A 4-year-old girl who had a mild traumatic brain injury after birth did not begin speaking until after age three and has difficulty understanding and communicating. Which language disorder is most consistent with these symptoms?

• A. Dyscalculia
• B. Aphasia
• C. Apraxia
• D. Autism spectrum disorder

Answer: (B)

Language problems that follow a brain injury point to an acquired aphasia. Aphasia is an impairment of language caused by damage to the brain's language centers, so it can affect both understanding and expressing language. In this scenario, the child had a mild traumatic brain injury early on and then did not speak until after age three, with ongoing struggles to understand and communicate. That pattern fits an acquired language disorder resulting from brain injury, rather than a developmental delay that would occur without injury or a difficulty limited to motor planning.

Dyscalculia would present as math difficulties, not language impairment. Apraxia involves trouble with the motor planning of speech, often with relatively intact comprehension. Autism spectrum disorder centers on persistent social communication challenges and restricted behaviors, not specifically tied to a past brain injury and broad language impairment.