Children experience many changes at different phases of their development. They learn to crawl, walk and speak slowly. However, the journey differs from one child to another. Some children may even experience issues with speech, especially in their earlier years. These difficulties may vary from taking time to utter their first words to struggling with pronouncing certain words or letters.

As a parent, this can be a daunting time, but a speech therapist can be of immense help to you. Speech therapy can help your child deal with such adversities and make their future smoother for them.

Let’s understand more about this in this article.

What is Speech and Language Therapy for Children?

Speech therapy involves methods and exercises designed to enhance communication by targeting speech delays and disorders in areas such as expressive and receptive language, articulation, oral motor issues, apraxia of speech, social language, fluency (stuttering), feeding and swallowing, as well as cognitive abilities.

A trained speech therapist works with your child to assess their ability to speak and then create a customised therapy plan to achieve specific language and speech goals.

How to Tell if Your Child Needs Speech Therapy?

Communication is an important aspect of your child’s development. However, many children face some delays in their development journey.

You may be required to take your child to a speech therapist if they face the following difficulties:

• Speaking and articulation: Some children struggle with producing sounds correctly so that others can understand. A speech therapist can work with your child to help them articulate different sounds.
• Voice or resonance: Some children suffer from unusual pitch or quality of voice, which a speech therapist can help with.
• Fluency: If your child stutters, stops while speaking or spends a long time on certain words, a speech therapist can help.
• Swallowing or feeding: This is also known as dysphagia. Your child may face difficulties in sucking the breast or bottle while feeding, put food in their mouth and close her lips around it. A speech therapist is especially skilled to diagnose and manage such problems and address them so that your child can get proper nutrition.

Apart from these, some children may suffer from language skills such as composing sentences or using words. For example, children suffering from Down Syndrome may find it difficult to express themselves through words. Such children can gain immensely by being under the coaching of a speech therapist.

Children suffering from autism often face issues with speech such as repeating words, humming, shrieking, etc. A speech therapist can help them deal with these issues and improve their communication skills.

Effective Speech Therapy Techniques for Children

Every speech therapist conducts a comprehensive assessment of a child to determine the kind of help they need. Based on this, they draw out a personalised treatment plan to reach specific goals. The treatment plan is modified from time to time based on the child’s responsiveness to the therapy techniques.

There are many speech therapy techniques that a speech therapist can use, the common ones being:

Articulation Therapy for Children

This is an approach where a child is asked to express different parts of speech and make specific sounds properly. This can include games exclusively designed to make the therapy more fan.

Oral Motor Therapy

This kind of therapy concentrates on the body parts that improve speech such as muscles around the mouth or other muscles that can improve communication skills. Oral motor therapy can include activities such as exercises to strengthen muscles that control speech. These techniques can also help with eating or swallowing issues.

Language Intervention Therapy

These techniques can help children deal with language disabilities and speech delays. During this therapy, the child will be asked to pronounce words properly. Language intervention therapy can help children frame sentences coherently.

Lee Silverman Speech Therapy

This is a comprehensive speech and language therapy that can improve a child’s speech by addressing issues with their speech volume. This is more than enhancing only the speech ability, it also improves facial expression and strengthens the laryngeal muscles. This, in turn, can improve their vocal control.

Modelling Techniques

These are effective techniques that can treat speech problems. They essentially include 4 phases:

• Recasting – Restating what the child says, but in the correct form or language.
• Self-talk – Describing your actions, thoughts, and observations aloud.
• Expansion – Enhancing the child’s sentences by adding words to improve structure, grammar, or speech clarity.
• Praise – Offering verbal or non-verbal acknowledgement of the child’s every attempt.

Speech Therapy for Children – A Final Word

While some speech therapy techniques can be done at home, it is better to take the help of a professional to obtain the best results. A regular setup and schedule for speech therapy sessions can greatly help a child’s development.

If you are looking for speech and language therapy for children in Malaysia, TrueCare2U is your friend. You can talk to doctors over a telecall to understand your options and get the help you need for your child.

Sources:

• https://www.childrens.com/specialties-services/treatments/speech-language-pathology
• https://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/childsandl/
• https://napacenter.org/importance-speech-therapy/
• https://sensorysolutionstherapy.com/speech-therapy-for-toddlers/
• https://www.jogohealth.in/speech-therapy/about-various-speech-therapy-techniques/
• https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/speech-therapy