What kind of difficulties does a Speech and Language Therapist help your child with?
Learning to communicate is a complicated process. It can broadly be divided into 3 areas:
- Learning to understand what other people say
- Leaning to say words and put them together to make sentences
- Learning to pronounce words clearly.
There can be a wide variation in the rate at which children develop these skills.
Some children experience difficulty for a period of time but then catch up with other children of their age. Others have a more serious difficulty and longer term communication needs. A small number of children may have difficulties that will be life-long and will affect their lives significantly.
Some children can develop speech and language skills in the usual way but at a slower rate than other children - this is known as 'delayed speech and language development'.
Some children have much greater difficulty developing communication skills. Their speech and language development may be different from the normal pattern - this known as 'disordered speech and language development'.
Sometimes a child's speech and language difficulties may be associated with other conditions or disabilities, e.g. learning disabilities or physical impairments.
Often the reason why a child is slower to develop their communication skills is unknown.