Did you know that Hearing Loss in children may also cause Speech disorder ?

Hearing forms an important process of our whole communication process. It is critical in the development of language and speech. Thus hearing loss in children often make them suffer from speech disorder too. What is more unfortunate is that this problem often goes unnoticed in children till long. As a result what happens in children is it causes a delay in development of receptive and expressive Communication Skills (speech & language). The language deficit also leads to learning problems and reduced academic achievements. As a result of this problem it ultimately causes social isolation and a low self esteem.

Speech Disorder in Children:

Speech disorder in children may be many. One common type of disorder is stuttering or stammering, wherein the child ends up repeating the same words, phrases while speaking. Disorder of Articulation causes the child to produces sounds, syllables or sounds in a way that the listener is unable to gather and understand it. The child may also suffer from Voice disorder.

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Speech Therapy for Children with Speech Disorder:

As mentioned above speech treats speech language as well as other communication that the child may suffer from. The treatment may range from physical strengthening exercises, instructive or repetitive practice and drilling and use of audio visual aids. The goal of the speech therapy is for the individual to develop or get back communication skills to the optimum level. Recovery through Speech Therapy depends on the severity of the problem. 

In children the problem often goes unnoticed for long and thus parents play a crucial role in the treatment. This begins with the identification of the problem and there after consulting the SLP or Speech Therapist. The parents can also help by actively participating in the speech therapy sessions when the speech therapy sessions are being carried out by the SLPs. They can try to learn what is being done and then try to repeat the same at home. Parents must provide the right environment so that the child hears and says the sounds correctly. Research in this field has found that hearing affects sound acquisition in a big way.