A speech delay or disorder can impact a child’s ability to produce sounds, form words, and speak clearly. This can make it difficult for children to communicate their needs and wants, interact with others, and succeed in academic and social settings.
Pediatric Speech Language Pathology Services | Erika Phillips
Erika Phillips Speech Language Pathology is a pediatric Speech & Language service in Calgary. Our goal is to provide a comprehensive evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment for children who are experiencing difficulties with their speech, language or communication skills.
Speech Delays or Disorders
As children develop new sounds and words, they often make speech sound errors, but an articulation delay/disorder occurs when these speech sound errors remain present after a certain age. (link to speech sound acquisition chart)
Signs of an articulation delay/disorder may include:
- Difficulty pronouncing certain sounds correctly, such as /k/, /g/, /s/, /r/, /l/ or /th/
- Substituting one sound for another, such as saying “tandy” instead of “candy.”
- Omitting certain sounds, such as deleting a consonant sound by saying “seep” instead of “sleep”
- Difficulty being understood by others, especially by unfamiliar listeners.
- Frustration or embarrassment when speaking with others.
A phonological delay/disorder involves rule-based errors that affect more than one sound.
Signs of a phonological delay/disorder may include:
- Difficulty pronouncing sounds in a certain position of the word, for example deleting ending sounds by saying “bu”, “ha”, “mo” instead of “bug”, “hat”, “more”
- Difficulty pronouncing a certain group of sounds, for example stopping all airflow sounds by saying “tun”, “pall”, “doo” instead of “sun”, “fall”, “zoo”
- Using immature or simplified speech patterns, such as leaving out whole syllables or using ‘baby talk’.
- Difficulty communicating with others, especially with unfamiliar listeners.
- Frustration when speaking or trying to communicate with others.
Apraxia is a neurological speech disorder in which the brain has difficulty planning and executing the movement of the lips, jaw and tongue to produce speech, therefore the precision and consistency of movements underlying speech production are affected. Children diagnosed with apraxia are very hard to understand and have trouble saying sounds, syllables and words. They know what they want to say, however their brain has trouble coordinating the muscle movements necessary to produce the words
Signs of Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) may include:
- Difficulty producing sounds in the correct sequence to form a word
- Distorted or abnormal-sounding vowel sounds
- Inconsistent speech errors, meaning that the child may produce a sound correctly in one instance but not in another
- Difficulty coordinating the movements necessary for speech, resulting in longer pauses or breaks in speech
- Inappropriate prosody, meaning that the patterns of stress and intonation when speaking are affected
- Difficulty imitating speech sounds or words
Stuttering affects the fluency and flow of speech. It is common for children to experience periods of disfluency (stuttering), and while some children may outgrow stuttering with time, others may require speech therapy to improve their fluency and communication skills.
Signs of Stuttering may include:
- Repetitions: Children may repeat whole words or parts of words, such as “c-c-c-cat.”
- Prolongations: Children may hold out a sound or syllable for an extended period, such as “ssssssnake.”
- Blocks: Children may experience a sudden, involuntary pause or halt in speech, where they seem to be stuck on a word or sound.
- Word substitutions: Children may substitute words they have difficulty saying with simpler or more familiar words.
- Secondary behaviors: Children may develop secondary behaviors, such as eye blinking or body movements, as a result of the effort and frustration associated with stuttering.
- Avoidance: Children may start to avoid certain words or situations where they have difficulty speaking, which can impact their overall communication abilities.
- Emotional reactions: Children who stutter may experience frustration, embarrassment, or anxiety about their speech difficulties.
Language Delays or Disorders
A language delay or disorder can affect a child’s ability to understand and use language appropriately. This can make it challenging for children to follow directions, express their thoughts and feelings, and engage in conversation with others.
A communication disorder that affects a child’s ability to express themselves using spoken language. Children may have difficulty forming grammatically correct sentences, using age-appropriate vocabulary, or conveying their thoughts and ideas effectively.
Signs of expressive language disorder may include:
- Limited vocabulary: Children may have difficulty learning and using new words, or may have a limited vocabulary compared to other children their age.
- Difficulty forming sentences: Children may struggle to put words together in grammatically correct sentences, or may use short, simple sentences instead of more complex ones.
- Difficulty with word retrieval: Children may have trouble finding the right words to use in conversation or may use non-specific language
- Difficulty with storytelling or narration: Children may have trouble telling stories or retelling events in sequence or with sufficient detail.
- Reduced conversational skills: Children may struggle to maintain a conversation, change topics appropriately, or engage in turn-taking during conversation.
A communication disorder that affects a child’s ability to understand spoken language. Children may have difficulty comprehending the meaning of words or sentences, following directions, or understanding in a conversation.
Signs of receptive language disorder may include:
- Difficulty following directions: Children may have difficulty following simple or complex directions, especially those that involve multiple steps.
- Poor comprehension of spoken language: Children may have difficulty understanding spoken language
- Difficulty understanding figurative language: Children may have trouble understanding idioms, metaphors, or other types of figurative language.
- Difficulty with conversation: Children may have difficulty understanding in conversation and therefore may have trouble participating in conversation with others
- Delayed response to questions: Children may take longer than expected to respond to questions or may provide responses that are not relevant to the question being asked.
- Difficulty with reading comprehension: Children with receptive language disorder may also struggle with reading comprehension, as it requires the ability to understand and interpret written language.
AAC is a set of strategies and tools used to help individuals enhance their ability to communicate with others and express themselves. Often AAC is implemented with children who have severe speech and/or language difficulties. Communication systems may include gesture, body language, sign language, writing, drawing, picture systems or speech generating devices.
At Erika Phillips Speech Language Pathology, we use a variety of formal standardized assessments and informal clinical tools to determine a child’s strengths and weaknesses, communicate a diagnosis, develop individualized treatment plans and provide evidence-based interventions for children who are experiencing speech or language delays/disorders.
We work closely with parents, caregivers and other professionals involved in a child’s care to ensure that each child receives the support to help them reach their communication goals.
Do You Need a Pediatric Speech Pathologist in Calgary?
We offer services for children of all ages, from infancy through adolescence. Our goal is to help each child attain their full potential, and to support families in fostering their child’s communication skills in their daily life.
If you are concerned about your child’s speech or language development, we invite you to contact us to learn more about our services and how we can help.
Have Coverage for Therapy Services?
Many insurance providers offer coverage for speech language pathology services. We encourage you to inquire with your insurance provider to determine if you have coverage for this service. Receipts will be provided with the required information for insurance purposes.