Speech and Language Therapy Facts Parents Should Know

Speech and language therapy is a therapy used to treat disorders of communication in children and adults that is essential for effective communication in social settings. The Royal College of Speech and Language therapy notes that 5% of children enter school with speech and language difficulty. That's why it is important to understand that speech and language therapy is effective. When difficulties are treated as early as possible children can have access to the tools to help them deal with communication disorders in school.

In the UK, speech, and language therapy helps children in developing their skills of articulation and language through a series of interventions. A speech and language therapist can help your child develop their language skills using tools and aid such as the Picture Exchange Communication System PECS or PROMPT a method to teach articulation sounds.

It is also important to understand that you should also use the help of a speech and language therapist in your child's school. Children who have speech disorders often have difficulty in learning to read and write. Another common problem is related to articulation, which is usually associated with delays in speech. Delay in articulation can make a child difficult to understand. A speech and language therapist can work with your child to assess their sounds and then teach each sound using motivating activities. 

Speech and language therapy can also be used to treat a disorder of speech and language called verbal dyspraxia. Verbal dyspraxia is a condition where the child has difficulties in motor movements. Children with this disorder often show a wide range of symptoms such as facial movements, hand/elbow movements, or body postures that may not match the words they are trying to speak. The paralysis of these patients causes a person to be unable to participate in normal speech activities. Speech and language therapy can also be used to treat people who experience speech delay.

At HeadStart we understand the importance of providing information in accessible formats to meet the diverse needs of our service users. We can provide information in different forms for example in another language, large print, easy-read materials, and technologies such as text-to-speech or audio. To request information in another format, contact us by phone or email. Shanay.nj@headstartaba.org or mobile 07988860033.