Medical:Spotting speech problems

Children with speech or language problems can have difficulty interacting with their peers and learning new materials. In school, that can lead to isolation from classmates and poor school performance.

Speech language pathologists can evaluate a child and determine the nature of the symptoms (i.e., is it really a speech or language problem and what are the specific problems). Therapy aims to facilitate language development, reduce a child’s frustrations in communicating with others and increase the ability to communicate and interact in spoken and written ways. In addition to helping the child, a speech-language pathologist may offer support for the parents and suggest other resources that may help the child succeed in school.

According to the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities, the brain is most adaptive to learning speech and language skills before age five. Thus, children with speech-language problems should start getting help at a young age. Carol Walck, M.S., CCC-SLP, Speech-Language Pathologist in Allentown, PA, says sometimes children are shy or not very expressive. That may simply be their nature. In other cases, they may lack confidence in communicating with others or have a true speech or language problem. If parents have any concerns about a child’s speech-language development, a speech-language pathologist should be consulted.