There are several other conditions that can negatively impact human communication.
Attention Disorders
http://www.chadd.org
http://www.adhdsupport.com
Executive Functions regulate reasoning, processing, perception, memory and other skills executed by the brain. During the first twenty years of life, our executive functions are constantly refining. Disruptions or instability in any facet of executive functions can lead to a person having difficulties in self regulation. Many of these disruptions correlate with attention disorders, and are seen in some people with speech and language problems. Speech and Language skills can be altered in people who have Attention Disorders; one type of executive dysfunction.
Attention Disorders may include, but are not limited to Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD). Persons with this condition can have an attention deficit type only, or can have a combined hyperactivity type. For the child or adult, the symptoms manifest differently. In most instances, a diagnosis is “observational”. Assessments should be conducted by the family as well as trained, qualified professionals such as an educator, physician, psychologist, or psychiatrist. Persons with AD/HD may receive behavioral, medicinal, emotional, or a combination of treatments. It is a disorder that exists throughout a person’s life.
Impact on Communication
Speech and language disorders co-exist in a small percentage of individuals with AD/HD. Working memory, which allows a person to encode information, use past experiences to relate to current situations, and regulate decision-making skills, is heavily impacted. Attention Disorders can disrupt comprehension by interfering with recall of instructions, directions, and explanations. Expressively, re-telling stories, narratives, and important information can lack proper sequence and organization. Often times, main ideas and relevant details are missing. Socially, the communicator can seem to easily go off topic, interrupt, or demonstrate poor transitioning from one sentence to the next during social exchanges. Individuals with attention disorders may not seem aware of nonverbal cues, nor do they seem aware of their own communication errors. Speech rate can be rapid or appear jumbled. These types of behaviors are also seen in their written expressions; especially with punctuation and spelling.
SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGISTS work with families, teachers, and children who are affected by attention disorders. The SLP’s responsibilities include helping everyone who interacts with the student understand the attention disorder. We target specific social deficits, teach appropriate skills, and teach the student how to utilize good communication skills in a variety of environments and social settings. Students are provided with concrete rewards for specific accomplishments, and are given constant verbal praise. To reduce possible behavioral problems, educators, parents and speech-language pathologists should teach and communicate clear expectations, respond to the needs communicated by students, and enforce fair consequences for negative actions or behaviors.
Students with attention disorders need specific, brief instructions. Directions need to be repeated or rephrased frequently. Caregivers should give direct eye contact, and consider giving students choices when expecting them to respond. They need advanced notice of upcoming changes in daily or classroom routines. Speech-Language Pathologists work with classroom teachers and families to arrange environments to ensure feelings of comfort, security, and modify targeted working areas so they are free of distractions. These students need to be taught to organize, predict, plan, sequence, use inner speech (self-talk), and offered specific vocabulary for their individual executive control and actions. Providing them with an appropriate framework of structure is priority!
AUTISM (Spectrum Disorders)
http://www.autismspeaks.org
Autism Spectrum Disorders manifest out of a complex set of brain development disorders. The term “spectrum” describes a range of autistic-behavior-like disorders that impact an individual’s overall development. These conditions may include, but are not limited to High-Functioning Autism (HFA), Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), Asperger Syndrome (AS), Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NVLD), and Rett Syndrome. There are differential diagnoses and interventions for each of these conditions. Early detection and proper diagnosis is extremely important in the treatment of autism spectrum disorders. These disorders can be detected in children as young as two years old, or younger. A child or adult with autism usually exhibit difficulties in verbal and nonverbal social interactions. The person often has repetitive behaviors, and can have other intellectual or health problems. Interestingly, individuals may excel in the arts, math, or science.
What to look for (Early signs in infants and toddlers)?
Lack of smiling or no joyous facial expressions by 6 months
No babbling or gesturing, lack of direct eye contact or waving by 9 months
No talking or no expressions of simple words by 15 months
Significant or sudden decline in social interactions and talking after continuous verbal engagement during the first two years of life.
It is always important to speak with your child’s pediatrician if s/he demonstrates any of these behaviors. There can be different reasons for a child’s reduced, or lack of communication. In most cases, a medical professional will suggest having a child screened or evaluated by a certified speech-language pathologist if reduced communication persists. Remember, early detection leads to more effective interventions.
Reading Difficulties/Disorders
http://www.learningdisabilities.about.com
Most children learn to read without problems. However, there are children and adults who struggle with reading due to a number of factors. Reading requires one to have sustained attention, memory, adequate comprehension, vision & hearing, social, and motivational skills. These are not the only skills needed, but they are essential for each child’s reading success. It is important to know that people can start to read at any age, and no one ever stops learning to read. Every reader has areas to improve, and all reading elements are refined throughout life.
In the school setting, children are expected to be able to analyze and manipulate sounds, syllables, and words. At some point they are expected to independently be able to start reading simple sentences without help. It is a gradual, but progressive process that should be enjoyable for a young child. Reading encompasses a complex set of rules for which children learn to conceptualize words, draw functional meaning from texts, and associate symbols and pictures with words. These rules begin to stabilize in most children four to six years old in average functioning children who have been exposed to a developmental reading system. When children have not acquired the fundamentals, they can have difficulties in reading that can have a negative impact on their overall literacy, writing, social development, and academic skills.
Reading difficulties can be biological in nature, but no one can pin point the exact or specific cause of a person’s reading disorder. It is difficult to know if the problem is due to structural, chemical, or genetic differences in the brain. It is more important to detect and remediate reading difficulties in the developing child, as oppose to being overly concerned about what appears to be the cause. In many cases, some children who live in communities of low socio-economic status and neighborhoods that have high levels of pollutants and environmental toxins experience reading difficulties. It is difficult to know if a learning disabled person develops a reading disorder first, or if a one with a reading disorder conversely becomes learning disabled. There does seem to be a direct correlation between the two. In adolescents and adulthood, reading difficulties are believed to contribute to increases in the number of school drop-outs, crime, and other negative behaviors.
The biggest weapon a child has for combating reading difficulties are their parents. Parents have to be involved in the development of good reading skills and habits. Children who observe their parents reading automatically have a desire to read. Parents or caregivers should read to young children long before they enter kindergarten. The beliefs and attitudes parents demonstrate toward reading markedly influences their children. Parents should learn about the various stages of reading, and have appropriate expectations for children depending on the child’s developmental abilities. Parents should be aware of resources in the community (school, church, library, etc.) that will help them assist children during the formative years. Speech-Language Pathologists, parents, and educators must embrace the fact that a child’s understanding of phonological/phonemic awareness (sounds and sounds imply meaning) is essential to reading. It is never too late to start or increase reading skills.
STUTTERING
http://www.stutteringhelp.org
One of the most common and misunderstood disorders of fluency is Stuttering. It is a communication disorder characterized by repetitions, prolongations, or pauses in speech sounds or words. Stuttering is sometimes accompanied by facial tensions or other bodily movements. There are different factors thought to contribute to this fluency disorder. They include genetics, neurophysiology, or other acquired conditions that are known and unknown.
Preschoolers can often go through periods when they can get stuck or stumble on sounds, syllables, and words. Though the reasons vary, very young children experiences many social, emotional, and language experiences that manifest in stuttering-like behaviors. For family members and caregivers, it's important to determine the impact of these behaviors on overall development. In severe cases, therapy should begin immediately for the young child who stutters. Click on the link above to learn more about stuttering and other fluency disorders.
Attention Disorders
http://www.chadd.org
http://www.adhdsupport.com
Executive Functions regulate reasoning, processing, perception, memory and other skills executed by the brain. During the first twenty years of life, our executive functions are constantly refining. Disruptions or instability in any facet of executive functions can lead to a person having difficulties in self regulation. Many of these disruptions correlate with attention disorders, and are seen in some people with speech and language problems. Speech and Language skills can be altered in people who have Attention Disorders; one type of executive dysfunction.
Attention Disorders may include, but are not limited to Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD). Persons with this condition can have an attention deficit type only, or can have a combined hyperactivity type. For the child or adult, the symptoms manifest differently. In most instances, a diagnosis is “observational”. Assessments should be conducted by the family as well as trained, qualified professionals such as an educator, physician, psychologist, or psychiatrist. Persons with AD/HD may receive behavioral, medicinal, emotional, or a combination of treatments. It is a disorder that exists throughout a person’s life.
Impact on Communication
Speech and language disorders co-exist in a small percentage of individuals with AD/HD. Working memory, which allows a person to encode information, use past experiences to relate to current situations, and regulate decision-making skills, is heavily impacted. Attention Disorders can disrupt comprehension by interfering with recall of instructions, directions, and explanations. Expressively, re-telling stories, narratives, and important information can lack proper sequence and organization. Often times, main ideas and relevant details are missing. Socially, the communicator can seem to easily go off topic, interrupt, or demonstrate poor transitioning from one sentence to the next during social exchanges. Individuals with attention disorders may not seem aware of nonverbal cues, nor do they seem aware of their own communication errors. Speech rate can be rapid or appear jumbled. These types of behaviors are also seen in their written expressions; especially with punctuation and spelling.
SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGISTS work with families, teachers, and children who are affected by attention disorders. The SLP’s responsibilities include helping everyone who interacts with the student understand the attention disorder. We target specific social deficits, teach appropriate skills, and teach the student how to utilize good communication skills in a variety of environments and social settings. Students are provided with concrete rewards for specific accomplishments, and are given constant verbal praise. To reduce possible behavioral problems, educators, parents and speech-language pathologists should teach and communicate clear expectations, respond to the needs communicated by students, and enforce fair consequences for negative actions or behaviors.
Students with attention disorders need specific, brief instructions. Directions need to be repeated or rephrased frequently. Caregivers should give direct eye contact, and consider giving students choices when expecting them to respond. They need advanced notice of upcoming changes in daily or classroom routines. Speech-Language Pathologists work with classroom teachers and families to arrange environments to ensure feelings of comfort, security, and modify targeted working areas so they are free of distractions. These students need to be taught to organize, predict, plan, sequence, use inner speech (self-talk), and offered specific vocabulary for their individual executive control and actions. Providing them with an appropriate framework of structure is priority!
AUTISM (Spectrum Disorders)
http://www.autismspeaks.org
Autism Spectrum Disorders manifest out of a complex set of brain development disorders. The term “spectrum” describes a range of autistic-behavior-like disorders that impact an individual’s overall development. These conditions may include, but are not limited to High-Functioning Autism (HFA), Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), Asperger Syndrome (AS), Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NVLD), and Rett Syndrome. There are differential diagnoses and interventions for each of these conditions. Early detection and proper diagnosis is extremely important in the treatment of autism spectrum disorders. These disorders can be detected in children as young as two years old, or younger. A child or adult with autism usually exhibit difficulties in verbal and nonverbal social interactions. The person often has repetitive behaviors, and can have other intellectual or health problems. Interestingly, individuals may excel in the arts, math, or science.
What to look for (Early signs in infants and toddlers)?
Lack of smiling or no joyous facial expressions by 6 months
No babbling or gesturing, lack of direct eye contact or waving by 9 months
No talking or no expressions of simple words by 15 months
Significant or sudden decline in social interactions and talking after continuous verbal engagement during the first two years of life.
It is always important to speak with your child’s pediatrician if s/he demonstrates any of these behaviors. There can be different reasons for a child’s reduced, or lack of communication. In most cases, a medical professional will suggest having a child screened or evaluated by a certified speech-language pathologist if reduced communication persists. Remember, early detection leads to more effective interventions.
Reading Difficulties/Disorders
http://www.learningdisabilities.about.com
Most children learn to read without problems. However, there are children and adults who struggle with reading due to a number of factors. Reading requires one to have sustained attention, memory, adequate comprehension, vision & hearing, social, and motivational skills. These are not the only skills needed, but they are essential for each child’s reading success. It is important to know that people can start to read at any age, and no one ever stops learning to read. Every reader has areas to improve, and all reading elements are refined throughout life.
In the school setting, children are expected to be able to analyze and manipulate sounds, syllables, and words. At some point they are expected to independently be able to start reading simple sentences without help. It is a gradual, but progressive process that should be enjoyable for a young child. Reading encompasses a complex set of rules for which children learn to conceptualize words, draw functional meaning from texts, and associate symbols and pictures with words. These rules begin to stabilize in most children four to six years old in average functioning children who have been exposed to a developmental reading system. When children have not acquired the fundamentals, they can have difficulties in reading that can have a negative impact on their overall literacy, writing, social development, and academic skills.
Reading difficulties can be biological in nature, but no one can pin point the exact or specific cause of a person’s reading disorder. It is difficult to know if the problem is due to structural, chemical, or genetic differences in the brain. It is more important to detect and remediate reading difficulties in the developing child, as oppose to being overly concerned about what appears to be the cause. In many cases, some children who live in communities of low socio-economic status and neighborhoods that have high levels of pollutants and environmental toxins experience reading difficulties. It is difficult to know if a learning disabled person develops a reading disorder first, or if a one with a reading disorder conversely becomes learning disabled. There does seem to be a direct correlation between the two. In adolescents and adulthood, reading difficulties are believed to contribute to increases in the number of school drop-outs, crime, and other negative behaviors.
The biggest weapon a child has for combating reading difficulties are their parents. Parents have to be involved in the development of good reading skills and habits. Children who observe their parents reading automatically have a desire to read. Parents or caregivers should read to young children long before they enter kindergarten. The beliefs and attitudes parents demonstrate toward reading markedly influences their children. Parents should learn about the various stages of reading, and have appropriate expectations for children depending on the child’s developmental abilities. Parents should be aware of resources in the community (school, church, library, etc.) that will help them assist children during the formative years. Speech-Language Pathologists, parents, and educators must embrace the fact that a child’s understanding of phonological/phonemic awareness (sounds and sounds imply meaning) is essential to reading. It is never too late to start or increase reading skills.
STUTTERING
http://www.stutteringhelp.org
One of the most common and misunderstood disorders of fluency is Stuttering. It is a communication disorder characterized by repetitions, prolongations, or pauses in speech sounds or words. Stuttering is sometimes accompanied by facial tensions or other bodily movements. There are different factors thought to contribute to this fluency disorder. They include genetics, neurophysiology, or other acquired conditions that are known and unknown.
Preschoolers can often go through periods when they can get stuck or stumble on sounds, syllables, and words. Though the reasons vary, very young children experiences many social, emotional, and language experiences that manifest in stuttering-like behaviors. For family members and caregivers, it's important to determine the impact of these behaviors on overall development. In severe cases, therapy should begin immediately for the young child who stutters. Click on the link above to learn more about stuttering and other fluency disorders.