Dear S.P.,

I am not a psychological professional. A qualified counselor or psychologist knowledgeable about children who have had early childhood trauma and abuse, needs to be the primary source for information on your question.

That said, we know that children need to feel adequately okay in order to learn adequately. This need is true of speech and language learning too.

I would guess that the counselor would want to be addressing the trauma issues. At the same time, a speech/language pathologist might be able to enhance the catch-up process. She will want to define the characteristics of the child’s speech and language and help with areas of need. Coordination of efforts between the speech/language pathologist and counselor is probably a very good idea.

Best Wishes,
Ruth Alice Jurey, M.S., C.C.C.
Speech/Language Pathologist