Teach Me How to Say It Right

Q. What does the research tell us about how speech development affects academic performance and social adjustment?

A. Research has shown that a child’s development of language is crucial to their ability to learn and think, and has a significant impact on their overall educational experience. Speech and language disorders can affect the way a child talks, understands, and analyzes and processes information. In addition, a child’s spoken language skills will provide the foundation for the development of reading and writing. Research has shown that children with communication disorders often struggle with reading, writing and perform at a poor or insufficient academic level. Also, our communications skills are the heart of life’s experience. Children who are having a difficult time learning to communicate often feel isolated from their peers and, in turn, may suffer from poor self-esteem

Q. You talk about environmental factors that can help or hinder a child’s ability to develop normal speech. What are some of these?

A. The amount and kind of speech and language stimulation and the presence of certain environmental conditions in your child’s home will play an important role in her development of articulation skills. A home environment that provides lots of stimulation and interaction between parent and child not only enhances a young child’s speech and language skills, it also makes the time you spend together fun and rewarding. If a child doesn’t receive a lot of verbal stimulation, or people in his environment don’t acknowledge him or respond when he talks, in later situations he may choose not to speak. Children learn to say speech sounds correctly by listening to others talking directly to them and by practicing talking themselves. They must enjoy hearing speech and responding with words, and they should be reacted to constructively by others in their environment when they speak.

Q. What are some of the physical factors that can interfere with speech development?

A. When the cause of an articulation problem is organic, it is the result of a structural or brain problem. Some organic problems that often cause a child to have articulation problems include cleft palate, hearing impairment, apraxia, and problems with the muscles of the mouth used to make speech sounds.