When people think of speech therapy, they tend to think of it as being therapy for problems like stuttering or difficulty saying words with certain letters. Speech therapy is this and more. Children's speech therapy can make a big impact in a child's educational career. Let us take a look at some of the reasons.
Receptive Language
Receptive language skills refers to the person's ability to understand what is being said to him or her. Many times, often in children with learning difficulties, the receptive language is ahead of the expressive skills.
It is very important that a child have good receptive language skills to succeed in school. Poor receptive language skills will lead to gaps in understanding and frustration. Speech therapy will work on the child's ability to understand language through a variety of techniques, including games, role playing and the use of computer programs.
Expressive Language
Expressive language is the language that a person uses to express themselves, to tell how they feel, to answer a question or to generally participate in classroom discussions. Expressive language deficits are common in children with intellectual disabilities, autism and other disabilities.
Imagine the frustration of knowing an answer but not being able to tell the teacher what the answer actually is. This happens over and over again for a child with expressive language issues. Therapy helps the child compensate for expressive language problems by teaching him or her strategies to use in the classroom and daily life.
Vocabulary
Poor vocabulary can negatively impact expressive and receptive language abilities. Children living in poverty or near poverty often have not been exposed to the same kinds of things by the time they enter school as children from more well-off families. The children's vocabulary suffers as a result.
At school the speech personnel work with the teacher of the child and act as additional support to help the child learn required vocabulary for each subject.
Articulation
Articulation is the ability to speak so that others understand what you are saying. Lisps, the inability to say specific letter sounds, speaking too fast or too slowly all can be helped with speech therapy.
If articulation issues are not addressed early on, they can create a child who is very self-conscious, who may be teased or worse.
In articulation therapy the speech therapist works with the student on lip closure, tongue position and flexibility, as well as other areas. Many different techniques are used to teach articulation including sucking very thick liquid through a small straw, blowing bubbles and the like.
Children's speech therapy is a vital part of helping a child succeed at school. The earlier therapy is started, the more successful it will be. Some speech problems are noticeable quite early in a child's life. If they are addressed at that point, so much the better for the child when he or she reaches school age.
There is absolutely no doubting the fact that Florida speech therapy can make an great difference in any child's life and any adults career. We have got the inside scoop on the best Florida speech therapy jobs available.
