WHAT IS SPEECH THERAPY?
Speech therapy is a treatment that is provided by speech-language pathologists (SLPs). It helps a person improve their communication skills. Speech therapy is a very wide term. It can be required by people of any age groups. A person becoming a victim of a terrible accident that injures or damages their mouth may require speech therapy to get back to their normal speech pattern.
Similarly, a lot of children need speech therapy to overcome their disabilities of not talking properly. Speech disorders are fairly common in children as compared to adults. There are various disorders and diseases that may alter the speech patterns and sound making abilities of a child.
HOW DO I KNOW IF MY CHILD NEEDS SPEECH THERAPY?
In a society, communication is extremely important. Without having the proper skills of communication people would fail to understand you. This may cause a terrible lack of self-confidence and a downgrade of morale. Children who need speech therapy show visible signs of their inability to communicate properly. In order to succeed in everyday life, they have to learn to enhance their communication skills.
If speech disorders are easier to be eradicated, if diagnosed at an early age. Speech therapy has proved to be extremely effective on children due to the same reason. If your child needs speech therapy, they might show one or few of the following signs:
- Stuttering: Stuttering and cluttering is a visible sign that your child needs speech therapy. Cluttering revolves around the rapid and unorganized speech pattern that becomes very hard to understand. However, stuttering includes being stuck or repeating a single word before proceeding to the next.
Inconsistent voice quality:
- Inconsistent voice quality means that your child does not have a control over the volume and pitch of their sound while delivering sentences. In this case your child may have a disorder called dysphonia. In this condition, the voice can become hoarse, rough, strained or weak at any time without any triggers or alarms. Some people with dysphonia also undergo pain while talking.
- No babbling: If your child does not babble or make weird sounds and noises between the age of 4 to seven months, then there is a high chance that your child might need speech therapy in the future. Making these noises in this age is crucially vital for the child to learn to make sounds of various words. Moreover, if your child doesn’t use any sorts of gestures by the age of 12 months then the risk of communication disorders can increase.
- Less interaction: If your child has trouble interacting with other people or children around them and is mostly quiet or makes close to no reactions, then consulting a speech therapist may be the best option. Your child may be suffering from a disorder or lack of confidence or self-esteem that the speech therapist can diagnose effectively.
- Speech inconsistency: If your child has problem remaining consistent throughout the conversation, then they might need speech therapy. Speech inconsistency includes, mispronunciation of words multiple times even after trying and adding unnecessary gaps between the syllables of words.
Structural problems related to mouth:
- Structural problems such as deformed, injured or undeveloped lips, jaws tongue throat or other speech related organs can cause difficulty in speaking. In this case speech therapy can help your child be comfortable with how they can properly communicate.
- Ear infections/ hearing disorder: Not being able to hear properly can have a major effect on the communication skills of your child. If they have a hearing disorder, then it is very unlikely that your child can talk or perform any sort of speech.
Best certified Speech Therapist in Lahore FOR CHILDREN:
If your child has any signs of speech disorders, then you should consider consulting a speech therapist as soon as possible. “Holistic Healthcare Services” provide. Their services are extremely affordable and reliable.
