Speech Sound Disorder

Speech therapy for children who stutter can have a variety of goals, depending on the individual child and their needs. For some children, the goal may be to completely eliminate stuttering. This is often possible for pre-schoolers who are experiencing developmental disfluencies, which are temporary speech problems that are not caused by a neurological or physical disorder. For older children and adults, however, stuttering may be a more persistent problem. In these cases, the goal of speech therapy may be to help the child or adult communicate more effectively and confidently, even if stuttering does not go away completely.

• Reducing tension and anxiety
• Changing speech patterns
• Changing the way, they think about stuttering

Articulation is a common term used in speech pathology. Articulation is the formation of clear and distinct sounds in speech. The production of sounds involves the coordinated movement of your lips, tongue, teeth, palate, and your respiratory system. Children will develop articulation skills as they grow up. However, some children may need extra support with articulation.

Motor skills are the muscle movements we use in our everyday lives. They allow us to do everything from walking and running, to brushing our teeth. Importantly, motor skills are learned abilities, which means that we aren’t born with them. Instead, we acquire motor skills through practice and repetition. Eventually, motor skills require little to no effort and can be performed with a great deal of accuracy.

Swallowing difficulty (Dysphagia) is difficulty with eating, drinking, swallowing, and drooling.  A swallowing disorder may lead to poor nutrition, weight loss and other health problems. The cause of swallowing difficulty may vary from person to person. The Speech therapist teaches exercises to strengthen the muscles of the mouth. This might include facial massage and various tongue, lip, and jaw exercises.

The scientific basis for the use of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) with adolescents and adults with mood or adjustment problems is extensive and diverse. CBT focuses on replacing negative or ineffective patterns of thought and behaviour with structured strategies that are effective in improving mood and adaptive functioning. CBT is especially appropriate for use with older children and adolescents or adults with Asperger’s syndrome or high functioning autism, for whom the cognitive demands of the therapy are recommendable.

SLPs treatment strategies based on the number of intervention goals to be addressed in each session and the manner in which these goals are implemented. A particular strategy may not be appropriate for all children, and strategies may change throughout the course of intervention as the child’s needs change.

“Goal achieving attack” strategies include the following:

• Vertical—intense practice on one or two targets until the child reaches a specific criterion level (usually conversational level) before proceeding to the next target or targets.
• Horizontal—less intense practice on a few targets; multiple targets are addressed individually or interactively in the same session, thus providing exposure to more aspects of the sounds system.
• Cyclical—incorporating elements of both horizontal and vertical structures; the child is provided with practice on a given target or targets for some predetermined period of time before moving on to another target or targets for a predetermined period of time. Practice then cycles through all targets again.