If there is dysgrammatism, the acquisition of the grammatical rule system is delayed or hindered. This means that the correct sentence structure can be disturbed. The result is that parts of the sentence are rearranged and left out.

What is dysgrammatism?

According to Definitionexplorer, dysgrammatism is one of the disorders of language development. This is noticeable in the person affected by the fact that grammatical rules are incorrectly applied in the formation of sentences and in the inflection of words. Sentences are formed incompletely or parts of sentences are twisted.

It is particularly noticeable that the verb is placed incorrectly in the sentence, for example: “The child drink milk”. Incorrect articles, cases, and plural forms are also used. As a result, the grammar cannot be applied in accordance with the standards.

Causes

There are various causes of dysgrammatism, for example incorrect linguistic input. However, this is what a child needs to learn correct grammar. In this case, the learning process is difficult. Another possibility for speech development disorder is insufficient working memory capacity.

In this case, it is not able to encode what has been heard and to compare it with the information already available, so that information is lost and cannot be called up at the appropriate moment because it has not been stored in the long-term memory. Furthermore, the speech disorder can be caused by early childhood brain damage such as an accident or by a mental disorder in development.

It can just as easily be triggered by hearing impairment, poor concentration, mental illness, contact disorders or a lack of language skills. Often several factors play together in a dysgrammatism that lead to the language development disorder.

Symptoms, ailments & signs

If the dysgrammatism is present, the child is not able to overcome the errors independently. Grammar basically comprises two different areas: syntax and morphology. While syntax describes the structure of the sentence, i.e. the word sequence, morphology describes how the words change depending on what functions they have in the sentence.

In the case of dysgrammatism, the syntax and morphology differ very clearly from the corresponding grammar of children of the same age. If dysgrammatism is diagnosed, the doctor will prescribe speech therapy. The parents then choose a speech therapist themselves. Speech therapies are carried out by a speech therapist and speech therapist, but breathing, voice and speech teachers or speech therapists are also available.

The child is encouraged to tell stories with picture stories and books in order to check whether there is a language disorder that requires treatment based on the extent of the grammatical abnormalities. If so, the grammatical morphemes have to be learned, which these children find very difficult. It takes them a long time to understand and internalize these rules.

Diagnosis

The pediatrician will examine the child by the U9 at the latest to determine whether the child has age-appropriate language development. However, the parents or educators usually notice earlier that a child has more difficulties in arranging words correctly and forming sentences correctly compared to children of the same age. In this case, parents should immediately contact the pediatrician.

Diagnostics include test procedures to check vocabulary development and grammatical rule formation. The aim of this is to analyze spontaneous speech. In the case of small children, this is often recorded while observing them while playing. At school age, in addition to speaking, the ability to formulate in writing is usually determined.

If the dysgrammatism is not treated in time or inadequately, the language development disorder still has an impact even in school age. It is therefore very important to see a doctor if you suspect it. With early speech therapy therapy, language deficits in a child can usually be made up for or even completely eliminated within a short period of time.

If there is no speech therapy treatment, however, faulty speech patterns can solidify, so that they can still have an effect in school or into adolescence or adulthood.

Complications

Dysgrammatism describes the problem people have of being unable to produce grammatically correct sentences. Grammatically incorrect forms are used, sentences and sentence structures are sometimes incomplete, the context and flow of speech are lost. Therefore, if dysgrammatism is suspected, a specialist should be consulted if the problems cannot be clarified in school.

Dysgrammatism must be clearly distinguished from agrammatism. Agrammatism is a phenomenon that occurs among immigrants who do not speak the native language and who can only learn it at a certain point. There is an overlap with the mother tongue. This does not require medical treatment and can be improved through effective German lessons.

Dysgrammatism, on the other hand, occurs mainly in natives who, due to development deficits or brain diseases and injuries, do not fully master the grammar or sometimes forget it again. In contrast to agrammatism, medical advice should therefore be sought with dysgrammatism in order to get the speech disorder under control, be it through speech therapy training, through targeted language training by specialists such as clinical linguists or through NLP techniques.

If speech therapy is not given, the dysgrammatism will solidify, which can lead to social and professional stigmatization. Those affected suffer from a lack of self-esteem and inferiority complexes. Teachers, doctors and family members as well as the social environment should take initial information seriously and initiate countermeasures for speech therapy.

When should you go to the doctor?

If there are recognizable problems in forming grammatically correct sentences, the child should be taken to the doctor. The doctor can determine whether there is actually a dysgrammatism and then refer the parents or guardians to the appropriate specialist clinic. Since treatment is more promising the earlier it is given, the pediatrician should be spoken to at the first signs of a problem.

Parents who find that their child is using unusual sentences or missing entire words should have this clarified quickly. Dysgrammatism occurs particularly often in connection with a lack of language skills, contact disorders or poor concentration. Children who, for example, have been taken over from a problem family or adopted from abroad must therefore receive speech therapy as early as possible.

If the language disorder is due to a mental illness or early childhood brain damage, this must also be clarified quickly. In most cases, the problems can at least be greatly reduced through comprehensive support and regular training. In addition to the pediatrician, suitable contacts are also clinical linguists or specialist clinics in which speech therapy training is offered.

Treatment & Therapy

Dysgrammatism can, for example, be treated with rhythmic-musical exercises to improve the child’s sense of speech and speech rhythm. Another component of the therapy is the development of grammatical skills, for example through language games, because this contributes to the child’s motivation.

In addition, the treatment of dysgrammatism is intended to promote perceptual abilities on the tactile, acoustic and visual level. Another approach to speech therapy is modeling. The point here is to expand semantic expressiveness. A child who knows about his or her linguistic deficits often develops a general aversion to communication.

Often the numerous discussions already contribute to the improvement. In this way, the child’s self-esteem can also be strengthened as part of the therapy. With an increased self-confidence, the grammatical competence and thus the dysgrammatism is usually improved automatically.

Outlook & forecast

In most cases, dysgrammatism does not self-heal, so the disease must always be treated by a doctor. If left untreated, the disease can lead to serious complications in adulthood and also in childhood development, which significantly limits it. The patients cannot use the usual sentence structure and therefore suffer from difficulties when speaking and communicating. The development is delayed, whereby the language problems can also lead to bullying or teasing at a young age.

The treatment of dysgrammatism is always based on the exact severity of the symptoms and aims at relief and speech therapy. This can alleviate most of the symptoms, so that the person affected can also participate in an undisturbed development. This also resolves the psychological complaints and increases the self-confidence of the person concerned.

The exact outcome of the treatment cannot be predicted, but the chances of a complete healing increase if it starts early. The life expectancy of the patient is not reduced by the dysgrammatism.

Prevention

There are several ways to prevent dysgrammatism in a child, for example by not neglecting communication with the child. In addition, attention should be paid to the age-appropriate development of the child in order to correct any disturbances in language development at an early stage and to avoid dysgrammatism.

Excessive demands on the child can also lead to this disorder and should therefore be avoided at all costs. In addition, care should be taken to get enough sleep, because concentration plays a particularly important role in correctly building sentences. A child who is regularly sleepy is at a higher risk of developing dysgrammatism.

Aftercare

The classic treatment for dysgrammatism includes a speech therapy measure. Often there is a comprehensive delay in speech development, the conspicuous part of which is dysgrammatism. Some clinics specialize in the treatment and follow-up of such language disorders.

Premature babies pose a particular problem in the treatment of such disorders. The earlier the affected children are treated for their grammatical acquisition disorders, the more receptive they are to the therapy.

Since there are usually other language development disorders as well, follow-up care is useful. Because of the other children who often react negatively to such disorders, psychotherapeutic care may be useful. Otherwise, speech therapy is responsible.

If the existing deficits on the level of the syntax morphology are not dealt with at an early stage, it will be difficult for the children to keep up with others. Since the disorders are usually noticed early, the chances for treatment and follow-up care are good.

Sentence structure disorders or dysgrammatism are classic treatment fields in speech therapy. The aftercare phase can take a long time in individual cases. This is especially the case if there are other language development disorders or a learning disorder. If necessary, the child can be helped by going to a special school. Affected children can be looked after more intensively there.

You can do that yourself

Basically, the earlier the disorder is treated, the better the missing skills can be absorbed in sentence formation. Since no neurological cause of the disorder has yet been found, treatment with medication is not indicated.

Instead, the development delay in the formation of sentences is compensated for through therapies in which a constructive relationship with the child should be established through a benevolent and trust-promoting basic atmosphere of the therapist. The therapy is usually supervised by a speech therapist, but can also be organized with the help of breathing, voice and language teachers as well as speech therapists.

The child z. B. interesting picture stories are shown, which should encourage active repeating. Even the music as stimulus has proven in the care of children dysgrammatischen as helpful as targeted a melody is generated during the music in which it makes the child pleasure to develop its own “speech melody”.

In therapy, it is important that all measures encourage the child to speak actively and to form better sentences, to be playful and to make the child happy. Only in this way does the child learn, whose grammatical weaknesses correspond to a general reluctance to use the language, to develop joy in language and thus in social communication. If there is severe social withdrawal, the use of child psychologists can also be helpful, because the problem here is of a fundamental nature.