Before we can come to who we can help, let us understand the normal development of speech, language and hearing.
SPEECH:
To better understand this communication disorders you need to know how speech is "made" and what language is.
Don't worry, we're not going to get really technical here, it's just so you understand the basics.
The four actions we use to make speech are:
- Respiration - it all starts with air from our lungs.
- Phonation - air passes our vocal cords or "voice box" and makes the cords vibrate for some sounds.
- Articulation - most of the action happens here when the air is changed into different sounds when it passes our lips, teeth, and tongue.
- Resonation - when air goes through our nose it helps make 3 different sounds.
No matter how young or old your child is, you should be able to understand a certain amount of what they say all the time. We call this speech intelligibility.
Keep in mind that girls typically develop speech sooner than boys do.
By the following ages, children should be able to say the corresponding sounds.
- 3 yrs:/ h/ /w// b/ /m// n// p// f /
- 4 yrs: /d //t// k// g// y// n//g/
6 yrs: At this age a child may still have errors on the r, s, z and th sounds, but they should be developing
- l// v// sh// ch// j/
8-9 yrs: A child should be able to say ALL sounds correctly including
- /r// s //z //th/ (FOR THIN AND THAT BOTH)
It is true that children who make articulation errors will sometimes "grow out of it"; however, the more errors they have, the less likely they will be to grow out of them. Additionally, if a child's brother, sister, or parent had speech errors when they were younger, the child will be at greater risk to have errors in their speech.
LANGUAGE:
Language also develops in a series of stages according to the age.
HEARING:
Hearing is one of 5 senses that one needs to strive in the world. Without hearing, one cannot expect any form of language development which will separate him/her from the outside world. It will hamper the process of communication, leading to frustration, depression and anxiety. Why put one through that when in the world of advancement you can do so much better?!
The following are certain responses one should expect at a certain age. Visiting an audiologist or a speech language pathologist with make it easier for you to understand them better.
If one has a hearing problem, speech and language development will be impaired. However, one will be able to communicate gutturally in a similar developing manner. For e.g, by 2 years if a child with normal hearing can speak in 2 word utterances, a child with hearing problem should be able to use two gestures together to convey his message.
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
As they say, the earlier the better. One should be noticing the development of hearing, speech and language and should note the responses for that age. Not only that, if not, don’t let it go! It could be a concern and one must be evaluated immediately.
If one has been diagnosed as having a hearing loss, he/she must be fitted with hearing aids ASAP. In the world of digital technology, very good quality hearing can be achieved with the help of this aid. Not only that, many operated procedures e.g. the cochlear implant is also done. However, merely fitting of a hearing aid or performing an implant is not the end of it. It’s a start. One needs to be given proper training to listen which is done at our center.
The details about hearing aids and implant parts are available on our websites: