By Ashley Clements, Audiologist, The ENT Center of Central GA
Although more than five million children in the United States have a communication disorder (speech, language or hearing disorder), parents are often uninformed and unsure about what to do when they suspect their child may have a disorder. Communication disorders should be treated early in order to help ensure that they do not seriously affect the child’s ability to learn, socialize with others, and be successful in school.
Speech and language problems can occur at anytime in a child’s life. They can be caused by accidental injury or illness, or be inherited at birth. Child speech and language problems include:
- Stuttering
- Articulation problems, such as “wabbit” instead of “rabbit”
- Language disorders, such as the slow development of vocabulary, concepts and grammar
- Voice disorders, nasal, breathy or horse voice; or speech that is too high or low
Parents who suspect their child has a communication disorder should see a speech-language pathologist. Speech-language pathologists identify, assess and treat speech and language problems, including swallowing disorders.
Hearing loss, like speech and language problems, can also have a negative impact on a child’s social and academic development. It can occur at birth or as a child grows older due to chronic ear infections or exposure to noise. The earlier hearing loss occurs in a child’s life, the more serious the effects are on the child’s development. Typical signs of a hearing loss in children include:
- Inconsistently responding to sound
- Delayed language and speech development
- Unclear speech
- Sound is turned up on electronic equipment (radio, TV, etc.)
- Does not follow directions
- Often says, “Huh?”
- Does not respond when called
- Frequently misunderstands what is said and wants things repeated
As a first step, people who think their child is displaying many of these warning signs and think they may have hearing loss or other hearing disorders should see an audiologist. Audiologists specialize in preventing, identifying, assessing and treating hearing disorders. They also provide treatment for hearing loss, including fitting hearing aids and other assistive listening devices. They can also teach children with hearing loss how to concentrate on hearing all sounds.
Fortunately, most children with speech, language and hearing problems can be helped. Even if the problem cannot be eliminated, children can learn strategies to help them cope with their communication disorders. It is important that parents learn about communication disorders, what they can do to help their children and how speech-language pathologists and audiologists can help with their child’s communication disorders.
For more information on communication disorders, visit www.asha.org.
Source: The League Life, Spring 2013 – a publication of the Junior League of Columbus, GA Inc. Reprinted with permission.
Photo Credit: istockphoto.com
