SPEECH DISORDERS

There are a wide range of speech disorders in children but what they all have in common is that the child is unable to proficiently articulate, making it difficult to understand them. Speech and language disorders are considerex a high incidence disability as approximately 20% of children recieving special needs services require services for speech disorders.

What are some types of speech disorders?

Speech disorders can be separated into 3 broad categories:

i. Articulation Disorders: Errors in articulating speech that are usually credited to anatomical or physiological limitations.

ii. Fluency Disorders: Difficulties with the rhythm and timing of speech including hesitations, repititions, or prolongation of sounds.

iii. Voice Disorders: Problems with the quality of voice due to issues with the larynx.

How are speech disorders caused?

There is not one specific cause for speech disorders, rather a wide range including:

Cleft pallete or tooth problems
Nerve damage
Hearing Loss
Genetic Abnormalities
Emotional Stress
Brain trauma or infection

Impact on the Child

Thankfully, speech disorders do not interput much in a child's day to day life. Although, concern can arise to the child's mental wellbeing as having a speech disorder can make socialization much harder, causing the child to have an increased chance of social isolation and lonliness. And if we've learned anything about isolation, we know how that can be debilitating to the child's path of development.

Therapy

Thankfully, speech disorders can be treated with the help of a great speech language pathologist. Speech language pathologists work to aid children with speech disorders with a wide range of therapy that combats stuttering, articulation issues, swallowing disorders, voice disorders, and more. Some examples of specifc therapy speech therapists offer are:

i. Expressive Language: Helping the child combine words into phrases and sentences to more clearly express their needs and share information.

ii. Receptive Language: Helping children process the information they are recieving and respond correspondingly.

Check out this video of a speech language pathologist working with a child who has a cleft pallete!

References:

Cincinnati Childrens. Speech Disorders. (2015). from www.cincinnatichildrens.org/health/s/speech-disorder.

Project IDEAL. (2007). Speech Or Language Impairments. from www.projectidealonline.org/v/speech-language-impairments/.

US National Library of Medicine. (2020). Speech Disorders - Children: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia. from medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001430.htm.

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