In last week’s blog we talked about questions parents are asking about the impact a child’s speech or language impairment can have on a child academic and social development.
Speech and language is the cornerstone of communication and academic success. It affects how children express themselves, communicate ideas, retain, process, analyze, and understand information. Children with a speech or language disorder are more likely to experience poor confidence, struggle academically, lack socialization, and have low self esteem.
“The experiences with talking and listening gained during the preschool period prepare children to learn to read and write during the early elementary school years. This means that children who enter school with weaker verbal abilities are much more likely to experience difficulties learning literacy skills than those who do not,” according to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).
It isn’t that children with speech or language impairments are less intelligent, it is just that they don’t process information the same way. Signs of a speech or language disorder:
Have a difficult time remembering vocabulary words or names of new letters
Has a hard time understanding what the teacher is saying
Has difficulty expressing their feelings, ideas, or thoughts through written or verbal language.
Has trouble producing speech sounds, word, syllable, phrase or sentence level.
Not able to correctly respond or interpret social cues.
Has issues with time management, problem solving, or organization.
Lack of focus or attention
ASHA stresses the importance of Early Intervention
Emergent literacy instruction is most beneficial when it begins early in the preschool period because these difficulties are persistent and often affect children’s further language and literacy learning throughout the school years. Promoting literacy development, however, is not confined to young children. Older children, particularly those with speech and language impairments, may be functioning in the emergent literacy stage and require intervention aimed at establishing and strengthening these skills that are essential to learning to read and write.
First Words Speech Therapy is proud to announce the opening of our new office in Orlando, at 1239 Mount Vernon St. Conveniently located near State Road 50 (Colonial Dr) and Orlando Ave. We are open for appointments only at this time. We are dedicated to providing the best pediatric speech-language therapy and occupational therapy practice. We are dedicated to providing personalized care to meet your child’s speech and language needs.
Our expertise takes a holistic approach to the therapy process for effective optimal results. As an integral part of your child’s designed program, we include the child’s family in the evaluation and intervention process. To best meet your child’s emotional, medical, and academic needs. We find parent involvement is key to the overall effectiveness of the speech – language therapy.
