Communication Exceptionality Speech and Language Chapter 9 website

Communication Exceptionality: Speech and Language Chapter 9, web-site Communication-Language Impairments

Group Brainstorm • Identify the areas in which language is used in schools? • What would be the possible impact to a student if they had difficulties with speech and language?

I am a Child • I am a Child I look at my book and I can't read the words, My Language is muffled and misunderstood. . I am trying so hard but I cannot succeed, My tasks aren’t completed because I can’t read. I am often the one who cannot sit still Or so very quiet no one knows I am there. I watch from the background and hope that I grasp, Something from lessons being taught in my class. By the time I get help I am so far behind, I get so frustrated I'm perceived as unkind. My education is depending on you. So if you do not speak for me, I don't know what to do. Please hear what I'm saying, Please do not be beguiled, Please look out for my future, I am a child. . Author Unknown

SPEECH VS. LANGUAGE: • Speech is the actual physical production of sounds; Involves breathing, voicing and muscle movements of the lips, jaw and tongue; (essentially, a motor act) • Language is the content of our speech; symbolic, abstract; Involves how we comprehend and express messages (receptive and expressive), grammar/ sentence formation, discourse organization, social perception/communication, metalinguistics awareness, reading and written expression

Checklist of Behaviours That May Indicate Communication Disorders • Speech • • Poor articulation Different voice quality Dysfluencies Slurred conversational speech

Language • • • Has problems following oral directions Speech rambles, isn’t able to express ideas concisely Appears shy, withdrawn, never seems to talk or interact with others Asks questions that are off -topic Has a poor sense of humour Has poor comprehension of material and activities Doesn’t plan ahead in pencil/paper activities Takes things literally Is not organized; appears messy Doesn't manage time well; has to be prodded to complete assignments (Source: Teaching Students With Special Needs In Inclusive Setting Canadian Edition 2001)

DISORDERS OF SPEECH: • VOICE PROBLEMS: unusual pitch, loudness or quality draws attention to itself ex: may see voice problems in children with repaired cleft palate, Hearing Impairment, vocally abusive habits (excessive talking, yelling) - treatment: -Medical Intervention (ENT), behaviour modification (ex: indoor vs. outdoor voice), education about good vocal habits • STUTTERING: characteristics include: repetitions of sounds, syllables, words, phrases prolongations of sounds, blockages (usually on vowel-initial words) - treatment: -slow rate of speech, full breath, easy onsets to words, continuous voicing, reduced articulatory pressure, reducing speaking anxiety

Speech : ARTICULATION • may include: omissions of sounds, distortions of sounds, simplifications - substituting easier sounds for more difficult ones (ex: w for r -look for error patterns (fronting, backing, reducing blends, stopping) • -treatment: - discriminate among sounds, teach placement for sound, Use all the senses (see, hear, feel how sound is made) practice, a sound in isolation, syllable, word, phrases, sentences, spontaneous conversation, start with sounds that are developmentally easiest first (ex: tackle /f/ before /r/)

DEVELOPMENTAL GUIDELINES: AGES AT WHICH CHILDREN DEVELOP SPECIFIC SPEECH SOUNDS • AGE 3. 5 4. 5 5. 5 6. 5 8. 0 SPEECH SOUNDS b, p, m, w, h t, d, n, k, g, j f, v, s, z sh, l, th, ch r, s, z • (s, z first appear at 5. 5, then are mispronounced temporarily when front teeth fall out, and reappear by age 8)

WHAT IS LANGUAGE? • INTERACTION OF CONTENT, FORM, AND USE • FOUR MAIN AREAS: 1. SEMANTICS - LANGUAGE CONTENT 2. PHONOLOGY - LANGUAGE FORM 3. SYNTAX - LANGUAGE FORM 4. PRAGMATICS - LANGUAGE USE • RECEPTIVE LANGUAGE • EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE

MATCHING EXERCISE Match the child's utterance to the area of language it reflects. • 1. Look at the goggie! 2. No want some food. 3. That thing that keeps the rain off. 4. My name is Sarah. Try some more: 5. My daddy drived me here. 6. What's your name? 7. I need a'poon for my soup. 8. I went to the, um, circle and saw some lions and clowns. Semantics Phonology Syntax Pragmatics Phonology Semantics Syntax Pragmatics

LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENT: • RECEPTIVE: difficulty comprehending, processing and remembering what others say; difficulty following verbal directions • EXPRESSIVE: may be manifest in limited vocabulary, trouble retrieving words, incorrect word order, grammatical errors, trouble sequencing and organizing a description or story - strong relationship between oral and written language skills; often see same error patterns in their written attempts

RESEARCH ON THE PREVALENCE OF SPEECH AND LANGUAGE DISORDERS IN CHILDREN • • • 80 to 90 % of children with disabilities exhibit speech and language problems. In Ontario about 7 % of the child population have a disability. This means that approximately 6% of all children in Ontario may have speech and language problems. Of the estimated 5% of school-age children who have learning disabilities, 40 to 60 percent exhibit speech and language problems. An estimated 1. 7 % of school-age children are developmentally handicapped and almost all of these children exhibit speech and language problems. An estimated 5 to 10 % of all children exhibit behaviour disorders such as Attention Deficit Disorder and Hyperactivity. About 70 to 80 % of children identified with behaviour disorders have been shown to exhibit speech and language problems. Source: Office of Child and Youth Health Policy, Ministry of Health, March 6, 1995.

The following statistics demonstrate how important it is for children to be able to acquire essential speech and language skills: • • The school drop-out rate is higher for children with speech and language problems than for the general population, (43 % vs. 24%). The level of language development at 15 months of age has been demonstrated to be an important predictor of early school performance, and preschool intervention has been shown to be effective in reducing the frequency of significant early schooling problems. The presence of weak language skills in the preschool years predicts later behaviour disorders during school years and early remediation of the language disorder prevents further development of the behaviour disorder. The prevalence of speech and language disorders has been found to be higher among youth in prison than in the general population. One study reported that 80% of adolescent boys in prison were identified as having sub-normal speech and language skills.

• A number of studies have found a high prevalence of speech and language impairment in children with psychiatric disorders, and have indicated that language-impaired children are at greater risk for developing a psychiatric problem than non-impaired children. A reported 50 to 89 % of children with psychiatric diagnoses also exhibited a speech or language disorder. • Source: Office of Child Youth and Health Policy, Ministry of Health, March 6, 1995.

General Classroom Strategies for Students with Speech and Language Disorders • • Have the child face you. • Sit with your face at the same level as the child's. • Give directives as explicitly as possible. Avoid using unnecessary words. • Speak clearly and at a moderate speed to be more easily understood. • Don't place pressures on the child to use oral language. • Don't speak for the child.

Classroom Accommodations for Students with SPEECH Disorders • • Build a positive classroom climate. (educate students about speech disorders and give students a chance to model speech) • Help students learn to monitor their own speech (practice and monitor their own performance through record keeping) • Pair students for practice (practice skills and articulation with a partner) • Modify instruction and materials (tape record students' reading so they can evaluate their speech and give students practice listening so they can learn to discriminate sounds) • Encourage parents to work with their children

Classroom Accommodations for Students with LANGUAGE Disorders • • • Teach some prerequisite imitation skills (show pictures and have student repeat the phrase for the picture). Increase receptive language in the classroom (begin with simple directions and slowly increase the directions for these -tasks, pair students up to practice descriptions, let students work on categorizing). Give students opportunities for facilitative play (provides modeling for students to imitate and expand their use of language and encourage self talk while playing) Use naturalistic techniques and simulated real-life activities to increase language use (problem solving, questioning techniques, simulate real life activities) Encourage students' conversations through story reading (ask questions, expand on words, praise students' talk) Use music and play games to improve language