Language difficulties in childhood

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 3, Issue 35, 11 February 1986, Page 19

Language difficulties in childhood

This is the first of three articles by Waimarino speech therapist Alison Anderson in which she outlines different aspects of her work. These follow an interview with Alison which we published last week.

While most children learn to speak with very little difficulty, some children have articulation problems, that is, difficulty making sounds. They may leave sounds off words; they may substitute other sounds, for instance sayirig 'tar for car'; or the sounds may be distorted making speech difficult to understand. Often children are able to say isolated words quite clearly, but when they use them in a sentence the words

lose clarity and may be quite unrecognisable. Slowing the child down and giving plenty of time to talk may overcome this problem. Nursery rhymes and finger plays also help as the rhythm helps speech flow from one word to the next —the constant repetition also helps improve clarity. A good model is important when talking to your child. Make sure the child can see your mouth, can hear and that your speech rate is not too fast. Children's ability to speak is dependent on hearing — they must be able to hear and distinguish between sounds. Lip movement is also important, and good muscle tone for lip closure is necessary. They should be able to move the tongue up and down and in and out at will and with control. As early as possible offer solid foods that must be chewed before being swallowed. Foods such as raw apple, carrot, cooked veges and crusts are good as they will help exercise the lips,

tongue, teeth and jaw in readiness for speech. Similarly, blowing bubbles, feathers, or flames of candles will help strengthen lips. If your child is not using any speech sound show them how to make the sound and then use this sound as often as possible in games and daily activities. Once the child has mastered the sound, it should carry over into every day speech in time. If your child has problems and is difficult to understand, contact your local speech therapist, Alison Anderson, Ohakune Phone 58-385 Monday, Friday, Waiouru Phone 56-663 Wednesday, Taihape Phone 332 Thursday.