Speech Language Pathology and Communication Disorders

It is estimated that one in six people in the United States have a hearing, speech, or language disorder.  Most people have heard about hearing impairments, but what classifies a speech or language impairment or disorder, and how are they treated?  A speech or language impairment/disorder can be a variety of things a person does, or fails to do, when communicating which keeps the message from being understood.  Some factors which hinder communication are articulation errors, language errors, atypical vocal quality, and dysfluency.  Articulation errors are patterns of mispronunciations in a person’s speech, such as using the “d” sound for “t”.  Language errors are grammatical errors, such as “goed” instead of “went”.  An audible change in the quality of voice, like a raspy or strained voice, may signify a voice disorder.  Dysfluency, also known as stuttering, is a break in the flow of speech due to repetitions of words, parts of words, or interjections, such as ‘uh’. 

Speech-language pathologists, also known as speech therapists and speech teachers, work to improve all of these important factors of communication.  Speech pathologists treat infants through senior citizens in hospital, school, clinical, and private practice settings. Therapy can take the form of play, for younger children, or exercises, like tongue twisters, reading, writing, and breathing exercises.  

Language is separated into receptive and expressive language.  Receptive language is a person’s ability to receive verbal or written messages.  For example, a child listening to a story is using their receptive language skills to understand what they are hearing. A child between 12 to 24 can follow single step commands, while a 24-36 month old can follow two-step commands.  Expressive language is a person’s ability to communicate their wants, needs, and ideas through verbal or written means. For instance, a kindergartener can tell their parent about their day at school. Between 24-36 months, children should develop a word for almost everything in their environment, and between 36-48 months they should talk in sentences with four or more words. A more comprehensive list of childhood speech milestones can be found at http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/chart.htm. 

Kiri Jefferson is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a Bachelor of Science in Speech Pathology and Audiology.  She currently is an intern for Laura Michie, CCC-SLP at Healing Circles Wellness Center. In the coming fall, she will be attending the University of Maryland and College Park’s graduate program for speech language pathology. 

Sources:

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association | ASHA. (2014, January 1). American Speech-Language-Hearing Association | ASHA. Retrieved , from http://www.asha.org/ 

How Does Your Child Hear and Talk?. (2014, January 1). Speech, Language, and Hearing Developmental Milestones From Birth to 5 Years. Retrieved , from http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/chart.htm