Speech Therapy

What is SPEECH THERAPY?

Speech is one of the main ways in which we communicate our thoughts, ideas, and emotions with others

 What are SPEECH DISORDERS?

Speech is the process of producing specific sounds that convey meaning to the listener.

A Speech Disorder refers to any condition that affects a person ability to produce sounds that create words.

Speech disorders affect a person’s ability to form the sounds that allows them to communicate with others.

Speech disorders prevent people from forming correct speech sounds.

Speaking is a process which requires the coordination of multiple body parts including head, neck, chest and abdomen.

Speech Disorders can affect people of all ages.

Types Of Speech Disorders?

1.       Articulation disorders

These are problems with making sounds in syllables, or saying words incorrectly to the point that listener’s can’t understand what’s being said.

In a child with an articulation disorder, their speech sound are different than it should

They may add, leave off or change some words, They might substitute (“Wabbit” instead of “Rabbit”).

They might have trouble pronouncing words that start with two consonants, like “gr” (“gass” instead of “grass”).

2.       Fluency Disorders

Fluency Disorders is an interruption in the flow of speaking characterized by atypical rate, rhythm, and disfluencies which may also accompanied by excessive tension, speaking avoidance and struggle behavior.

Stuttering occurs when normal speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions or prolongations of sound, syllables, words or phrases, sound blocks, interjections or revisions.

Cluttering is another common fluency disorders. It is characterized by rapid or irregular rates of speech as well as irregular syntax and orders of words.

Dysarthria occurs when damage to the brain causes muscle weakness in a person’s face, lips, tongue, throat, or chest. Muscle weakness in these parts of the body can make speaking very difficult.

3.       Resonance or voice disorders:

 These are 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.

A voice disorder occurs when voice quality, pitch, and loudness differ or are inappropriate for an individual's age, gender, cultural background, or geographic location

Diagnosis

A speech-language pathologist (SLP) is a healthcare professional who specializes in speech and language disorders.

An SLP will evaluate a person for groups of symptoms that indicate one type of speech disorder. To make an accurate diagnosis, SLPs need to rule out other speech and language disorders and medical conditions.

An SLP will review a person’s medical and family history. They will also examine how a person moves their lips, jaw, and tongue and may inspect the muscles of the mouth and throat.

TREATMENT

The type of treatment will typically depend on the severity of the speech disorder and its underlying cause.

Treatment options can include:

• speech therapy exercises that focus on building familiarity with certain words or sounds
• physical exercises that focus on strengthening the muscles that produce speech sounds\
• Speech therapy can be done with just one child and the therapist or by a therapist with a group of kids. In group therapy, all children may do speech exercises together.
• Therapy may help a child make the sound by showing them how to use their lips or tongue right. They will be given exercises to help pronounce letters and words.