Common Speech and Language Difficulties

Childhood Communication Disorders

DELAYED SPEECH AND LANGUAGE

• Using more gestures (Action)
• Speak Simple words (One Word)
• Poor vocabulary
• Non fluent
• Delays in expressive communication

Autism

• Poorly developed social skills
• Difficulty with Receptive & Expressive Communication
• Presence of restrictive and repetitive behaviours

Hearing Impairment

• Not Responding for Name calling
• Difficulty understanding words & Commands without action
• Listen only when High volume of the television
• Withdrawal from conversations

Cerebral Palsy

• Delays in reaching Speech & Motor Milestones
• Difficulty walking
• Neurological problems
• Stiffness in muscle tone

Cleft Lip and palate

• Difficulty to understand child speech
• Difficult to produce certain sounds
• Poor Oral Motor Functions ( lip Closure, Tongue Movements, Jaw Movements etc)

Misarticulation

• Unintelligible speech
• Distorted speech
• Difficult to Produce certain sounds
• Difficult to Move or Bend Tongue or Other oral structures ( Road -Load , Dog – Thog , Thank- Tank , Goat- Koat , Mouse – ouse , Mama- Papa etc)

Eye contact

• Social anxiety or shyness
• Fearful
• Trying to avoid situations

Attention & Concentration

• Difficulty in sitting
• Lack of focus
• Inability to perform tasks

Fluency Disorder

• Repetition of sound/ syllable/ words/ phrases ( Ex: Bababanana , Aaaaamma)
• Sound prolongations
• Excessive tension
• Avoid to Speak ( friends, family , phone etc)

Stammering

• Repetition of sound/ syllable/ words/ phrases( Ex: Bababanana , Aaaaamma)
• Tremors of the lips or jaw.
• Facial tics
• Head jerks
• Clenching fists

Cluttering

• Rapid rate of speech.
• Deletion of syllables.
• Collapsing of syllables.
• Omission of word endings.
• Disfluencies.
• Unusual prosody due to unexpected pauses.

Voice Disorder

• Have a quivering sound.
• Sound rough or harsh (hoarseness)
• Sound strained or choppy.
• Is weak, whispery, or breathy.
• Is too high or low or change in pitch..

Puberphonia

• High pitched voice
• Low intensity voice
• Breathiness of voice
• Neck and throat tension
• Breaks in phonation and frequency

Horrseness of voice

• Strained voice with low volume
• Dry throat
• Sensation of lump in the throat
• Constant throat clearing

Vocal Fold paralysis

• Breathy quality to voice
• Hoarseness
• Noisy breathing
• Shortness of breath
• Inability to speak loudly
• Loss of vocal pitch

Adult Language Disorder

• Word finding problems
• Minimal verbal vocabulary
• Poor understanding
• Problems remembering new words and sentences
• Difficulty remembering verbal information( e.g. Phone number)

Aphasia

• Speak in short or incomplete sentences
• Speak in sentences that don’t make sense
• Speak unrecognizable words
• Have difficulty finding words
• Couldn’t understand other people’s conversations

Motor Speech Disorders

Dysarthria

• Slurred, nasal or breathy speech
• Strained voice
• Monotonous speech
• Difficulty with tongue and lip movements
• Problems speaking in a regular rhythm

Dysarthria

• Choking on food or drink
• Coughing during or after swallowing
• Having a weak soft voice
• Aspirating
• Trouble moving food to the back of your mouth

Individual Therapy (Why child needs Individual Therapy)

• Individual therapy occurs when one or more therapists work with a single individual in the same session
• The client receives the full attention of the therapist
• The client gets direct feedback on their progress from the therapist
• Individual sessions is much more comprehensive and intense.

Group Therapy (Why child needs Group Therapy)

• Group therapy which is defined by treatment delivered by one or more therapists to one or more individuals in the same session.
• Role play activities
• Improves Social Communication (Peers)
• Makes Learning fun
• Improve Joint Attention & Turn Taking
• Speech and language modelling and correction through recasting happens
• Learn from peers