Most adults who have language disorders don’t even know it—but they can tell there’s something a bit different about the way they communicate:

I think in paragraphs, but I speak in sentences.

When I try to communicate, it feels like I’m speaking in a second language. But I’m speaking in my first language, it’s the only one I know.

I know so much more than I'm able to express sometimes, and it really holds me back.

As soon as someone starts talking I stop listening and my mind imagines what I expect them to say. Then I realize I've missed it.

I can see that the person doesn’t understand what I’m saying when I talk, but I can’t figure out how to make them understand.

When I lose track of what I'm saying I'm worried it makes people think less of me.

These are things we hear over and over again from adults who struggle with language processing. It’s normal to sometimes go blank when you’re trying to communicate something. It’s normal to occasionally struggle to recall the perfect word that you know exists to succinctly express yourself. It’s normal to lose track of the conversation sometimes, whether you’re the listener or the speaker.

But if you frequently, constantly, day-in, day-out, struggle to match your thoughts to words and to keep up with the pace of conversations...you may have a language disorder.