Types of Kids Benefiting From Speech Therapy

Speech disabilities in children manifest themselves in the guise of an articulation disorder, fluency disorder, and difficulty in communication, inability to convey through language or expressing information, trouble understanding language or slurred speech. Speech therapy is an early intervention service that aims to improve child speech and abilities to understand and express language, including nonverbal language. Speech therapy in schools is conducted by well-seasoned and thoroughly trained professionals called Speech and Language Pathologists or SLPs. This tool is mainly beneficial for children with special needs like the following mentioned in this list.

1. Autism

Autism is a severe developmental disorder that onsets even before the age of three in young children. It is characterized by a broad range of conditions like challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviour, and, most importantly, communication disorder – both verbal and non-verbal. An individual with autism can show commutation disorder in the following ways:

• Choose complete silence
• Utter grunts, cries, shrieks, or throaty, harsh sounds
• Hum or talk in a musical way
• Babble with word-like sounds without understanding any meaning
• Use foreign-sounding  words or robotic-like speech
• Parrot or often repeat what another person says (called echolalia)
• Use the right phrases and sentences, but with an inexpressive tone of voice

SLPs develop a specific plan that incorporates exercises that focus on improving articulation skills, speech fluency, and expressive language skills. Significant improvements can be noticed in terms of communication, self-regulation, socializing, and a lot more.    

2. Down Syndrome

Down syndrome is a congenital disorder that stems from a chromosome defect. An extra chromosome caused by an error cell division impacts the child intellectual development as well as physical abnormalities. Owing to anatomical differences such as high arched palate, small upper jaw, low muscle tone in the tongue, and weak oral muscles can be a real challenge for children with Down Syndrome to do any oral motor function. Moreover, a very common issue with such special kids is of hearing loss due to fluid accumulation. The good news is early intervention programs by a team of well trained professionals at London Speech Therapy can bring drastic improvements in the child’s communication pattern over time.    

3. Selective Mutism

Selective Mutism is a complex psychiatric disorder that affects children and is characterized by the loss of ability to speak in certain situations or with certain people, even though the child is capable of communication at other times. Since this is a psychological disorder that stems from anxiety and is generally accompanied by shyness, a psychologist’s presence in the treatment plan of speech therapy in schools is imperative.

4. Dysfluency 

Dysfluency or stuttering is a fluency disorder that hinders the smooth flow of speech. Studies show that as many as 75% – 80% of children who stutter at some point in their life can recover with effective speech therapy. However, delay in treatment can have a severely negative psychological impact on children who can often make them avoid conversation and develop anxiety.  

London Speech Therapy has a team of therapists who are enhanced CRB checked, trained in Safeguarding Child Protection procedures, and receive regular clinical supervision and continued professional development. So, if you notice any speech issue with your little one, then you know where to head.