a form of communication disorder distinct from PLI and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). SPCD lacks behaviors associated with restrictions and repetition which are seen in ASD. Individuals with social communication disorder have particular trouble understanding the meaning of what others are saying, and they are challenged in using language appropriately to get their needs met and interact with others. Children with the disorder often exhibit: Delayed language development Language disorders (similar to the acquired disorder of aphasia) such as word search pauses, jargoning, word order errors, word category errors, verb tense errors. Stuttering or cluttering speech Repeating words or phrases Tendency to be concrete or prefer facts to stories Difficulties with: Pronouns or pronoun reversal Understanding questions Understanding choices and making decisions Following conversations or stories (conversations are "off-topic" or "one-sided") Extracting the key points from a conversation or story; they tend to get lost in the details Verb tenses Explaining or describing an event Understanding satire or jokes and contextual cues Reading comprehension Reading body language Making and maintaining friendships and relationships because of delayed language development Distinguishing offensive remarks According to Bishop and Norbury (2002), children with semantic pragmatic disorder can have fluent, complex and clearly articulated expressive language but exhibit problems with the way their language is used.