What are the causes of speech impairment in children?
Genetic abnormalities
Emotional stress
Any trauma to the brain or infection.
Muscle weakness
Damaged vocal cords
Autism
Down's syndrome
Hearing loss
What is speech therapy?
Speech therapy is the assessment and treatment of communication problems and speech disorders. It is performed by speech-language pathologists (SLPs), who are often referred to as speech therapists. Speech therapy is a treatment for both children and adults. This training helps people with speech and language problems speak more clearly.
What is a Language disorder?
Language disorders or language impairments are disorders that involve the processing of linguistic information. Problems that may be experienced can involve grammar, meaning, or other aspects of language.
What are speech disorders?
Speech disorders are conditions in which a person has problems creating or forming the speech sounds needed to communicate with others. This can make the child's speech difficult to understand. The most common speech disorders are articulation disorders and phonological disorders.
What is a communication disorder?
It 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. A communication disorder may range in severity from mild to profound.
Speech therapy treatment depends on a few factors, including:
Age
Type and severity of the speech disorder
Frequency of therapy
Treatment of an underlying medical condition.
Speech therapy techniques are used to improve communication. These include articulation therapy, language intervention activities, and others depending on the type of speech or language disorder. At Sounderic, speech disorders are treated with a qualified team of speech-language pathologists and personalized care and guidance are given with access to multiple resources and home programs. Sounderic offers free consultations and screening. You can book your consultation on the website.
Why speech therapy is must in the early years of development?
We all have heard "the early, the best". Tackling a problem early helps to prevent it from rising higher. The foundation needs to be strong to behold the structure. Isn't it? So are the early years of the child's life.
Early childhood (usually defined as birth to year 8) is a time of tremendous physical, cognitive, socio-emotional, and language development.
Middle childhood (usually defined as ages 6 to 12) is a time when children develop foundational skills for building healthy social relationships and learn roles that will prepare them for adolescence and adulthood.
Evidence shows that experiences in early and middle childhood are extremely important for a child’s healthy development and lifelong learning. Research on several adult health and medical conditions points to pre-disease pathways that have their beginnings in early and middle childhood. During early childhood, the human brain grows to 90 percent of its adult size by age 7. Early childhood represents the period when young children reach developmental milestones that include:
Adaptive or self-help skills (eating, grooming, washing hands)
Social-emotional skills( playing, display self -control, self-awareness, showing affection to familiar people, making friends)
Physical and sensory skills( throwing, hearing, seeing, throwing, kicking)
Communication skills ( gesturing, understanding feelings, expression of thoughts)
Cognitive skills(managing money, thinking, learning, problem-solving)
Here are the developmental milestones of the child according to age in speech and language.
Birth -3 months age
Makes pleasure sounds (cooing, gooing)
Cries differently for different needs
Smiles when sees primary caregiver (s)
4-6 months age
Babbling sounds more speech-like with many different sounds, including /p/, /b/, and /m/
Chuckles and laughs
Vocalizes excitement and displeasure.
Makes gurgling sounds when left alone and while playing with their caregiver
7 months -1 year age
Babbling has both long and short groups of sounds such as "bibibibi"
Uses speech or non-crying sounds to get and keep attention
Uses gestures to communicate (waving, holding arms to be picked up)
Imitates different speech sounds.
Has one or two words ( hello, dada, kaka) although sounds may not be clear, around the first birthday.
1-2 years of age
Has a word for almost everything.
Uses two or three words to talk about and ask for things.
Uses /k/,/g/,/f/,/t/,/d/ and /n/ sounds.
Speech is understood by familiar listeners most of the time
Often asks for or directs attention to objects by naming them.
2- 3 years of age
Has a word for almost everything.
Uses two -or three-word sentences to talk about and ask for things.
Speech is understood by familiar listeners most of the time
3-4 years of age
Talks about activities at school or friends' homes.
People outside of the family usually understand a child's speech.
Usually talks easily without repeating syllables or words.
4-5 years of age
Uses sentences that give lots of details (" The biggest apple is mine").
Tells stories that stick to the topic.
Communicates easily with other children and adults.
Says most of the sounds correctly except a few like /l/, /s/ ,/v/,/z/, /ch/,/sh/,/th/.
Says rhyming words.
Names some letters and numbers.
Uses the same grammar as the family uses.
Many parents often wonder if their child needs speech therapy or whether they are just ‘late bloomers.’ Seeing a speech-language pathologist will help identify any problems that exist. A baby who doesn’t respond to sound or vocalization should generally be checked by a doctor right away. Here are a couple of signs that might clarify if your child might be a candidate for speech therapy.
Signs of delay in development:
By 12 months your child is not using any gestures or waving bye-bye.
By 18 months prefers gestures over vocalizing.
By 18 months have trouble imitating sounds.
By 2 years old is not producing words or phrases spontaneously.
Speech and language therapists (SLTs) play an important role in supporting and promoting children’s language development in the early years (age 0-5). SLTs assess, diagnose and develop programs of care, including training of the wider workforce and parents and carers to improve
outcomes for children with speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN). They provide advice and deliver a range of support to parents, children, and practitioners throughout the early years in a variety of settings.
Children are treated for different speech disorders like:
Stuttering,
Problems pronouncing words,
Trouble with pitch, volume, or quality of speech, and
Having a limited understanding of words and their meaning
Problems putting words together or inappropriately use language
Memory and attention disorders
Problems swallowing, chewing, coughing, and refusing food
Additionally, speech therapy may be necessary for a child who has experienced speech impairment due to an illness or injury. There are a variety of reasons why a child may need speech therapy.
Read More: Why is my child not talking?
If you notice that your child is not on par with their peers or developmental milestones for their age, ongoing or intensive speech therapy sessions may be beneficial to the child.
How Sounderic can help your child?
It is challenging to find the right speech therapist to work with your child and also let's not forget the long wait lines to get therapy appointments. Even if you get an appointment, the frequency of speech therapy is less. Thus, the child misses out on the early years of intervention.
Sounderic has come up with qualified tele- speech therapists whose services you can avail with just a click of a button. Book a free consultation here.
Speech therapy sessions are customized according to the child's needs, strengths, and interests. We offer parent training programs and home training programs as well.
Check out this highly helpful resource on cerebral palsy here:
Sounderic provides online speech therapy sessions for children with various communication disorders. We would love to help you. Get in touch with us on WhatsApp at +919644466635 or schedule a consultation with us at https://www.sounderic.com/service-page/speech-language-consultation-for-kids?referral=service_list_widget
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