Балалардың тіл дамуының кешігуі

Language development delay in children

Speech delay, also known as alalia, refers to a delay in the development or use of the mechanisms that produce speech. Speech – as distinct from language – is the actual process of making sounds, using such organs and structures as the lungs, vocal cords, mouth, tongue, teeth, etc. Language delay refers to a delay in the development or use of the knowledge of language. Because language and speech are two independent stages, they may be individually delayed. For example, a child may be delayed in speech (i. e., unable to produce intelligible speech sounds), but not delayed in language. In this case, the child would be attempting to produce an age appropriate amount of language, but that language would be difficult or impossible to understand. Conversely, since a child with a language delay typically has not yet had the opportunity to produce speech sounds, they are likely to have a delay in speech as well.

After the initial diagnosis of speech delay, a hearing test will be administered to ensure that hearing loss or deafness is not an underlying cause of the delay. If a child has successfully completed the hearing test, the therapy or therapies used will be determined. There are many therapies available for children that have been diagnosed with a speech delay, and for every child, the treatment and therapies needed vary with the degree, severity, and cause of the delay. While speech therapy is the most common form of intervention, many children may benefit from additional help from occupational and physical therapies as well. Physical and occupational therapies can be used for a child that has a speech delay due to physical malformations and children that have also been diagnosed with a developmental delay such as autism or a language processing delay. Music therapy has effective results in the fundamentals of speech development, including phonological memory, sentence understanding, sentence memory, and morphological rule generation. Children that have been identified with hearing loss can be taught simple sign language to build and improve their vocabulary in addition to attending speech therapy. The parents of a delayed child are the first and most important tool in helping overcome the speech delay.