Prosody / Body Language
These are people
who have Difficulty reading Body Language and
Difficulty with Prosody; have
Receptive Aprosodia and
Expressive Aprosodia; have a
Flat Tone of Voice; and have
Trouble with Non-Verbal Language and
Non-verbal Communication.
What is Prosody?
Prosody refers to variations in the melody of speech determined primarily by alterations in what is perceived as intonational patterns. Prosody is critical to nonverbal communication. Receptive prosody is the ability to understand the meaning in the melodic quality and the tone of voice of others. Expressive prosody relates to giving information through your own tone of voice and the melodic quality of your voice. This is nonverbal communication. We often consider the ability to read others and express oneself through body language and gestures along with prosody. These are critical to rewarding interpersonal interactions.
If the student is inefficient in these areas, interactions with individuals who use gesture to express themselves and rely on the body language of others to communicate might be troublesome. Being inefficient in receiving nonverbal communication and expressing oneself nonverbally causes significant stress in exchanges with almost everyone. Understanding the body language of individuals with expressive prosody problems would be stressful. Much of the meaning in our communication is in body language and tone of voice. Body language and tone of voice are especially important to negative messages. We are often unwilling to be completely candid in our choice of words, and it is only in our tone of voice and body language that we express negative messages about which we are reluctant to be fully clear. Without the ability to read the body language and tone of voice of a speaker, we are often left confused. Frequently we miss many of the negative messages that are important to successful interaction. Poor receptive prosody and/or expressive prosody have a profound impact on social development, as does poor reading of body language.
Some local parent support groups (e.g., the Association for Children and Adults with Learning Disabilities) hire a professional to enhance development of students inefficient with nonverbal communication and social skills. A drama coach is often very effective in this endeavor. This same individual can assist the student to become more aware of the feelings of others from their body language and tone of voice as well as how to communicate their own feelings through voice tone, movement and gestures. Skill with nonverbal communication enhances social skill. Since prosodic functioning is so critical to social development, be sure to see the section on Social Skills.
This is a disorder of input and/or output.
It is not a disorder that causes great stress in the early grades. It is a disorder that begins to take a real toll in the middle grades, and its significance increases into adulthood.
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