Speech & Language Supports

Language

Language refers to the words we use and how we use them to share ideas and get what we want. Language includes:

Receptive Language: Understanding what others are saying. This includes following directions, listening comprehension, and understanding concepts taught.

Expressive Language: Expressing thoughts, ideas, and feelings. This includes:

• What words mean. Some words have more than one meaning. For example, “star” can be a bright object in the sky or someone famous.

• How to make new words. For example, we can say “friend,” “friendly,” or “unfriendly” and mean something different.

• How to put words together. For example, in English we say, “Peg walked to the new store” instead of “Peg walk store new.”

• What we should say at different times. For example, we might be polite and say, “Would you mind moving your foot?” But, if the person does not move, we may say, “Get off my foot!”

Social Communication / Pragmatics: These are the rules that we follow when we talk. There are rules about when and how you should talk to people. Knowing and using these rules makes it easier to communicate. This includes three major skills:

• Using language for different reasons (e.g., greetings, informing, requesting, etc.)

• Changing language for the listener or situation (e.g., talking differently to a baby than to an adult, giving more information to someone who does not know the topic, knowing to skip some details when someone already knows the topic, etc.)

• Following rules for conversations and storytelling (e.g., taking turns when you talk, letting others know the topic when you start talking, staying on topic, using gestures and body language such as pointing or shrugging, using facial expressions and eye contact, etc.)

Speech

Speech is how we say sounds and words. Speech includes:

Articulation: How we make speech sounds using the mouth, lips, and tongue. For example, we need to be able to say the /r/ sound to say "rabbit" instead of "wabbit.”

Voice: How we use our vocal folds and breath to make sounds. Our voice can be loud or soft or high- or low-pitched. We can hurt our voice by talking too much, yelling, or coughing a lot.

Fluency: The rhythm of our speech. We sometimes repeat sounds or pause while talking. People who do this a lot may stutter.

According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), a communication disorder is an impairment in the ability to receive, send, process, and comprehend concepts or verbal, nonverbal and graphic symbol systems. A communication disorder may be evident in the processes of hearing, language, and/or speech. It may be developmental or acquired. Individuals may demonstrate one or any combination of communication disorders.