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Recognizing Speech and Language Disorders in Young
Children
What are
speech and language disorders? Speech and language
disorders are inabilities to understand or appropriately use
society's speech and language systems. These disorders may range
from simple sound repetitions or occasional misarticulations to
the complete inability to communicate.
Why are
speech and language disorders serious? The ability
to communicate is our most human characteristic. When a person
cannot communicate properly, problems nearly always result. For
example, adults with speech and language disorders may find it
difficult to gain employment or may be forced into less
satisfying jobs because of their inability to communicate
effectively. Children may experience difficulties in learning or
suffer from ridicule and teasing by friends because of a speech
or language problem.
What
causes speech and language disorders? Speech and
language disorders may be related to hearing loss, short memory
span, cerebral palsy and other neuromuscular disorders, severe
head injuries, viral diseases, certain drugs, or physical
impairments such as cleft lip or palate. However, in most cases
the cause of a speech or language disorder cannot be determined.
What should I
do if I think my child has a speech or language disorder?
Seek a comprehensive evaluation by a qualified speech-language
pathologist as soon as you suspect there is a problem. Ignoring
the symptoms of poor speech and language could allow a disorder
to go unrecognized and become more difficult to treat in later
years.
How can the
speech-language pathologist help children with speech and
language disorders? The methods used will vary
depending upon the nature and severity of the problem, the
child's age, and the child's awareness of the problem. Speech-language
pathologists provide many specialized services that include:
- helping children with language
disorders increase the number of words they know and
combine these words more effectively
- assisting children who stutter to
speak more fluently
- helping children with articulation
disorders learn proper production of speech sounds
What is an
articulation disorder? The basic problem shown by a
child with an articulation disorder is that he has failed to
master the sounds of his language. This may be characterized by
one or more of the following:
- substitution of one sound for another
such as "wabbit" for "rabbit"
- distortion of a sound
- omission of a sound that should be
present such as "go" for "goat"
- addition of an irrelevant sound such
as "shlip" for "ship"
Most young children show all of these
errors at one time or another. However, by age 3, a child should
be easily understood by unfamiliar listeners 90% of the time.
The development of correct articulation is
a gradual process during which the speech sounds emerge
in a few words and progress toward the mastery level. Following
is a chart which indicates the ages at which 50% of children are
able to produce the various speech sounds in some contexts. The
sounds within each age are listed in the order that they
typically emerge.
- 18 mos. - p, m, h, n, w, ng, f
- 2 yrs. - b, k, g, d, t, y, r, l, s
- 3 yrs. - ch, sh, z, j, v, th
Click here to go to the main articulation
page.
What is
language? Language is used for talking to and with
others, to signal needs, intentions, feelings, and thoughts.
Language is also used for self-talking (thinking), and for
controlling and directing one's own behavior as well as for
controlling and directing the behavior of others. It involves the
understanding and use of words and word combinations. A language
disorder is characterized by an inability to do one or more of
these:
- use words meaningfully
- combine words in appropriate
grammatical patterns
- understand the words or word
combinations of others
Following are some language abilities a
child should have at certain ages:
Birth - 6 months
- respond vocally when stimulated
- coo, gurgle, and babble for
pleasure
6-12 months
- use his own jargon with inflection
- imitate sounds, simple words, or
gestures
- respond to a simple command
- say one or two duplicate syllable
words (mama, dada, baba)
- understand gestures and some words
12-18 months
- name a few common objects
- ask for something by naming and
pointing to it
- understand common, short, simple
sentences
- use one word to mean several
things
18-24 months
- use two-or three-word combinations
- understand some common personal
pronouns (me, mine, you)
- use "no"
2-3 years
- use some complete sentences of
three to four words
- use some pronouns and prepositions
- use "what" in addition
to one or two more question words
- form a negative sentence
- use both present and past tense
verbs
- understand most adult sentences
3-4 years
- use sentences of five to six words
- use some auxiliary verbs (is, was)
- form a variety of questions
- tell a story with sequential
events
4-5 years
- use basically adult grammar
- use all question words
Click here to go to the main language page.
How can I tell
if my child's voice is normal? A good voice should
have the following characteristics:
- pleasing quality without hoarseness or
breathiness
- the right amounts of oral and nasal
resonance
- appropriate loudness
- a pitch level suitable for age, size
and sex
- appropriate inflection
A normal voice should be able to
communicate reliably the feelings and thoughts the speaker wishes
to convey to the listener. It should take place without any
apparent effort or strain. No voice should call attention to
itself because of the manner in which it is produced or because
of any undesirable characteristics.
Is my child
stuttering? Between the ages of 2 and 6 a child may
begin to have noticeable difficulties in speaking smoothly and
freely, especially when starting to use sentences. In varying
degrees, all children repeat words and phrases, hesitate often,
and have occasional difficulty with the smooth flow of words.
No one has speech that is perfectly smooth.
We all hesitate, insert noises or words, get syllables mixed up,
go back and revise sentences, or try to say two words at the same
time, getting confused or stuck for an instant. The young child
who is still struggling to master speech will naturally stumble
more often than do adults and older children.
Following are signs which show that a child
has moved beyond the type of interruptions that are normal for
his age.
- multiple repetitions
- Parts of words, usually the first sound or syllable,
are repeated in many words and in many
situations.
- prolongations -
Sometimes, instead of repeating beginning sounds, a child
may prolong the first sound of a word, so that "Mommy"
becomes "MMMMMMMommy".
- rise in pitch and loudness
- As the child tries to get a word out, the pitch and
loudness of the sound that he is prolonging may slide
upwards or suddenly jump to a higher level.
- struggle and tension
- The child may struggle to get words out or have an
unusual amount of tension in his lips, tongue, throat or
chest when he tries to say certain words.
- moment of fear -
There may be a fleeting moment of fear on the child's
face as he approaches a word that gives him trouble. He
may be afraid of particular words in certain speaking
situations, or even fear talking at all.
- avoidance - The
struggle and fear the child experiences in talking may
soon lead him to try a variety of avoidances. There may
be an unusual number and length of pauses. The child may
refuse to talk at times, substituting or inserting
irrelevant words or meaningless noises until he is ready
to say a word.
Click here to go to the main stuttering page.
How can I tell
if my child has a hearing loss? Hearing loss is a
hidden handicap. It cannot be seen and cannot always be detected
by simple observation. However, there are some signs that are
frequently indicators of hearing loss. A child may have a hearing
loss if he:
- frequently asks to have things
repeated
- turns one side of his head toward the
speaker
- talks too loudly or too softly
- watches and concentrates on the
speaker's lips
- makes frequent mistakes in following
directions
- tends to isolate himself
- breathes through his mouth
- has earaches or ear drainage
- has a speech problem
If a child demonstrates such symptoms he
should have his hearing tested. Since even mild hearing loss can
cause delays in speech, language and educational development, it
is important that the loss be detected and treated at as early an
age as possible.
If you have
questions or need more information you can contact us at:
Overton Speech &
Language Center, Inc.
4763 Barwick Drive, Suite 103
Fort Worth, TX 76132
(817) 294-8408
info@overtonspeech.net
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Copyright © 1983, 2001
Overton Speech & Language Center, Inc.
Last revised: February 25, 2001