Speech Disorder in Children

When is a child’s communication considered delayed? Please include stages of development regarding communication with examples.

Children’s linguistic abilities may develop at a variety of ages. A youngster should be able to utter words like mom before one. The average 18-month-old toddler can utter at least 20 different words at this point. There are certain words that children who have a language delay can utter despite their inability to form basic phrases. Children with speech delays can talk, but they may have difficulty comprehending what they say.

A kid should be able to make a range of speech sounds, such as p, n, or d, between 12 and 15 months. They may also begin to mimic what they hear as they recognize patterns. Balls and babies are usually the most critical nouns. They can comprehend and adhere to basic instructions. Between the ages of 18 months and 24 months, a kid should express themselves in at least 50 words. A two-year-old should be able to say things like, “Daddy is so huge” (Rutter, 2018). A youngster should also recognize the essential item. When requested, this individual must know how to indicate their nose, ears, and eyes. A child’s vocabulary expands between the ages of 2 and 3. A two- or three-word phrase may be formed by the youngster.

What are speech disorders, and how are they characterized?

Having a speech disorder means that you can’t speak regularly. The phases of speech production that children go through as they learn to speak are many (Morgan, 2018). Fluency disorders, in which the rhythm and tempo of speech are impaired, are among the speech disorders, which include voice disorders (abnormalities in volume, pitch, and vocal quality). Articulation disorder is a difficulty in making a particular sound. More than a million youngsters have been diagnosed with speech issues in the United States. Hearing loss and deafness are two possible causes of speech problems. As the youngster gets older, the severity of their speech impairment increases. Children with speech issues might benefit from articulation treatment (Gopnik & Crago, 2016). Sound, phrase, word, or sentence repetition is a skill they possess. Fluency training is used to treat children who have a problem with fluency.

What are language disorders? How do they affect language development and education?

A kid has a language issue if they have difficulty utilizing or mastering a particular language. When it comes to their capacity to learn, children with language disorders fall short of expectations. In the early stages of development, symptoms begin to emerge.

Children with a language problem may have difficulty saying their first words or sentences. They also have a lot of grammatical mistakes in their speech. There is a vital hereditary component to communication difficulties, according to research. In addition to linguistic difficulties, neurodevelopmental issues have an impact. Therapy is an integral part of the treatment of speech and language disorders.

A language impairment severely hinders learning. Verbal information may be challenging for children with a language problem to comprehend or understand.

It’s difficult for kids to retain the information they’re given in class (Fisher et al., 2018). A kid with language impairment may have a difficult time following spoken instructions, mainly if the instructions or directions include many words. They may also find it necessary to brush up on their spelling and reading skills. Research has shown that verbal abilities have a significant impact on reading development.

How does a speech-language pathologist help children with communication disorders? Explain with specific techniques and examples.

Communicating with others is crucial for being aware of and involved in our surroundings. Children’s communication, speaking, and talking are the focus of the work of speech-language pathologists. Mild articulation delay, motor speech dysfunction, and Down syndrome are some of their difficulties. The capacity to move the lips, tongue, and jaws to generate a sound is articulation. Instead, the term “intelligibility” relates to how well others can grasp what you are saying (Dodd & Thompson, 2015). Your child’s speech pathologist can assist you in helping them generate certain sounds. On the other hand, language may take the form of symbols, written words, or spoken expressions. A speech-language pathologist can assist your kid in learning new vocabulary and constructing sentences using the words.

The use of repetitive words aids a child’s capacity to listen and grasp a language. Repetitive language skills are more developed in children than expressive language skills. Stuttering is a speech condition in which the flow of speech is interrupted. It usually consists of repeating phrases, extending words, and interjecting. It all starts in the earliest years of one’s life. This may hurt one’s capacity to speak.

The jaws, face, neck, and shoulders may all show signs of stress in certain people. An SLP can assist a kid by teaching them how to manage their behavior better. The vocal cords are the most often affected by a voice issue. Nodules, polyps, and paralysis of the vocal cords are possible manifestations. When speech-language pathologists fix broken folds, they may reduce or eliminate this behavior.

Teaching kids social language skills to engage in conversations is the goal of a speech-language pathologist (SLP) (Dodd, 2016). Cognition, memory, attention, and reasoning are all examples of cognitive processes that might be affected by a cognitive-communication problem. Others develop it due to a stroke or another brain injury, while others are born with it. An expert in speech-language pathology can educate youngsters on coping with the problem.

Reference

Dodd, B. (2016). Differential diagnosis and treatment of children with speech disorder. John Wiley & Sons.

Dodd, B., & Thompson, L. (2015). Speech disorder in children with Down’s syndrome. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 45(4), 308-316.

Fisher, S. E., Vargha-Khadem, F., Watkins, K. E., Monaco, A. P., & Pembrey, M. E. (2018). Localisation of a gene implicated in a severe speech and language disorder. Nature genetics, 18(2), 168.

Gopnik, M., & Crago, M. B. (2016). Familial aggregation of a developmental language disorder. Cognition, 39(1), 1-50.

Morgan, A. T., Su, M., Reilly, S., Conti-Ramsden, G., Connelly, A., & Liégeois, F. J. (2018). A brain marker for developmental speech disorders. The Journal of pediatrics, 198, 234-239.

Rutter, M. (2018). Language disorder and infantile autism. In Autism (pp. 85-104). Springer, Boston, MA.