THERAPY FOR SPEECH AND LANGUAGE DELAY

Therapy for Speech and Language Delay

Efficacy of Treatment for Speech and Language Delay

Article Summary

Speech and language delay is a very common disease. The article discusses the effectiveness of different therapies on children that have a primary speech and language delay problem. A speech disorder that does not involve any other impairment, such as neurological, hearing and behavior impairment is called primary speech disorder. In majority cases, adolescent children suffering from primary speech disorder display an inability to write correct spellings or read properly for a longer period. These deficits of primary speech disorder vary from child to child. Some children have persistent problems while others have issues with receptive and/or expressive language.

The article uses Randomized controlled trials (RCT) technique to measure the effectiveness of various treatment methods for the delay in speech and language among children below 15 years of age. The article presents tentative conclusions as the results varied considerably. In cases where there is no difficulty with receptive language, therapy for speech disorder is a useful method of treatment. Phonology therapy also benefitted the study subjects. Especially for children between 6 and 12 years of age, a detailed diagnostic plan may be devised by taking a detailed history of the child, his performance at school and his parents.

Discussion on the topic

Approximately 5 to 10% of children worldwide suffer from speech and language delays (Carter, 2011). Treatment for speech and language delay will be effective only if the medical practitioner manages to discover the real cause behind the delay. In cases where the treatment does not produce desired results, it at least makes the disorder a little better if not completely eradicate the issue. Language pathologists may be helpful in devising the ideal treatment plan for the child. Parents' involvement in any method of treatment is very beneficial in improving the results of therapy.

A treatment plan tailored to the needs of an individual child is most effective. Baseline data used to set short-term, long-term, and functional outcome goals make the treatment comprehensive. To elicit changes in the child's behavior towards speech, the speech and language pathologist employs facilitation techniques.

Speech disorders are of various types including voice, articulation, language and fluency disorders. Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is another form of speech disorder where the child fails to make voluntary movements in the absence of any weakness. (Carter, 2011a) On a very general level the efficacy of some treatments may be explained as follows:

Phonologic treatment - children who receive this treatment have improvement in their communication functioning, sound system and overall intelligence. Expressive Phonology gives impressive results within a short period of eight weeks. The children who do not receive any treatment, due to any reason, have much difficulty in expressing their thoughts and do not have a clear pronunciation unlike children treated through Expressive Phonology. This is also a very good treatment method in improving the receptive auditory capacity.

Receptive phonology requires the cooperation of parents for the ...