AZ PEDIATRIC THERAPY, PLLC
Pediatric Rehabilitative Therapy
Contact Us: 480-401-2381
SPEECH AND LANGUAGE DISORDERS
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF COMMUNICATION DISORDERS
ARTICULATION DISORDERS
A child who has an articulation disorder will have difficulty with producing various sounds in spoken communication. Errors may include substitutions, omissions, additional, distortions and assimilations to name a few. Articulation impairments range from mild to severe and often impact intelligibility, or the ability to be understood, by peers, caretakers and family members. Addressing an articulation impairment can improve a child's ability to functionally communicate with others, may increase their overall language production and minimize frustration that a child may have due to being misunderstood. Additionally, a child that has demonstrated an articulation impairment may also struggle with reading and exhibit deficits in early literacy skills. Addressing articulation impairments can have a positive impact on your child's academic skills in addition to improving their ability to communicate at home and in their community.
PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSINGÂ DISORDERS
A child who has a phonological processing disorder may often present similarly to a child diagnosed with an articulation disorder as both disorders are classified as speech sound disorders. While articulation errors are motor-based, phonological processing disorders involve difficulty with organizing sound patterns in the brain. A child with phonological processing disorder presents with patterned modifications of speech. Phonological processes can include final consonant deletion, for example, in which a child consistently omits the final consonants of words. A child with a phonological processing disorder may not only be difficult to understand, but they may also struggle with literacy skills due to difficulty with sound patterns at the cognitive level. Addressing phonological processing disorders can have a positive impact on both the child's academic and functional communication skills.
FLUENCY
Fluency disorders are characterized by an interruption in the flow of speaking. A child with a fluency disorder may demonstrate atypical rate, rhythm and disfluencies in their speech. Depending on the severity of the disorder, a child may also demonstrate excessive tension, struggle behaviors, secondary mannerisms and may avoid speaking. A child who stutters may experience related psychological, social, emotional, functional and academic impact due to the disorder.
EXPRESSIVE AND RECEPTIVE LANGUAGE DISORDERS
Expressive language disorders are defined as an inability to effectively communicate information and messages with others. A receptive language disorder is characterized by difficulty understanding and processing information that is presented. A child may demonstrate deficits in one domain or both. Signs and symptoms of a language disorder can include, but are not limited to, the following:
comprehending and following directions
comprehending information that is presented verbally or in written format
demonstrating knowledge of material/information that is presented to them
forming sentences to communicate
forming sentences in proper order
decreased vocabulary acquisition and use
poor grammar skills in spoken and written communication
increased use of fillers ("um")
poor ability to organize thoughts and information for both spoken and written communication
answering questions presented orally or in in written format
poor sequencing skills for understanding and story retelling purposes
SOCIAL (PRAGMATIC) COMMUNICATION DISORDER
A child with a social communication disorder may struggle with establishing and maintaining meaningful relationships due to poor understanding and use of verbal and non-verbal communication for social purposes. Some of the areas that a child with social (pragmatic) communication disorder may demonstrate difficulty with include the following:
communicating socially in an appropriate manner given the context
adapting communication attempts based on the communication partner's needs or context
understanding communication beyond what is explicitly stated (social inferencing, non-verbal language components including tone of voice and facial expressions, etc.)
understanding ambiguity and nonliteral language in social contexts
following rules for conversations and storytelling purposes
The above list is not exhaustive as we treat a variety of disorders. Please contact our office with further questions so that we may assist you in supporting your child's speech and language acquisition.