1. SPEECH-LANGUAGE DISORDERS
OVERVIEW OF CHILDHOOD
SPEECH-LANGUAGE
DISORDERS
Development of Young Children with Disabilities # (61) Carol Ann Heath

2. Sources Used:
Hart, B. (2000). A natural history of early language Experience. TECSE 20:1,
Lesaux, N. K. (2004 Presentation at Ready by Five Symposium, Baltimore, Maryland) Promoting Language and Literacy in Young Children from Diverse Backgrounds.
Lyon, G. R. What Happens Early Really Matters. Informal Presentation In Maryland. Source: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Child Development Institute,

3. Language Can be defined as a set of symbols used for communication
Symbols are used to organize thoughts and new learning and to communicate with others
May be spoken or take a visual form as through gestures or written language

4. Language
Involves the understanding and use of sounds, words, and the rules for combining their use
Involves both receptive and expressive processes

5. Development of Oral Language
Involves the understanding and use of
* Phonology
* Semantics
* Morphology
* Syntax or grammar
* Pragmatics

6. Phonology
Refers to the sound system of a language and the rules that govern the sound combinations
Research has demonstrated that by the age of six months, infants have learned to differentially respond to the sounds of their native language

7. Semantics
Refers to the system that governs the meanings of words and sentences

8. Morphology
Refers to the system that governs the structure of words and the construction of word forms

9. Syntax
Refers to the system governing the order and combinations of words to form sentences, and the relationship among the elements of the sentence

10. Pragmatics
Refers to the system that combines the above language components in functional and socially appropriate communication
May involve the tone of voice used, rules for turn-taking in conversation, facial expressions and gestures used to accompany speech

11. Normal Language Development
Language develops rapidly and easily in most children despite variation in environment and intelligence

12. Communication Disorder
An impairment in the ability to receive, send, process, and comprehend concepts or verbal, nonverbal and graphic symbol systems
May be evident in the processes of hearing, language, and/or speech

13. Communication Disorder
May range in severity
May be developmental or acquired
May result in a primary disability or it may be secondary to other disabilities

14. Prevalence
Rates vary from 2-3% to about 20 % depending upon the age of the children studied
10% of children will have a moderate to severe speech and/or language delay at eh time of school entrance

15. Language Disorder
Impaired comprehension and/or use of spoken, written and/or other symbol systems
May involve the form of language (phonology, morphology, syntax), the content of language (semantics), and/or the function of language (pragmatics) in any combination

16. Children At Risk for Language Delay
Intellectual disability
Hearing Loss
Central Nervous System Impairment affecting the speech production mechanism
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Emotional Disturbance
Extreme environmental deprivation

17. Child Language Impairments
Difficulty understanding and using language to communicate
Problems understanding and using appropriate vocabulary, word order, or grammar and difficulty following directions or some have difficulty using language, and difficulty staying on topic in a conversation are common characteristics

18. Child Language –child may have some of the following:
Difficulty breaking down language into its parts
Difficulty with social rules of conversation
Infrequently initiating conversation or topics

19. Child Language – may have some of the following
Delay in onset of language development
Difficult following directions
Problems understanding wh- questions
Difficulty with abstract language
Incorrect grammar usage
Difficulty recalling words
Frequent use of non-specific words
Stories, written and spoken, are disjointed and miss details

20. Child Language – possible signs of underlying language impairment
Easily distracted
Limited attention span
Slower to respond or answer questions
Slower to put thoughts together to express their ideas
Seems vague – disorganized behavior
Lack of planning and sequencing

21. Speech Disorder
An impairment of the articulation of speech sounds, fluency and/or voice

22. Articulation Impairments
The atypical production of speech sounds characterized by substitutions, omissions, additions or distortions that may interfere with intelligibility

23. Articulation Impairment
May be caused by a problem in the mouth or nose structures that are used for speech (cleft palate or severe tongue tied)
May be caused by an abnormality in the function of the muscles or nerves in speech production (cerebral palsy)
Some may have no apparent cause

24. Dyspraxia of Speech
An inability to perform the very fast mouth/tongue movements for speech when there is no hearing, perception, or motor problems
As known as developmental apraxia of speech, developmental verbal dyspraxia, or developmental articulatory dyspraxia

25. Characteristics of Dyspraxia
Searching or “groping” movements noted during attempts to produce speech sounds
Child can produce some sounds at certain times and not at other times “volitional” or deliberate production may be more difficulty than spontaneous production
Sound errors are inconsistent

26. Characteristics of Dyspraxia
Does not exhibit typical development speech sound errors
Difficulty with fast repeated speech sequences

27. Voice Disorder Definition
Characterized by the abnormal production and/ or absences of vocal quality, pitch, loudness, resonance, and/ or duration, which is inappropriate for an individual’s age and/ or sex

28. Types of Voice Disorders
Quality – hoarseness, hyper/hypo nasality, breathiness
Pitch – pitch breaks, monotone, to high/too low
Loudness – too soft/too loud, inappropriate for situation

29. Causes of Voice Disorders
May result from physiological changes in the body, such as cancer, severe allergies, or asthma
Organic factors may include vocal nodules and polyps on the vocal cords

30. Stuttering of Fluency Disorder: Definition
Is an interruption in the flow of speaking characterized by atypical rate, rhythm, and repetitions in sounds, syllables, words, and phrases
May be accompanied by excessive tension, struggle, behavior, and secondary mannerisms

31. Characteristics of Stuttering
Primary – hesitations; repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words or phrases; and difficulty initiating speech
Secondary – facial grimaces, eye blinking, generalized body tension, and gasping for air

32. Causes of Stuttering
Several theories about the causes of stuttering exists
“underlying motor problem” – causes
Difficulty planning a sequence of speech movements
“stress related”
“difficulty coordinating the onset of voice with breathing and production of speech sounds”

33. Hearing Disorder
The result of impaired auditory sensitivity of the physiological auditory system
May limit the development, comprehension, production, and/or maintenance of speech and/or language
Referred to as “deaf or hard of hearing”

34. Deaf
A hearing disorder that limits an individual’s aural/oral communication performance to the extent that the primary sensory input for communication may be other than the auditory channel

35. Hard of Hearing
A hearing disorder, whether fluctuating or permanent, which adversely affects an individual’s ability to communicate.
The Hard of Hearing individuals relies on the auditory channel as the primary sensory input for communication

36. Central Auditory Processing Disorders
Deficits in the information processing of audible signals not attributed to impaired peripheral hearing sensitivity or intellectual impairment
Limitations in the ongoing transmission, analysis, organization, transformation, elaboration, storage, retrieval, and use of information contained in audible signals

37. Behaviors Associated CAPD
Poor phonological sensitivity combined with deficits in fine auditory discrimination
Auditory comprehension problems due to limited word discrimination and auditory memory
Difficulty procession verbal information where there is competing background noise

38. Behaviors Associated with CAPD
Diminished word discrimination in a poor acoustic environment or when a message is altered in some way
Difficulty following directions
Easily distracted
May have poor performance in reading, spelling, and other language-related areas compared to peers

39. Associated Conditions
Learning disability
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Traumatic Brain Injury

40. Language Learning Disabilities- problems may include:
Age-appropriate reading, spelling, and/or writing
Difficulty expressing ideas coherently
Difficulty with learning new vocabulary
Difficulty understanding and retaining info
Difficulty with reading comprehension

41. Autism Spectrum Disorder
Communication problems vary depending upon the intellectual and social development of child
Some may be unable to speak, while others may have rich vocabularies

42. Communication issues in Autism Spectrum Disorder
Difficulty using language effectively
Echolalia
Poor eye contact
Difficulty with topic initiation
Difficulty with topic maintenance
Problems with word and sentence meaning, intonation, and rhythm

43. Communication Issues- Traumatic Brain Injury
Slowed processing and poor memory
Impaired ability for self management
Disorientation and confusion
Poor judgment and difficulty with emotional control
Impaired comprehension
Word finding issues
Inappropriate speech

44. Slowly increasing numbers and proportions of children are being served in programs for the disabled.
During the 1993–94 school year, 12 percent of students were served in these programs compared with 14 percent in 2003–04.
Some of the rise since 1993–94 may be attributed to the increasing proportion of children identified as having speech or language impairments, which rose from 2.3 percent of enrollment to 3.0 percent of enrollment;
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (2006). Digest of Education Statistics, 2005 (NCES ), Chapter 2.