Understanding and addressing speech disorders
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When you first begin to research speech therapy and speech disorders, chances are you will come across some misguided information. You might hear that your child will likely grow out of his speech disorder, that you should never use “baby talk” with an infant, or that living in a bilingual household is detrimental to your child’s language development. When in doubt, never hesitate to ask your child’s speech therapist about these issues.
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When your baby was born, you likely counted all his toes and fed him shortly after birth. Breastfeeding might take a little trial and error at first, but what if your baby has trouble feeding? Children with feeding and swallowing disorders can display a wide range of symptoms. Children who cannot consume food adequately are at risk for medical complications.
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Any parent with more than one child knows how much of a juggling act it can be to balance your time evenly amongst all the kids. Being the parent of a child with special needs has an even greater impact. Much like a new baby who abruptly diverts time and attention away from the older siblings, a child with a speech disorder necessitates a period of adjustment for the rest of the family.
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Tongue thrust is an orofacial myofunctional disorder (OMD). Formerly called reverse swallow or deviate swallow, tongue thrust refers to the tongue pressing up against the teeth or between them while swallowing. Some tongue thrusters move the tongue inappropriately to the sides, rather than forward to the teeth. Improper tongue positioning can also occur while the tongue is at rest, in which case it may lie too far forward.
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Apraxia, sometimes called verbal apraxia or acquired apraxia of speech, is a motor speech disorder. This means that the problem arises from poor motor coordination. A person with apraxia has trouble with the muscle control that is needed to form words. Patients may develop acquired apraxia of speech regardless of how old they are, but it more commonly afflicts adults. As opposed to acquired apraxia, developmental apraxia is present in children from birth.
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Overview
Aphasia is an acquired communication disorder that results from damage to the brain, most often from a stroke. Adults are more frequently afflicted with aphasia due to the cause of the disorder; however, children may also acquire aphasia. Other causes may include an infection, head trauma, or brain tumor.
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What Is It?
A language sequencing problem is a language-based learning disability, sometimes called a language-learning disability. That means that it is a type of learning disability characterized by problems with language. A child with a language-based learning disability like a language sequencing problem may display issues with spoken and/or written language.
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On January 8, 2011, Americans were stunned to hear of the assassination attempt on Senator Gabrielle Giffords. Giffords was shot in the head, but miraculously survived. As she recovered, Giffords struggled to learn how to speak. She was diagnosed with aphasia, which is an acquired communication disorder. Aphasia does not impair a person’s intelligence, but it does impede the ability to process language, to speak, and to understand another person’s speech.
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As children grow, they develop fluency in their native tongues. Fluency refers to the typical flow of speech. Children with a fluency disorder often display prolonged speech sounds and word repetitions. Stuttering is one widely recognized fluency disorder; cluttering is another. These two disorders may be considered to be “cousins.” To the untrained ear, it can be difficult to distinguish these two fluency disorders.
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Arranging for treatment for your child’s speech disorder can use up a lot of time and energy. It can be stressful to make sure that your child has everything he needs to succeed, but it is also important to pay attention to the possible signs of stress that he may exhibit. Children may become frustrated when they cannot readily communicate, particularly if they become aware that their patterns of speech are different from the patterns of speech of other children.
