Useful
What Is Speech Therapy?
Speech therapy studies speech and language disorders, voice disorders, and develops therapeutic methods to overcome them.
Communicative disorders affect speech (articulation, intonation, tempo, melody) and language (phonetics, morphology, syntax, semantics). These disorders manifest both receptively—impairments in understanding—and expressively—impaired speech production, including reading and writing, as well as in non-verbal expression, such as gestures and facial expressions.
When Is It Applied?
- Articulation Disorders: Difficulties in the pronunciation of sounds, substitution, omission, and distortion of sounds.
- Voice Disorders: More emotional children, teachers, and singers often have voice problems due to overuse.3.
- Communicative Disorders Due to Congenital Facial Anomalies: Such as cleft lips and palates..
- Disorders Resulting from Impaired Innervation of Articulatory Organs: Such as dysarthria.
- Language Disorders: Affecting understanding and proper expression.
- Communicative Disorders in Children with Hearing Impairments.
- Communicative Disorders in Children with Visual Impairments.
- Communicative Disorders in Children with Intellectual Disabilities.
- Specific Learning Difficulties: Disorders in reading, writing, and mathematics.
- Communicative Disorders Due to Fluency Disorders: Most commonly stuttering and stammering.
- Autistic Spectrum Disorders.
The Speech Therapist
While the occupational therapist focuses on skills for self-care and work activities, and the psychologist develops cognitive functions, the speech therapist enhances communication and social skills.
The speech therapy process adheres to the principles of the child's ontogenetic development. The speech therapist evaluates the child and identifies deficits using standardized tests and methods. When gaps and disorders are found at any level, the specialist prepares an individual therapeutic plan.
Important Points to Note:
The speech therapist works with both children and adults.
The speech therapist is not a doctor but a therapist.
The speech therapist is not a teacher and does not educate.
Signs
If your child has difficulties:
Pronouncing sounds, substituting them with others, omitting, or distorting them.
Speaking or has a very limited vocabulary.
Exhibits agrammatic speech.
Stuttering or pausing when speaking.
Reading and writing.
Avoiding contact with other children and is reluctant to communicate.
It is important to seek the help of a speech therapist early upon noticing any difficulties in language and speech development.