Speech therapy provides treatment and support for individuals with communication impairments which encompass a broad range of skills: articulation (how we say and combine the sounds), language (how we use and understand language), and fluency (how smooth our speech is). The speech therapist will tailor treatment based the student's unique communicative needs. For example, with one student the therapist may working on building vocabulary skills and with another student may be working on producing the 'r' sound with correct tongue placement. The therapist will pre-teach skills, provide support as needed, and provide less support throughout treatment as they develop and master skills. Speech therapists ensure that students have the language and articulation abilities to access the curriculum in their classrooms, communicate effectively with peers and adults, and functionally communicate their wants and needs. Below is a brief description of common communication disorders of students we work with.
Articulation/Phonological Impairment
An articulation/speech impairment is a broad category of difficulty correctly producing speech sounds; students will have difficulty saying and combining their speech sounds. This may include substituting one speech sound for another (ex. tat for cat), distorting the speech sounds, or eliminating a speech sound (ex. nana for banana). Some articulation errors are developmentally appropriate for students depending on their age. For example, kids typically master the 'r' sound approximately by 8 years of age. Prior to this age students may produce a vowel-like sound for the 'r' (ex. powuh for power) or they may produce a 'w' for the 'r' sound (ex. wead for read). It is the speech therapist's job to tease out whether the speech sound errors are developmentally appropriate or if they require specially designed instruction to be taught their target sounds.
Language Impairment
A language impairment is difficulty with how we use language (expressive language), how we understand language (auditory comprehension), and how we use language for social interaction (pragmatics). This encompasses a variety of communication skills, specifically examples include: following directions, syntax (putting together sentences), vocabulary (student's understanding and use of vocabulary), reading and comprehension, writing, and even more. Speech therapist's will assess students if their are language concerns; during this time the SLP will tease out their strengths and needs in the area of language. Treatment looks different for every student depending on their needs. For example, one student might be working on common core vocabulary to build their expressive communication skills, while another student might work on summarizing paragraphs for building reading comprehension skills.
Childhood Apraxia of Speech
Childhood Apraxia of Speech is a distinct type of speech sound disorder: it is difficulty with sequencing motor movements together for fluent and accurate speech productions. Messages from our brain tell our muscles how and when to move to make sounds; for students with Apraxia, these messages are not sent correctly. Children might not be able to move their lips or tongue to the right place to say sounds, even though their muscles are not weak (ASHA). Children might have few words, or might not say very much (ASHA). Children with Apraxia learn their speech sounds at a slower pace compared to peers and require speech therapy to improve their motor movements for sequencing/organizing sounds for speech.
Childhood Dysarthria
Childhood Dysarthria is a motor speech disorder that is generally caused by damage to the area of the brain that controls muscle movement necessary for speech. Unlike Apraxia, Dysarthria causes weakness of their facial muscles (lips, jaw), tongue muscles, and respiratory muscles, all of which are necessary for smooth and controlled speech. Depending on where the damage occurred in the brain, symptoms may be variable. Children may have slurred speech, they may talk too slow or too quickly, they may speak very softly, they may have a hoarse or hypernasal voice, and/or may have trouble using the correct annunciations during speech. Speech therapists work with the student and team-members to help determine and implement the best treatment approach, depending on the student's individualized needs and strengths.
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that refers to a range of symptoms including difficulties with social communication (an example would be giving little to no eye contact), repetitive behaviors (pressing the button of a toy over and over), and restricted or odd interests (such as an over fascination with lights). It can also be characterized, but not necessarily, by other symptoms such as intellectual and/or motor impairments. It is a lifelong disorder that varies upon a spectrum, meaning that each individual will have varying strengths and weaknesses. Overt signs (signs that we can see) of Autism are often detected at around ages 1-3, however, research shows us that there are differences occurring in the brain as early as pre-natal, during the pregnancy (Amaral et al., 2008). It is these changes in the brain that can be connected/associate with the behaviors that are seen in this disorder.
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a learning disability that is characterized by poor decoding skills, accurate and fluent word recognition, and poor spelling; other secondary difficulties of dyslexia may include reading comprehension and delayed growth of vocabulary. These difficulties result from a deficits in the phonological component of language (phonemic skills include syllable awareness, rhyme awareness, blending and manipulating sounds). SLP's play a primary and supportive role for assessing and treating student's with dyslexia. Speech therapists are experts in oral language development which is the foundation of reading and writing skills; SLP's can make a huge difference for student's with this disability.
Sound and Word discrimination: What word doesn't belong with the others: "cat", "mat", "bat", "ran"? "ran"
Rhyming: What word rhymes with "cat"? bat
Syllable splitting: The onset of "cat" is /k/, the rime is /at/
Blending: What word is made up of the sounds /k/ /a/ /t/? "cat"
Phonemic segmentation: What are the sounds in "cat"? /k/ /a/ /t/
Phoneme deletion: What is "cat" without the /k/? "at"
Phoneme manipulation: What word would you have if you changed the /t/ in cat to an /n/? "can"
Cognitive Communicative Disorders
Cognitive Communicative Disorders affect both children and adults and can either be genetic or acquired (brain injury, concussion, stroke). Symptoms of cognitive disorders include attention, memory, organizational skills, problem solving and/or reasoning. The severity of this disorder varies, for example a student with a mild impairment may struggle concentrating in loud, noisy environments, whereas a child with a more severe impairment may have limited communication. SLP's are knowledgable regarding treatment and techniques for helping students. Depending on the type of cognitive impairment, treatment will be determined by the student's SLP, special education teacher, and other health professionals.
Dysfluency
Dysfluency (Stuttering) is an atypical amount of bumps in our speech. Types of 'bumps' include blocks (abnormal length of pauses: I want...........a cookie), prolongations (stretching a sound out for too long: Coooooooookie), and repetitions (repeating sounds or words: I wa wa wa wa want a cookie). A student's stutter may vary day to day and may be influenced by stress or excitement. Stuttering may also affect a student's body; it may cause a student to struggle talk and tense their whole body and muscles. Some student's may want to hide or avoid their stuttering, therefore they may avoid talking, particularly in stressful situations. The speech therapist provides the assessment and treatments for student's who stutter. They will help them improve their 'smooth' speech and communicate effectively within their classroom.
Please feel free to contact the school district for more information about services and programs, and if there are any speech and/or language concerns for your child contact Shannon Richards the Special Services Director or email your school's Speech Therapist.
District Office Address: 650 N. Cleveland St. Moscow, ID 83843