We have heard from many anxious parents who worry how well their children’s speech and language skills are progressing at an early age. Given the increasing prevalence of autism and learning disabilities and with progress difficult to specifically quantify, we certainly understand their concern. Here’s some interesting insight from pediatrician Perri Klass in today’s New York Times:
18 and Under – When to Worry if a Child Has Too Few Words (New York Times)
For reference, the ASHA guidelines for child speech and language development are located here.
Children affected by articulation impairments often have a great amount of difficulty during their social and educational development. Individuals who have trouble pronouncing words, speak with a lisp, or have difficulty in communicating are suffering from an articulation impairment. These impairments can be caused by a variety of reasons and is noticeable in the forms of lisps, substituting letters, or even stuttering. Affected children may have learned something at an early age that was never corrected and it just became the norm for them. Kids have a have a way of being brutally honest with each other regardless of of how much damage it can do to one’s psyche. Even if this is not done in a vicious manner, but pointing out another child’s obvious challenges can cause some social anxieties for that child at a very young age.
Once an articulation impairment is recognized there are several routes that the parents can choose in order to address the problem and try to correct it. If the problem is merely with certain words, parents may be able to do drills with their child that will get them out of the habit that they have developed and allow them to progress their speech normally. Often the problem is beyond what a parent can handle and in these cases it is always best to seek the help of a speech pathologist. A speech pathologist will use several techniques to improve the speech of their patient. They will evaluate and come up with a plan that will be specifically tailored to that case and then work with the child to address their particular issues. By going through drills, showing proper tongue positioning for pronunciation and repeating vocabulary, there will be slow and steady progress. For more information please check out this article on the use of speech pathology to address articulation impairments .
This joint pilot study conducted by professors at the University of Queensland and doctors from Prince
ss Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, Australia sought out to explore the feasibility and effectiveness of an Internet-based telerehabilitation application for the assessment of motor speech disorders in adults with acquired neurological impairment. Researchers used a counterbalanced, repeated measures research design to evaluate how 2 speech-language pathologists assessed 19 speakers with dysarthia on a battery of perceptual assessments. These assessments utilized a 19-item version of the Frenchay Dysarthia Assessment, the Assessment of Intelligibility of Dysarthic Speech, perceptual analysis of a speech sample, and an overall rating of the severity of the dysarthia.
One assessment was conducted in the traditional face-to-face method and the manner, whereas the other assessment was conducted using an online, custom-built telerehabilitation application. The results found that the measurements of severity of dysarthia, percentage intelligibility in sentences, and most perceptual ratings made in the telerehabilitation environment were found to fall within the clinically acceptable criteria. Researchers used this evidence to conclude that the online assessment of motor speech disorders using and Internet-based telerehabilitation system is feasible and that with the additional use refinement of the technology and assessment protocols, reliable assessment of motor speech disorders over the Internet is possible. For more information on this important study please click here.
Did you know that there are approximately as many speech-language pathologists in the United States as there are dentists? A surprising piece of information given the lack of public attention the speech pathology profession receives. The following quote from pathologist Megan Hodge describes why she believes the field of speech therapy is special, “A career in speech-language pathology challenges you to use your intellect (the talents of your mind) in combination with your humanity (the gifts in your heart) to do meaningful work that feeds your soul… I am proud to be a member of what I believe to be the best profession on earth. ” Megan’s strong belief in the nature of the work speech pathologists perform is commonly shared amongst members of the profession.
The rewards of being a speech pathologist are great. The work can be frustrating at times but every day you work to see patients make progress. When a patient is unable to regain basic communication and eating skills, their lives become much more normal and enjoyable. It’s also a real privilege to help families make tough decisions about care for loved ones who are no longer able to eat normally. For more information on the benefits to becoming a speech pathologist check out this blog post on grad2b.com.
Challenging Aphasia Therapies, edited by Judith Felson Duchan and Sally Byng, introduces a variety of new 
approaches to aphasia therapy by breaking away from traditional models. Originally published in May of 2004, the book was ahead of its time in that it challenged and reassessed many assumptions that had previously been taken for granted within the field of study. The book is compiled of studies and opinions authored by a group of internationally renowned group of aphasia experts that have sought out to learn about the disorder through a process of engagement.
Some of the topics covered in the book include:
-the role of context, culture and conversation in shaping and directing aphasia therapy
-the ethical issues that arise from the current tensions between market driven health care industries and the moral commitment to their client welfare
-the value of therapy by challenging the common notion that successful therapy is performance-based
Reviewers of this book have commented that it has enormous potential to shape the thinking on aphasia therapy and is written by some of the most influential authors in the world of aphasia. To sample a portion of the book please click here.
Speech-language pathologists and audiologists are faced daily with decisions regarding the selection of appropria
te and effective treatment strategies for their clients. The American Speech-Language Hearing Association promotes the position that professionals provide the highest level of services by using the evidence-based practice (EBP) in their clinical decision making. University programs in communication sciences and disorders are teaching EBP to students who will be joining the ranks of professionals soon. These individuals are taught both the theory and application of EBP in their academic and clinical experiences. The goal is for these students to maintain their commitment to using EBP when they graduate and are on the job.
Implementing evidence-based practice can seem like an overwhelming task. However, to provide the best possible services to clients, speech-language pathologists and audiologists are ethically obligated to thoroughly research the effects of planned intervention techniques. Finding and evaluating research can be time-consuming, but using the resources provided by ASHA and other organizations can decrease the amount of time clinicians spend searching through articles, and increase the amount of time the spend implementing effective therapy with clients.
According to a recent World Bank study India is the world’s second most populace country with over 1.1 billion people currently residing in the nation. In 1983, India initiated its first National Health Policy with an ambitious goal to provide Health for All by the year 2000 through comprehensive primary health care services. However, given the country’s vast geographic spread, increasingly large population, and inadequate rural infrastructure, trying to make health care accessible to all has presented seemingly insurmountable challenge
Consider the following statistics:
-Over 72% of India’s population lives in its 638,588 rural villages
-Government spending on health care is 0.9% of GDP while the WHO recommended figure is around 5%
-India has approximately 5.97 physicians and 7.9 nurses per 10,000 of its population while the global norm is 22.5. Of these, 75% of medical specialists live and work in urban areas
-There are approximately 0.19 hospital beds per 1,000 patients in India’s rural areas
-66% of Indians do not have access to critical medicine
Given the lopsided distribution of specialists in India the increasing use of telemedicine techniques is helping to supply needed physicians in areas where there were none before. Large-scale use of telemedicine has been utilized in India since 2001 to help address the carnage caused by a substantial earthquake in the state of Gujarat. The disaster brought upon a e-health management system that allowed for the electronic transfer of medical needs, data, and enabled medical professionals to provide consultations from far away locations through video-conferencing. More recently, local physicians in the rural Bidar disrict of India have been using the iPhone to connect with experts in Bangalore for screening and diagnosis of retinopathy of prematurity which is a potentially blinding condition. Fore more information on the use of telemedicine in India check out this article.
It is estimated by the National Institutes of Health that 8-10% of Americans are affected by a Communication Disorder. Articulation Disorders, Voice Disorders, and Fluency Disorders are the three speech deficiencies found in people worldwide and each of them requires a different mode of treatment. Speech therapy involves much more than simply teaching a child to correctly pronounce words. Educational and therapeutic software has been clinically proven to help patients improve speech & language.
Articulation Disorder makes the production of speech sounds more difficult. The four types of Articulation Disorder are: Omissions, Substitutions, Distortions, and Additions. Phonation and Resonance Disorder are the two types of Vocal Disorders. Phonation Disorder causes the patient to suffer from problems with pitch, loudness or the stress of on words with voice which starts from the vocal folds of the larynx. Resonance Disorder occurs when any part of the vocal tract is abnormal or is dysfunctional. Fluency in speech is a property to deliver information with expertise in a non-interrupted manner. In Fluency disorder one may struggle to find a particular word or sound. For more detailed information on the three speech deficiencies click here.
Understanding Developmental Language Disorders by Courtenay Frazier Norbury, J. Bruce Tomlin and Dorothy V.M. Bishop is a book worth adding to your Christmas list if you don’t already own a copy. Children are diagnosed with Diagnoistic Language Disorders (DLD) when they fail to develop his or her native language without any apparent reason. This disorder is one of the most common reasons for parents for parents of preschool children to seek the advice of their family doctor. Many children rapidly improve while others have more persistent language difficulties. Long-term deficits can often adversely affect academic progress, social relationships, and mental well-being.
There is still a lot of work to be done on what causes DLDs and how best to intervene despite how common the disorder is. Understanding Developmental Language Disorders summarizes the recent research developments in genetics and neuroimaging studies, assessment techniques and treatment studies to provide an overview of all the aspects of DLD. The book also investigates the possible genetic and biological causes of the disorder, how best to assess children’s language skills to identify when and where communication breakdown occurs, what the long-term outcomes are for children who grow up with DLD, overlaps between DLD and other childhood disorders such as dyslexia and autism and how best to treat children with the disorder. With a focus on both theory and practice, this book is an invaluable resource to students and researchers of speech-language pathology as well as SLP practitioners.
SLAM Online has provided a great profile of Indiana Fever Forward Tamika Catchings in which she discusses growing up with a hearing impairment and attending speech therapy. Though Catchings is now known as one of the most powerful players in the WNBA and has won countless rewards, she was teased constantly in school.
As she says: “Growing up I was in speech therapy, had a hearing aid, braces, glasses and my story really starts with dealing with all that — wanting to fit in and be normal…I didn’t understand why I was made fun of so much. Whether it was my difficulties hearing or the way I talked, getting pulled out of class for speech therapy, or other constant things kids made fun of me for. Sometimes I wanted to give up but my parents wouldn’t let me.” However, it was Catching’s determination to overcome these obstacles that led her to play even harder on the basketball court. To see the full article, click here. For more information on Tamika Catchings and her story, click here.
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