There are a number of variables associated with speech sound acquisition but Research:
can only demonstrate correlation, not cause-and-effect-relationships.
Ukrainetz, T.A., & Spencer, T.D. (2015).
Sorting the learning disorders: Language impairment and reading disability. In T.A. Ukrainetz (Ed.), School-age language intervention: Evidence-based practices
What does Molecular Genetics do?
Allows researchers to investigate the genes responsible for any disease or disorder
What has molecular genetics shown us?
Has shown us that there is a broad, verbal heritable trait that can result in a speech, language, or reading disorder
Some genes may affect
both language and speech
Language and speech disorders may occur
alone or together
If a parent says:
“He sounds just like I did when I was a kid”
is a red flag that the child will probably not outgrow that problem
Decreased phonological awareness skills
Have been implicated in poor reading ability in young children
What are environment factors?
- Role models are a variable
- Health is a factor too-is there health insurance?
- A slightly greater number of children from low income backgrounds have SSD’s
FAMILIAL AND PERSONAL FACTORS
- Birth order and number of siblings- research inconclusive
- Older siblings have better language because they get more attention
- Gender- SSDs more common in boys
- Age-between 4-6 yrs. Old, most ch begin to sound like adults; but improvements can be made till 8 years (test)
How does Intelligence play a role?
- IQ 70 or lower; probably will have SSD
- Other than that, no demonstrated relationship between IQ and articulation
- Speech sounds learned in same sequence, just more slowly
The most frequent type of error for individuals with ID (Intellectual Disability) is
- consonant deletion
- Also may have inconsistent errors
What are their Language Skills like?
- Many children have problems with BOTH language and speech
- Children with SSDs may use incomplete sentences, shorter utterances, and less complex language
- As sentence length and complexity increases, speech sound errors increase
Speech sound errors especially increase when children are trying to produce:
- Polysyllabic words
- Complex, compound, and passive sentences
- We need to treat both language and speech
What is a tongue thrust?
- Also called reverse swallow
- Certain manner of swallowing and tongue placement in oral cavity during rest
A tongue thrust can be…
- Habitual or obligatory
- Obligatory=organic- ex: enlarged tonsils or adenoids that partially block the posterior airway passage
- Orofacial myology is the treatment for tongue thrust
Orofacial Myology is:
Study of relationships among dentition, speech, and nonspeech tongue and facial muscles
What are Characteristics of Tongue Thrust?
- During swallowing, tongue comes forward-tip in contact with lower lip
- At rest, tongue is carried forward-tip is between or against teeth while mandible is open
- During speech, tongue fronted and against or between anterior teeth while mandible is slightly opne
- Can contribute to malocclusion
A tongue thrust Speech errors may include:
-distortions of /s,z,l/ and interdentalization of /t,d,n,l/
What does your book say about treat of tongue thrust in public schools?
“Treatment for tongue thrust is not provided in many public schools unless a child has an accompanying SSD.”
In public schools:
- No treatment, we don’t treat it
- TT does not have an adverse impact on a childs access to the curriculum
- We can indirectly refer out
What is ASHA’s position about TT?
- TT co-occurs with speech problems in some clients
- Assessment and treatment of within SLP’s scope of practice
- SLP must be highly trained and work on a team with appropriate professionals such as dentists, orthodontists, and allergists
What is Oral Sensation?
Looked at oral stereognosis or form recognition
Problems found in children with significant hearing loss:
- Omissions of initial and final consonants
- Many diphthong and vowel substitutions
- Inappropriate prosody
- Pitch too high or low
- More frequent pauses
- Epenthesis-insertion of a swa
- Hypernasality
- Produce both consonants and vowels distortedly
