Children

Speech delay refers to the clarity of speech sounds and overall speech clarity. As a child develops, sometimes there are problems producing certain sounds making speech difficult to understand and unclear. Although it is normal for a child to make mistakes as he/she learns to speak, consistent articulation difficulties past a certain age become a problem that requires assessment and potential treatment. Speech-Language Pathologists can help by providing a thorough articulation assessment and tailored treatment goals to meet your child’s needs. If you are concerned that your child may have articulation or clarity difficulties, an assessment by a Speech-Language Pathologist is recommended.

Delay refers to the clarity of speech sounds and overall clarity of one’s speech. As a child develops, sometimes he/she has problems producing certain sounds, making speech difficult to understand and unclear. Although it is normal for a child to make mistakes as he/she learns to speak, consistent articulation difficulties past a certain age can become a problem that requires assessment and potential treatment. Speech-Language Pathologists can help by providing a thorough articulation assessment and tailored treatment goals to meet your child’s needs. If you are concerned that your child may have articulation or clarity difficulties, an assessment by a Speech-Language Pathologist is recommended.

This involves patterns of sound errors. For example, substituting all sounds that are made in the back of the mouth (i.e., “k” and “g”) for sounds made in the front of the mouth (i.e., “t” and “d”).

This refers to an individual who has difficulty producing sounds, syllables, and/or words. This difficulty is not caused by muscle weakness or paralysis.

A child understands language well before they are able to use words and sentences. Receptive language development refers to your child’s ability to understand words (vocabulary). A delay or difficulty in comprehension/understanding can often lead to difficulty following directions and instructions and may lead to learning or behavioural problems. If you are concerned that your child may have difficulties understanding what others are saying, an assessment by a Speech-Language Pathologist is strongly recommended.

This refers to the ability to communicate in words, sentences and/or gestures in conversation using appropriate vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure. Your child may have an expressive language disorder or delay if he/she uses fewer words than his/her peers, uses inappropriate words in context, has difficulties conveying information and exhibits problems with both oral and written expression. Expressive language problems may impact your child’s ability to express him/herself in an organized, coherent and meaningful way, and can significantly interfere with academic and social success. If you are concerned that your child may have an expressive language disorder or delay, an assessment by a Speech-Language Pathologist is strongly recommended.

Voice (or vocalization) is created by a series of complex and interrelated interactions of the lungs, voice box (larynx), tongue, teeth, and lips. Many things we do on a daily basis can injure our voice and/or our vocal cords. A child can get a hoarse voice by talking too much and too loudly, making car or other noises, clearing his throat and/or screaming. These abusive behaviours can also lead to problems such as nodules and polyps on the vocal cords.

A child born with a cleft palate may have velopharyngeal insufficiency. This is characterized by improper closing of the soft palate muscle in the mouth during speech, allowing air to escape through the nose instead of the mouth, resulting in hypernasality.

If you are concerned that your child’s voice quality is hoarse, an assessment by a Speech-Language Pathologist is recommended.

Stuttering is a disorder that is characterized by breaks in the flow of speech including stops or blocks during speech. Stuttering is also categorized by repetitions of sounds or words, as well as prolongation of sounds. Stuttering can affect children of all ages, both physically and emotionally. Speech-Language Pathologists are trained to help each child improve his/her speech fluency by providing strategies and interventions to target these difficulties. Early intervention is best for optimum long-term success. If you are concerned that your child has been stuttering for more than 3 months, or if you have a family history of stuttering and are concerned that your child is stuttering, an assessment by a Speech-Language Pathologist is strongly recommended.

• Your child has difficulties using his/her language to interact or have conversations with others.
• Your child does not use the appropriate words in different social situations.

• Book Awareness (e.g. how to hold a book, when to turn the page, reading from left to right)
• Phonological Awareness (e.g. syllables, rhyming, identifying beginning sounds)
• Letter-sound Correspondence (e.g. letter S says “sss”)
• Decoding (i.e. sounding words out)
• Sight Word Recognition

Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) is also known as Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD). A child may have normal hearing, but experiences difficulty processing information he/she hears. APD is diagnosed by an audiologist; however speech-language professionals may provide therapy to assist with difficulties that coincide with APD.

APD becomes more apparent when trying to process speech within a noisy environment. Symptoms of APD include but are not limited to difficulty following directions and comprehending verbal information. A multi-disciplinary approach is recommended to rule out any other disorders as these symptoms are common with disorders other than APD.

Executive functions are the capacities that enable a person to organize, initiate and complete tasks, plan ahead, prioritize, self monitor and regulate emotions. Executive functioning skills develop over time. They begin to develop in a young child and continue to improve throughout adolescence. This skill set is not fully developed until early adulthood. While some children develop this skill set more easily than others, executive functions can be trained with practice.