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Speech-Language Skills

What are Speech Skills?

Speech refers to a person's ability to physically produce sounds to verbalize words (the act of talking).

 

Articulation refers to a person's ability to produce sounds and words using the articulators (muscles of the lips, tongue, jaw, and vocal tract).

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Voice, also a component of speech, refers to sound production as a result of vocal fold vibration in the larynx (throat). Fluency describes the rhythm and rate of speech.  

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Intelligibility is a direct measure of speech clarity and directly affects a student's confidence and social behaviors.  

Communication Disorders aka Speech-Language Disorders

 

Any impairment/s in an individual's ability to receive, process, send and comprehend concepts, and/or verbal, nonverbal, and printed systems.  

Categorizing Speech & Language Disorders

What are Language Skills?

Language describes the system of words and gestures a person uses to communicate in written, spoken, or gestured forms.  It also describes the process of understanding what others say. Language is used to share information, ask questions, socialize, and meet our needs.

 

There are many facets to language, including communicating reciprocally, listening skills, understanding and using vocabulary, using complex sentences to share information, producing grammatically correct sentences, following directions, writing skills, higher-order thinking skills, and literacy skills, including reading comprehension, reading fluency, and phonological awareness.

 

Language also includes understanding and using nonverbal communication skills, asking and responding to questions accurately the first time, understanding, and using emotions when communicating, verbalizing clear and concise information that is easily understood..

Speech & language disorders may present as:

  • Not talking at expected ages

  • Not understanding what your child says by age 3 years

  • Reduced vocabulary

  • Hoarse voice

  • Trouble saying p, b, m, n, h, w, k, g, f, t, d by age 3 years

  • Does not answer simple yes/no questions by age 5

  • Can't speak loudly

  • Takes a long time to get to the point if ever

  • Not talking at expected ages

  • Not understanding what your child says by age 3 years

  • Reduced vocabulary

  • Hoarse voice

  • Trouble saying p, b, m, n, h, w, k, g, f, t, d by age 3 years

  • Does not answer simple yes/no questions by age 5

  • Can't speak loudly

  • Takes a long time to get to the point if ever

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