Expressive communication is the difficulty with verbal expression or speaking. These students have a difficult time putting words together to formulate thoughts.

Students with expressive language delays often have limited or delayed vocabulary, make errors in tense or have difficulty recalling words or producing sentences with developmentally appropriate length or complexity.

Using standardized measures, the patient's scores of expressive language development may be lower than those of both nonverbal intellectual capacity and receptive language development. Clinically, the patient may have severely limited vocabulary, make errors of tense, recall words poorly or produce sentences that are shorter or less complex than is developmentally appropriate.

This disorder interferes with educational or occupational achievement or with social communication.

Early Signs and Symptoms may include:

• Word retrieval difficulties. (Difficulty naming objects or "talking in circles" around subjects with lack of the appropriate vocabulary.)
• Misnaming items or limited vocabulary
• Difficulty acquiring syntax (the rules of grammar)
• Difficulties with morphology (changes in verb tense)
• Difficulty with semantics (word meaning)
• Jargon (sounds like "unintelligible speech")
• Using "memorized" phrases and sentences.
• Echolalia (repeating back words or phrases either immediately or at a later time.)