Speech

Speech Disorders

1. Articulation/Phonology Disorders - include sound substitutions, omissions, distortions, or additions when pronouncing words. The sounds /s/, /z/, /r/, Al, and /th/ and consonant blends and clusters (e.g., stripe, ask) are not typically addressed in speech therapy unless the child has failed to develop correct production by age 7. An exception to this would be a case in which multiple articulation errors make speech severely unintelligible.

2. Voice Disorders - include abnormal pitch, intensity, or quality (e.g., chronic hoarseness, severe chronic hypernasality), in which the variation of the voice calls attention to itself rather than to the words being said. Note: We must have written permission from an M.D. to provide voice therapy, because an ENT examination must first rule out physical causes for the problem (e.g. , laryngeal cancer).

3. Fluency (stuttering) Disorders - characterized by blocks (i.e., no sound comes out although the student appears to be attempting to speak), prolonged sounds, or repetitions of sounds/syllables/whole words/phrases. Maybe accompanied by facial grimaces, distracting noises or body movements.
Note: Preschool children often experience a "nonfluency" stage in which their speech sounds like stuttering. If handled calmly, children usually pass this stage and develop speech normally.

Interventions

Speech

Teachers

Speech

Speech Disorders