Speech-Language Pathology

Whenever you get a group of children together to play it is so interesting to see how each of their individual aptitudes and personalities are distinct and present even at a very young age. It is also very hard not to compare. How well can your child speak compared to others? Is your daughter behind or is the other boy just ahead for his age? What is normal speech and language development?

Could your child have a speech or language problem? And if so, what should you do?

It's wise to take action quickly. An evaluation by a certified speech-language pathologist (Certified Speech Therapist) can help determine if your child is having difficulties or not. Speech-language therapy is the treatment for most kids with speech and/or language disorders. Speech therapy treatment can happen through school, or in private therapy.

Speech Disorders vs. Language Disorders

A speech disorder refers to a problem with the actual production of sounds. A language disorder refers to a difficulty understanding or putting words together to communicate ideas, and is sometimes referred to as a processing disorder.

Speech disorders include:

•Articulation disorders: range from difficulties producing or connecting sounds in syllables or saying words in such a way that listeners frequently can't understand what's being said, despite repetition.

•Resonance or voice disorders: problems with the pitch, volume, or quality of the voice that distract listeners from what's being said. These types of disorders can be caused by a physical abnormality and can also cause pain or discomfort for a child when speaking.

•Fluency disorders: problems such as stuttering, in which the flow of speech is interrupted by abnormal pauses followed by a repetition (st-st-stuttering), or prolonging sounds and syllables (ssssstuttering).

Language disorders can be either expressive or receptive:

• Expressive disorders: difficulty putting words together, limited vocabulary, switching words or syllables during speech (apple-pine instead of pineapple for example) or inability to use language in a socially appropriate way.
• Receptive disorders: difficulties understanding or processing language.

Specialists in Speech-Language Therapy

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs), often known as speech therapists, are professionals educated in the study of human communication, the development, and any associated disorders. They hold at least a master's degree and state certification/licensure in the field, and a certificate of clinical competency from the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA).

Our team of SLPs is trained to assess speech, language, cognitive-communication, and oral/feeding/swallowing skills to identify types of communication problems (articulation; fluency; voice; receptive and expressive language disorders, etc).

Remediation

In speech-language therapy, an SLP may work with a child one-on-one, in a small group, in larger classroom settings, and even one-on-one online to overcome the difficulties involved with a specific disorder. Particularly for younger children 2 years and up, SLPs can train and assist parents on how to stimulate speech and language development at home with their child.

Therapists use a variety of strategies for articulation therapy. Articulation, or sound production exercises involve having the therapist model correct sounds, syllables and words for a child, often during age-appropriate play activities. Until recently SLPs had to resort to physically showing the child how to make certain sounds via drills, utilizing tongue depressors and explanation based exaggerated modeling. Even with these tactics learning was very abstract.

When Is Speech Therapy Needed?

Kids might need speech-language therapy for a variety of reasons, including:

• articulation or phonological disorders
• hearing impairments
• cognitive (intellectual, thinking) or other developmental delays
• dysarthria: low oral muscle tone
• apraxia of speech: motor planning problems
• excessive drooling
• chronic hoarseness
• birth defects such as cleft lip or cleft palate
• autism
• motor planning problems
• respiratory and breathing disorders
• swallowing and feeding disorders
• traumatic brain injury

Therapy should begin as soon as possible. Children who initiate therapy early (before they're 5 years old) tend to have better outcomes than those who begin speech therapy later.

Finding the right speech therapist for you and your child

It's important to make sure that your speech-language therapist is certified by ASHA. This certification means the SLP has at least a master's degree in the field and has passed a national examination and successfully completed a supervised year of clinical fellowship. They should have experience working with kids and your child's specific disorder.

Helping Your Child

Speech-language experts agree that parental involvement is crucial to the success of a child's progress in speech or language therapy.

Parents are an extremely important part of their child's therapy program and help determine whether it is a success. Kids who complete the program quickest and with the longest-lasting results are those whose parents have been involved and supportive.

Get involved and ask your therapist for suggestions on how you can help your child. For instance, it's important to help your child do the at-home stimulation activities that the SLP suggests to ensure continued progress and carry-over of newly learned skills.