Running head: SPEECH AND LANGUAGE DISORDER 1

Speech and Language Disorder

Christina Mariscal

Fresno Pacific University

Speech and Language Disorder

Communication is one of the most important ability a human can have. Now a days

there been more children diagnose with speech and language delay, it is one of the most common

delay problems among children. Speech and language delay affects five to ten percent of

preschoolers as stated in the article by the Health System of the University of Michigan (para

1). Speech and language delay are two different disorders that are commonly triggered at the

same time within the same individual. Speech is the sound that comes out of the mouth, and

language has to do with the meaning rather than sound expressed by the Health System of the

University of Michigan (para 1). There are many issues that cause speech and language delay.

The factors that may cause speech and language delay are such as extreme environmental

deprivation, prematurity, auditory processing disorder, autism, neurological disorders, apraxia of

speech and selective mutism. Speech and language delay is not easy to identify at a very early

age due that the child may be a late bloomer and not speak at the same stage as other children.

Therefore, it is recommended that as soon the childs is identified or the parents are concerned

about their child speech to seek for help and receive early intervention as soon as possible to

ensure a proper milestone development in their child.

Speech and language delay affects the child in many ways within the family and

community. When the child is unable to communicate clearly it will cause frustration, and the

child will constantly cry. The childs behavior may be inappropriate in public due to the lack of

speech and language. Ms. Gladys Arreola mother of a son with autism shares that due to autism

his son does not have any vocabulary and he gets easily frustrated. She also shares that she

avoids unnecessary outing such as family birthday parties, or dine out due to the fact that her son

will act up and throw a tantrum. I dislike when everyone turns to see me like as I am not doing
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my job right raising my child. People do not know why my son acts this way but yet they judge

us. The community lack of understanding and knowledge of the many reasons why a child

cries a lot, and throws tantrums, causes that they judge the parents for bad parenting skills, not

knowing that it is not a matter of parental skills but of a disorder in this case is autism plus

language and speech delay. The lack of words also affects the child academically. Consequently,

by not having a proper language or speech the child is unable to communicate, comprehend, or

write at grade level. Children with speech and language delay fall behind with school work

because of difficulties in understanding and expressing language.

Methods of treatment suggested for speech and language delay consist of speech therapy.

Speech therapy may be applied in a variety of ways depending on the need of the child.

Strategies and techniques may include one on one support; this is actually considered to be

essential to obtain a positive outcome. A commonly used technique is assistive technology which

is commonly used when children are unable to use words. This consists of the use of flash cards

or a board with pictures of objects in which the child may point and communicate his needs and

wants. Toys, puppets, computers may also be used to motivate the child to express language.

Furthermore, play time is essential with children with speech and language delay, parents, and

educators need to encourage the child to use words to exercise their mouth muscles which help

articulate words. An article on My child with no limits.org suggest that as the parent or caregiver

encourage the child to maintain their head up when speaking but as well when listening. They

also suggest encouraging the child to maintain eye contact and repeat themselves when they are

not clearly understood. Another option to utilize is sign language when speech is absent. When

using techniques and strategies the educator must consider the child speech and language needs.

With autistic children chart or flash cards has been successful for communication purpose. The
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film Hear the Silence (2003) is an example of how the use of flash cards has better the

communication among the non- verbal with the verbal humans. This film is based on a true

story; family that struggle with autism in the early years of the development of the disorder. The

family was not receiving clear answers about why the child was not speaking; they were not

receiving help from the physicians or the school district. The mother of the child fought for her

son rights, and she focus on giving him one on one attention by using flash cards to

communicate.

Development practice with speech and language delay includes lots of dedication and

patience. Speech and language disorder are caused by different scenarios, and the treatment is

not the same for each case of speech or language delay. For each child with speech and language

delay the treatment must be tailored to the child needs as an individual. It is also important to be

consistent in the treatment in order to acquire the outcome desire in the development of the child.

In a classroom setting an educator may modify her curriculum, teaching materials, and

strategies to accommodate a child with speech or language delay by giving one on one attention

to the child in need. The educator may sit the child next to the front where she can easily assist if

he is confused, or she needs to re-explain her expectations. The educator may partner the child

with a buddy. The buddy may write notes or re-explain to the child what is required in the

assignment it also reinforces social skills by interacting with other childrens. Redirection and

prompted initiation also refers to interact with other children in whom the child with the need

will communicate with classmates about what he wants or needs instead of approaching the

teacher. The educator may require the child to participate on the lesson as a helper to model the

lesson plan. The used of visual aids will improve the child understanding of the lesson. Modeling

is a strategy to use with children with speech and language delay same as event cast in which
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consist of repeating and stating what is happening in the in the lesson plan or environment. Event

casts help children understand what is happening and what is needed to be done. Expansion may

be used to modify a curriculum. The educator may expand the child understanding by using his

words with additional clarification of the meaning of what happen or what will happen. This

strategy are found in the textbook Exceptional Lives Special Education in Todays Schools

(Turnbull, A, Turnbull, R, 2016, page 139).

Speech and language disorder are viewed differently as to where the family background

is from, such in culture and financial status. Finance is a key to any disorder, when the family is

well stable economic their access to assessment and evolution are more effective. Families with

low financial status who do not have their own private insurance must wait to receive approval of

such assessment. Early intervention in speech and language disorder is important to trigger as

soon as possible. The sooner the child is treated the best outcome it will have. During waiting on

the approval for the child to be asses, time is being wasted by not receiving any type of resource

which may help the child but as well the family to accept and properly approach the issue.

Culture may be an obstacle in identifying speech and language disorders. Ruth Ndung'u

and Mathew Kinyua expressed that the larger percentage of the public is ignorant of the causes

of language and speech disorders (para 20), and for that fact they might ignore the obvious

signs of such disorders, and when diagnose may find themselves in denial. Ndungu and Kinyua

also stated that contemporary culture still associates or correlates language and speech disorders

to practices and beliefs (para 20). By not acknowledging the real factors that may cause speech

and language delay, the child does not receive the proper intervention to polish their speech and

language. It has been proven that early intervention has improved a child life within the family,

community, and academic.

. References

Ndungu, R, & Kinyua, M. (2009).Disability Studies Quertily the first journal in the field of

disability studies. Culture prospective in language and speech disorders. Vol,29, No.

4.

My child without limits. (2016). Speech therapy.

http://www.mychildwithoutlimits.org/plan/common-treatments-and-therapies/speech-

therapy/

Prager, T & Fywell, T. (2003). Hear the silence.[Zenith Entertainment]. United Kingdom

Turnbull, A, Turnbull, R, Wehmeyer, M., Shogren, K. (2016). Exceptional Lives (8th Ed.). Upper

Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

University of Michigan Health System, (2016) Speech and Language Delay and Disorder.

http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/speech.htm