Speech and Language Therapy for Children | FAQ’s
Posted on February 19, 2009
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is an articulation disorder?
A: An articulation disorder refers to difficulty producing sounds. Sounds can be substituted, left off, added or changed. These errors may make it hard for people to understand your child.
Young children often make speech errors. For instance, many young children sound like they are making a “w” sound for an “r” sound (e.g., “wabbit” for “rabbit”) or may leave sounds out of words, such as “nana” for “banana.” The child may have an articulation disorder if these errors continue past the expected age.
To see the age range during which most children develop each sound, visit Talking Child’s speech chart.
Q: What is a phonological process disorder?
A: A phonological process disorder involves patterns of sound errors. For example, substituting all sounds made in the back of the mouth like “k” and “g” for those in the front of the mouth like “t” and “d” (e.g., saying “tup” for “cup” or “das” for “gas”).
Another rule of speech is that some words start with two consonants, such as broken or spoon. When children don’t follow this rule and say only one of the sounds (”boken” for broken or “poon” for spoon), it is more difficult for the listener to understand the child. While it is common for young children learning speech to leave one of the sounds out of the word, it is not expected as a child gets older. If a child continues to demonstrate such cluster reduction, he or she may have a phonological process disorder.
To see the ages at which phonological processes should disappear, go to Typical Speech Development: The Gradual Acquisition of the Speech Sound System.
Q: My 2 year old isn’t talking, should I be concerned?
A: By two years old, many children are using 50 or more words, which they may combine to make short phrases. However, there is a range at this age with some children using more spoken words, and some using far less. If you are concerned about your child’s speech or language development, contact a licensed speech-language pathologist certified by the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA). A speech-language pathologist compares the child’s language to that of other children his age. If there is cause for concern, communication intervention at a early age is crucial.
Q: Do ear infections affect speech and language development?
A: When a child has a middle-ear infection, fluid accumulates in the middle ear. This fluid build up causes a temporary hearing loss. Children with prolonged fluid in the ears have a higher incidence of speech and language disorders. Even a mild hearing loss, as little as 20dB, which would not be detected by a screening, can cause a child not to hear high-frequency sounds ( such as f,z,s,sh,ch), some word endings (such as the plural “s” and past tense “ed”) and some word final consonants ( such as the t in cat).
Q: My preschooler is stuttering. Is this a problem?
A: There is a period of normal disfluency between ages 2 and 5. Children this age are learning to use language in new ways, and often will repeat words or syllable once or twice ex. li li like, or use fillers such as um, uh. A child who may truly be stuttering may also show other signs such as tension in the facial muscles, prolongations (holding out a sound), or a block when no there is no airflow or voice for several seconds. If you are concerned that your child may be stuttering, then an evaluation by a speech-language pathologist is recommended. There are techniques that can be used with young children to improve their fluency and reduce their frustration.
Q: What are the signs of a voice problem?
A: If your child’s vocal quality is hoarse for longer than 10 days in the absence of a cold or allergy, you should take your child to be examined by an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor (ENT). This will help determine if there is a vocal pathology such as vocal cord nodules or polyps present. Vocal nodules are the most common reason for voice disorders in children. They are caused by vocal abuse, such as talking too loudly or screaming, using a pitch that is unnatural, constant throat clearing or coughing. Many voice disorders can be remediated with the help of a speech-language pathologist. Some voice disorders will require the combined approach of medical or surgical treatment AND voice therapy conducted by a speech-language pathologist.
Q: What is a swallowing/feeding disorder?
A: Swallowing disorders are usually related to a structural weakness or dysfunction. A swallowing disorder refers to difficulty with moving food from the mouth to the stomach. A feeding disorder is often behaviorally motivated and is characterized by the refusal or aversion to food. Swallowing disorders, or dysphagia, can result from decreased function of the oral, pharyngeal, or esophageal structures.
Signs and symptoms of a swallowing or feeding disorder:
- Coughing or choking with food or liquid
- Wet vocal quality (gurgly voice)
- Runny nose or watery eyes with meals
- Food refusal or prolonged eating times
- Pneumonia or respiratory problems
- Low grade fever following meals
- Abnormal oral feeding/difficulty chewing or overstuffing food
- Food aversion or refusal
- Failure to thrive
- Difficulty advancing to age appropriate food consistencies and textures
- Vomiting, gagging, or choking during or following meals
Feeding/swallowing disorders can be diagnosed and treated by a Speech-Language Pathologist. Treatment will focus on identifying the cause of the disorder, developing a plan to address both behavioral and physical concomitants, and educating the family and caregivers.
Q: What is a language-based learning disability?
A: These problems may include difficulty with the following:
- Expressing ideas clearly, as if the words needed are on the tip of the tongue but won’t come out. What the child says can be vague and difficult to understand (e.g., using unspecific vocabulary, such as “thing” or “stuff” to replace words that cannot be remembered). Filler words like “um” may be used to take up time while the child tries to remember a word.
- Learning new vocabulary that the child hears (e.g., taught in lectures/lessons) and/or sees (e.g., in books)
- Understanding questions and following directions that are heard and/or read
- Recalling numbers in sequence (e.g., telephone numbers and addresses)
- Understanding and retaining the details of a story’s plot or a classroom lecture
- Reading and comprehending material
- Learning words to songs and rhymes
- Telling left from right, making it hard to read and write since both skills require this directionality
- Letters and numbers
- Learning the alphabet
- Identifying the sounds that correspond to letters, making learning to read difficult
- Mixing up the order of letters in words while writing
- Mixing up the order of numbers that are a part of math calculations
- Spelling
- Memorizing the times tables
- Telling time
Q: How is reading related to speech and language development?
A: The child who is having difficulty reading or learning to read may not have a solid foundation in language skills or phonological awareness. A child’s development of understanding language (receptive) or using language to express himself ( expressive) form the basis for leaning to read and write. This includes vocabulary, grammar, word and sentence meaning. The ability to comprehend spoken stories as well as to organize and formulate ideas in order to tell stories are also important aspects of language. Without a firm language foundation, a child may experience academic problems, especially in the areas of reading, spelling and writing.
Effective treatment methods are available. Your child should have a language-learning evaluation by a licensed and certified speech-language pathologist.
*Information adopted from asha.org
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