Divine

Speech/Language Services, LLC

Tip

Speaking to your toddle in simple sentences is

often a great way to model appropriate

 sentence structure for labeling familiar

objects, making requests, and describing

 people/objects within their environment!

Stuttering

Some speaking situations cause stuttering to increase more than others.  Talking on the phone, speaking to an authority figure, meeting new people, speaking to larger audiences are considered in some cases as  dysfluency inducing situations.

Articulation/Phonological Process Disorders

An articulation/phonological disorder has to do with a child’s ability to pronounce the various sounds of our language.  Often, when learning to speak, children may develop “error patterns” or their own simplification of an adult word.  For example, “rope” may be pronounced as “wope” or “soap” may become “toap”.  Often enough this may result in the child being difficult to understand in a way that family, teachers, and friends may have difficulty communicating with the child.

Receptive Language Disorder

Receptive language skills involve being able to understand, interpret, and receive information from a speaker accurately and efficiently.  Often times, children with this difficulty will have problems with one or more of the following:

	Following very basic or simple directions (Ex. “Miranda bring Mommy the ball.”
	Following multi-step directions (Ex. Take of your shoes, put them by the door, bring your book bag)
	Answering basic “Wh” questions (Who, What, When, Where)
	Being able to identify familiar pictures, objects, people, places (at least by age 2)
	Understanding spatial concepts (in, off, out of, under, in back, next to/beside)
	Understanding several pronouns (me, him, your, my)
	Understanding part/whole relationships
	Grouping objects
	Indicating body parts
	Comparing people/places/things
	Understanding descriptive concepts (long, curly, short)
	Understanding time concepts (night, day)

	Understanding quantity concepts (two, three, four)
	After listening to a paragraph or short story, should be able to recall the details of the story

Expressive Language Disorder

Expressive language skills are the ability  to express their needs, wants, and desires adequately to those within their environment.  By age two, children should be able to make basic needs known using 2-4 word phrases and sentences, consistently during daily routines (meal time, at play, getting dressed for school, etc.). Children with this difficulty will have problems with one or more of the following:

	Having a vocabulary of at least 10-20 words by 18 months of age
	Naming familiar objects, people, and places
	Using at least 2 or more pronouns (my, mine, you, me)
	Using question inflections
	Naming pictures in a book
	Using prepositional phrases (on the floor, in the book, up the tree)
	Repeating basic sentences
	Using plurals
	Telling how an object is used
	Staying on topic when sharing personal experiences
	Should be completely understood by unfamiliar listeners by age 4

Fluency Disorders (Stuttering)

Dysfluency or stuttering relates to the inability to move fluently while speaking, from one sound, word, or sentence to another.  Often, children who stutter will experience difficulty maintaining fluent speech in the presence of authority figures, strangers, when speaking over the phone, or in the presence of large audiences .

Voice Disorders

Voice disorders are usually  classified according to their causes, which are usually  organic or functional, or by their symptoms.  Organic disorders are those with a physical cause (e.g. Vocal Fold Paralysis).  Functional disorders, which may result in physical changes, may not have a known cause.