{"id":51,"date":"2015-12-04T12:41:50","date_gmt":"2015-12-04T17:41:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/palmerk\/?p=51"},"modified":"2015-12-04T12:46:16","modified_gmt":"2015-12-04T17:46:16","slug":"characteristics-of-speech-or-language-impairments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/palmerk\/2015\/12\/04\/characteristics-of-speech-or-language-impairments\/","title":{"rendered":"Characteristics of Speech or Language Impairments"},"content":{"rendered":"

The characteristics of speech or language impairments will vary depending upon the type of impairment involved.<\/strong> There may also be a combination of several problems.<\/p>\n

When a child has an articulation disorder<\/strong><\/em>, he or she has difficulty making certain sounds. These sounds may be left off, added, changed, or distorted, which makes it hard for people to understand the child.<\/p>\n

Leaving out or changing certain sounds is common when young children are learning to talk, of course. A good example of this is saying \u201cwabbit\u201d for \u201crabbit.\u201d The incorrect articulation isn\u2019t necessarily a cause for concern unless it continues past the age where children are expected to produce such sounds correctly. (4<\/a>) (ASHA\u2019s milestone resource pages<\/a>, mentioned above, are useful here.)<\/p>\n

Fluency <\/em><\/strong>refers to the flow of speech. A fluency disorder means that something is disrupting the rhythmic and forward flow of speech\u2014usually, a stutter. As a result, the child\u2019s speech contains an \u201cabnormal number of repetitions, hesitations, prolongations, or disturbances. Tension may also be seen in the face, neck, shoulders, or fists.\u201d (5<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Voice <\/em><\/strong>is the sound that\u2019s produced when air from the lungs pushes through the voice box in the throat (also called the larnyx), making the vocal folds within vibrate. From there, the sound generated travels up through the spaces of the throat, nose, and mouth, and emerges as our \u201cvoice.\u201d<\/p>\n

A voice disorder involves problems with the pitch, loudness, resonance, or quality of the voice. (6<\/a>) \u00a0 The voice may be hoarse, raspy, or harsh. For some, it may sound quite nasal; others might seem as if they are \u201cstuffed up.\u201d People with voice problems often notice changes in pitch, loss of voice, loss of endurance, and sometimes a sharp or dull pain associated with voice use. (7<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Language <\/em><\/strong>has to do with meanings, rather than sounds. (8<\/a>) \u00a0A language disorder refers to an impaired ability to understand and\/or use words in context. (9<\/a>) A child may have an expressive language disorder (difficulty in expressing ideas or needs), a receptive language disorder (difficulty in understanding what others are saying), or a mixed language disorder (which involves both).<\/p>\n

Some characteristics of language disorders include:<\/p>\n