Speech Sound Disorder

 

What does that mean?

 

 

 

 

 

What causes a speech sound disorder?

Many speech sound disorders occur without a known cause. A child may not learn how to produce sounds correctly or may not learn the rules of speech sounds on his or her own. These children may have a problem with speech development, which does not always mean that they will simply outgrow it by themselves. Many children do develop speech sounds over time but those who do not often need the services of an SLP to learn correct speech sounds.

 

Some speech sound errors can result from physical problems, such as:

• developmental disorders (e.g.,autism)

• genetic syndromes (e.g., Down syndrome)

• hearing loss

• illness

• neurological disorders (e.g., cerebral palsy)

 

"The prevalence of speech sound disorder in young children is 8 to 9 percent. By the first grade, roughly 5 percent of children have noticeable speech disorders; the majority of these speech disorders have no known cause." National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders: Statistics on Voice, Speech, and Language 2010 JUL 07

 

 

**Children who experience frequent ear infections when they were young are at risk for speech sound disorders if the ear infections were accompanied by hearing loss.

 

**Speaking with an accent and/or dialect is not a speech sound disorder (accent Reduction.)

 

What can I do?

If you suspect your child may have a speech sound disorder it is recommended that you contact a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP). 

 

SLPs provide treatment to improve articulation of individual sounds or reduce errors in production of sound patterns. Articulation treatment may involve demonstrating how to produce the sound correctly, learning to recognize which sounds are correct and incorrect, and practicing sounds in different words. Phonological process treatment may involve teaching the rules of speech to individuals to help them say words correctly.

 

What should I expect?  

• A reliable case history through clinical interview

• Medical history, developmental milestones (child), social history,    academic/employment history, and previous therapy history

• Oral-mechanism Examination (structure & function) Watch now.

• Hearing Screening

• Norm-referenced articulation & phonology testing [such as]:

  • ​Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation 2nd Edition (GFTA-2)

  • Khan-Lewis Phonological Analysis 2nd Edition (KLPA-2)

• Conversational speech assessment in different contexts

 

See below to find a Speech-Language Pathologist in your area.

 

Can it get better?

Prognositic indicators are factors that may indicate treatment effectiveness and outcomes. SLP's must take many components into consideration: error pattern consistency, ability to distinguish their own error sounds (external), ability to understand production of correct sound (internal), stimulability (attempting production), unusual phonological processes (e.g. vowel errors), age, co-morbid (related factors), and most importantly, parental involvement.

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Early Intervention - Birth to 3 years old

 

Early Steps is Florida's early intervention system that offers services to eligibleinfants and toddlers (birth to thirty-six months) with significant delays or a condition likely to result in a developmental delay.

 

Early Intervention is provided to support families and caregivers in developing the competence and confidence to help their child learn and develop.

About us...

 

 We are a group of graduate students creating a parent friendly  resource. This site should help answer questions and provide information regarding speech sound disorders. ENJOY!

 

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