Speech and Language Disorder(SLI)

Katie JacklettEDU 329Fall 2010

Definition of Speech Disorder

• a deviation so far from the speech of other people that it calls attention to itself• interferes with communication• causes the speaker or listener distress • a communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language

impairment, or a voice impairment, that adversely affects a child's educational

performance• 3 kinds of speech disorders:

- abnormal articulation which is production of speech sounds- abnormal or absence of voice which is voice quality, pitch, loudness, resonance, and/or duration- impaired fluency which is rate and rhythm of speech

* Speech - the audible, oral output of language

Definition of Language Disorder

•Language - a socially shared, rule-governed code used for communication; a system of symbols that we use to communicate feelings, thoughts, desires, and actions; message contained in speech

• comprehension or use of a spoken, written, or other symbol system is impaired or

does not develop properly• may involve form which is word order, word parts, or word usage• may involve content which is word meaning• may involve function which is words that communicate meaningfully

Speech Disorder

Articulation – • has difficulty pronouncing sounds correctly at & after the developmentally

appropriate age• sounds may be distorted or omitted• one sound may be inappropriately substituted for another• speech may be slurred

Voice – • speech is excessively hoarse• may use excessive volume or too little volume• speech has too much nasality• speech lacks inflection

Fluency – • stutters when speaking• may have excessively slow rate of speech• may exhibit uneven, jerky rate of speech

Language Disorder

Receptive Language – involves understanding what people mean when they speak to you

• unable to understand what teachers and peers are saying

• may not understand questions

• has trouble following directions

• has difficulty not be able to retain information presented verbally

• does not respond to questions appropriately

• cannot think abstractly or comprehend abstracts as idioms

• cannot detect breakdowns in communication

• may confuse the sounds of letters that are similar

• has difficulty understanding humor or figurative language

• misses parts of material, particularly articles and auxiliary verbs and tense

markers

Language Disorder

Expressive Language – concerns speaking in such a way that others understand you

• unable to communicate clearly

• spoken language may include correct grammar

• has a limited use of vocabulary

• has frequent hesitation

• lacks specificity

• jumps from topic to topic

• repeats same information again and again in a conversation

• often does not provide enough information to the listener

• afraid to ask questions

• uses social language poorly

Accommodations For Communication Disorders

Create an atmosphere of acceptance – •Help students who have difficulty expressing themselves believe they can communicate

without worrying about making mistakes• foster a nonjudgmental atmosphere• model the correct form instead of correct student’s mistake• Example:

Teacher: Josh what did Stacey do with the frog?Josh: put pocketTeacher: Oh. He put it in his pocket?Josh: Yes.

• allow students who stutter to have more time to speak• do not interrupt them• do not supply words that are too difficult for them to pronounce• offer praise even if it is only an attempt• Example:

Teacher: Anthony, what did you do yesterday when you went home?Anthony: TelevisionTeacher: Great, you told me one thing you did. You watched television.

Accommodations For Communication Disorders

Encourage listening and teach listening skills – • listen carefully and praise listening among your students.

- For example: Mrs. Holcombe leans forward and nods while she listens to a student speak. Students may follow.• engage your student’s attention before you begin• increase your proximity to the listeners• give direct instruction – “Listen to what I am going to say.”• reduce competing stimuli – have one activity at a time• make oral material easier to understand by simplifying vocabulary• repeat important information• give information in short segments and use visual aids for emphasis• have students rehearse or summarize information given• practice listening skills directly• stress words that are important

- “He hit the ball.” depending on what you want to emphasize• stress inflectional patterns

Accommodations For Communication Disorders

Use modeling to expand student’s language –

• add relevant information to student’s statementsExample:Student: John is nice.Teacher: Yes, he is very nice and polite too.

• expand language by broadening a minimal statementExample:Student: my shoeTeacher: Your shoe is pretty

• most effective when it is done as an ongoing part of your everyday communications

Accommodations For Communication Disorders

Provide many meaningful contexts for practicing speech and language skills –

• have students practice skills in many different contexts Example: The teacher has taught the word ironic. Give different examples for the word.

• encourage students to talk about events and experiences in their environment, using as much detail as possible

Example: a sixth grade teacher uses a Saturday Night Live format where students act out something funny that happened to them over the weekend

• when possible, embed instruction in the context of functional areas

Example: students in a consumer math class go to appliance stores talk to salespeople about service contracts, and then describe them to the class

Speech and Language Disorders

Possible physical characteristics -

1. Conditions are indicated in the student's medical/developmental history, such as cleft lip and/or palate, deviant palatal-pharyngeal structure, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, brain injury, aphasia, vocal nodules or other pathology of the vocal mechanism, hearing loss, myringotomy or other aural surgery, orofacial abnormalities, congenital disorders

2. Has continuous allergy problems or frequent colds

3. Has deviant dental structure

4. Has oral muscular coordination slower than normal

5. Displays clumsiness or general motor incoordination

Statistics

More than one million of the students served in the public schools’ special

education programs in the 2000-2001 school year were categorized as having a

speech or language impairment. It is estimated that communication disorders affect one of every 10 people in the

United States . Approximately 7.5 million people in the United States have trouble using their

voices The prevalence of speech sound disorder in young children is 8 to 9 percent. By

the first grade, roughly 5 percent of children have noticeable speech disorders. It is estimated that more than 3 million Americans stutter. More than 15 million

individuals in the world stutter, most of whom began stuttering at a very early age. Between 6 and 8 million people in the United States have some form of language impairment.

Source: Compiled from fact sheets produced by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD).

Website Sources

http://arksped.k12.ar.us/rules_regs_

http://www.childspeech.net/u_i.html

http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/statistics/vsl.asp

http://www.cleftline.org/story_of_the_month/apr04