Receptive language
What a child understands, as distinct from what they can say. Usually ahead of expression, sometimes well behind it, and the gap between the two decides what to teach next.
Why receptive language matters.
A receptive difficulty is easy to miss and easy to misread as defiance. A child who does not follow a three-part instruction may have understood the first part and lost the rest — and from the outside, that looks identical to ignoring you.
The practical adjustments are small and immediate: fewer instructions at once, more time before repeating, and checking what was understood rather than asking whether it was.
Questions that get a real answer
- How many instructions can my child hold at once?
- How long should we wait before repeating?
- Is this being tested, or assumed from how they speak?
Ask these of anyone, including us. What you are listening for is not the right answer — it is whether the answer is specific enough to be wrong.
Terms that usually turn up alongside it.
Self-regulation
Managing your own attention, emotion and arousal well enough to do what a situation asks. Built gradually
GlossarySENCO
The person in a school responsible for children with additional needs. Usually the most useful single
GlossaryShadow teacher
The common UAE term for a one-to-one classroom assistant. The same role an LSA does. Ask any provider
Send it to us and we'll translate it.
Any report, from any provider, including ones we have nothing to do with. We will tell you in plain English what it says, what it recommends, and which parts are actually supported by the evidence in it. No charge, and it does not make you a client.