Friday, December 20, 2013

Changing Young Lives Through Pediatric Speech Therapy

By Cornelia White


When children encounter problems expressing themselves verbally, parents naturally become concerned. Parents and caregivers are well aware of the importance of fluent oral communication in the social professional and emotional growth of the individual. This is why they do not hesitate at the first sign of trouble:they promptly seek the assistance of expert pediatric speech therapy professionals.

Therapy to enable better oral communication in children is carried out by specialists who have been trained in the field.This type of treatment often involves an exploration of the potential causes of the challenge. For the most part the causes stem from physical or emotional barriers. A good speech therapist will take this factor into consideration prior to evaluating the patient.

Most linguists support the theory that language production is essentially the result of a collaboration between the brain and the language related body parts. They also recognize that it is an intricate process.Disruptions in this process are usually related to cognitive deficiencies. These deficiencies manifest themselves as psychological barriers to speech.

In some cases, the child was progressing well in acquiring and using the language but suddenly stopped. In these cases traumatic events such as accidents, abuse or death of a loved one are investigated. The investigation often takes the form of an interview with the interviewees being the child as well as the guardians. The therapist, in this case, will apply a variety of coaching methods designed to coax the patient into becoming more comfortable with language use again.

Sometimes the language usage challenge has its roots in learning or mental disabilities. Children with special needs, which include conditions like Autism and Verbal Apraxia are among those who suffer from language deficiencies. Special needs children often need the help of a speech therapist to help them master oral self expression skills and cope with the frustrations of being misunderstood.

Misshapen teeth or other structural problems in the oral cavity are typically the most obvious causes of barriers to speaking. Many times they are the result of developmental lapses that occur during the fetal stage. At other times they may be caused by physical trauma sustained in accidents or by some other violent means.

For physical problems that lead to speaking barriers one solution may be surgical. Whenever therapists realize this, they refer their patients to professionals who specialize in surgical remedies. After the surgery is completed therapeutic sessions will still be needed to help the child. It is clear to see therefore, why there needs to be close relationship between the therapists and the surgical medical practitioners.

All stakeholders in the development, nurturing and care of children must pay attention to one critical fact of childhood language acquisition challenges. That fact is essentially that pediatric speech therapy may be the solution you need if you are caring for a child with language use problems. It can make a world of a difference in terms of the social development of an individual.




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