DCMT---CLASS NOTES--- SPEECH THERAPY

What Is Speech?

Speech is how we say sounds and words. Speech includes:

Articulation 

How we make speech sounds using the mouth, lips, and tongue. For example, we need to be able to say the “r” sound to say "rabbit" instead of "wabbit.”

Voice

How we use our vocal folds and breath to make sounds. Our voice can be loud or soft or high- or low-pitched. We can hurt our voice by talking too much, yelling, or coughing a lot.

Fluency 

This is the rhythm of our speech. We sometimes repeat sounds or pause while talking. People who do this a lot may stutter.

What Is Language?

Language refers to the words we use and how we use them to share ideas and get what we want. Language includes:

• What words mean. Some words have more than one meaning. For example, “star” can be a bright object in the sky or someone famous.
• How to make new words. For example, we can say “friend,” “friendly,” or “unfriendly” and mean something different.
• How to put words together. For example, in English we say, “Peg walked to the new store” instead of “Peg walk store new.”
• What we should say at different times. For example, we might be polite and say, “Would you mind moving your foot?” But, if the person does not move, we may say, “Get off my foot!”

Language and Speech Disorders

We can have trouble with speech, language, or both. Having trouble understanding what others say is a receptive language disorder. Having problems sharing our thoughts, ideas, and feelings is an expressive language disorder. It is possible to have both a receptive and an expressive language problem.

When we have trouble saying sounds, stutter when we speak, or have voice problems, we have a speech disorder.

Jorge has a speech disorder that makes him hard to understand. So does Louis. The reason Tommy has trouble is different than the reason Louis does.

Maryam has a receptive and expressive language disorder. She does not understand what words mean and has trouble using words to talk to others.

Vicki also has a language disorder. Reading and writing are language skills. She could also have problems understanding others and using words well because of her learning disability.

A speech disorder refers to a problem with the actual production of sounds.
A language disorder refers to a problem understanding or putting words together to communicate ideas.

Speech disorders include:

• Articulation disorders: difficulties producing sounds in syllables or saying words incorrectly to the point that listeners can't understand what's being said.
• Fluency disorders: problems such as stuttering, in which the flow of speech is interrupted by abnormal stoppages, partial-word repetitions ("b-b-boy"), or prolonging sounds and syllables (sssssnake).
• Resonance or voice disorders: problems with the pitch, volume, or quality of the voice that distract listeners from what's being said. These types of disorders may also cause pain or discomfort for a child when speaking.

Language disorders can be either receptive or expressive:

• Receptive disorders: difficulties understanding or processing language.
• Expressive disorders: difficulty putting words together, limited vocabulary, or inability to use language in a socially appropriate way.
• Cognitive-communication disorders: difficulty with communication skills that involve memory, attention, perception, organization, regulation, and problem solving.