Symptom Tests for Adults

Language Processing Disorder Symptom Test for Adults

Could your challenges with language be signs of a learning disability known as Language Processing Disorder? Take the results of this self-test to your doctor to find out.

By ADDitude Editors Verified Medically reviewed by ADDitude’s ADHD Medical Review Panel Updated on September 27, 2022
Click to Add Comments

Do I Have a Language Processing Disorder?

Trouble with personal expression or interpersonal comprehension is often interpreted as a hearing problem, ADHD, or sheer laziness. In reality, these problems may be symptoms of an expressive or receptive language disorder, a set of learning disabilities that make it difficult to use language to communicate with others or make yourself understood.

Take this self-test to determine if you may be showing signs of an expressive or receptive language disorder. Any positive results should be discussed with your doctor right away.

This screening test is designed to determine whether you show symptoms similar to those of an expressive or receptive language disorder, but it is not a diagnostic tool. A high score does not necessarily mean you have a language processing disorder. An accurate diagnosis can only be made through clinical evaluation by a trained healthcare professional. This screener is for personal use only.

Created from criteria from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the Learning Disabilities Association of America.

Do you substitute related words, even when they don’t mean the same thing as the word you want to say — saying “couch” instead of “chair” or “beef” instead of “chicken?”

Do you have trouble answering questions about a conversation you had — even right after you’ve finished speaking?

Do you switch sounds within words?

Are you told that you don’t understand jokes or that you take everything too literally?

Do you find it difficult to focus on what someone is saying, particularly if there is background noise like a television?

Do you resort to using made-up words when the word you’re searching for can’t be produced?

Do you skip over words in a sentence or say them out of order?

Do friends and family complain that you seem disinterested in conversations?

Do you find it hard to come up with the exact words you want to say? Do you substitute “stuff” or “things” for commonly used words?

Are you told that something you said didn’t make sense?


(Optional) Would you like to receive your language processing disorder test results — plus more helpful resources — via email from ADDitude?