Speech and Language Therapy in Children in 9 Questions

f there are any problems with your child’s language development or speech, please don’t be late, take action!

1. What is speech and language therapy?

Speech and language therapy is the study of all disorders that affect the speech and language performance of individuals. Here it is necessary to distinguish between language and speech, says Çağdaş Karsan, Specialist Speech and Language Therapist.

2. How to understand language and speech disorders in children?

If a parent thinks that their child’s language and speech skills are behind their peers, it would be beneficial to consult a therapist immediately. At this point, speech and language therapy may choose not to start the therapy process immediately.

As a result of his own evaluation, he may also prefer to direct the process by giving some useful information to the family to follow the process and support the language development of the child. For this reason, the best step to take for the mother is to consult a speech and language therapist when there is any doubt.

3. How is speech therapy done?

Speech therapy first begins with an evaluation process to identify the origin and extent of the individual’s complaints. Then, the most appropriate intervention tool for the individual and the therapist’s skills for the skills to be developed is selected and put into practice. There are different intervention tools for all kinds of language and speech disorders.

4. At what age does speech therapy start?

There is no lower age limit for those who go to speech and language therapy . It can be practiced with children of any age, where the speech therapist can continue to work. In young children, therapeutic goals are often studied by placing them in the game.

The earlier the intervention in speech and language disorders, the better. After the age of 2.5, children’s vocabulary develops rapidly. For this reason, it is possible to change the developmental curve of the child with treatment that starts before the age of 3 years, thanks to early intervention.

5. How long does speech therapy take?

The duration of therapy varies greatly from disorder to disorder and from person to person. While there may be language and speech problems that can be resolved in a single session, there are speech therapy processes that can last for months or even years.

Let’s talk about how those who go to language therapy benefit emotionally and socially.

When a person is a very complex and multifaceted being, language and speech disorders can unfortunately pave the way for different social and psychological problems over time.

Desire to be liked, perfectionism, desire to belong to a group, etc. Many human motives pave the way for language and speech disorders to evolve into a more complex problem than they actually are. Therefore, solving or accepting these problems before it is too late is of great importance for the emotional and social world of the child.

6. Do all language and speech centers have the same techniques?

There are many language and speech centers. The speech therapy techniques applied in these centers are not different from each other. It is in question for the therapist to adopt the most appropriate evidence-based approach for himself and the client for the speaking exercises and methods to be preferred.

There are of course different methods for solving similar problems, and the task of the therapist is to choose the most appropriate one among them. While doing this, of course, methods that have been proven to be effective by scientific research should be used.

What is the prompt technique?

The prompt technique is a speech therapy technique based on tactile cues that can be used for many language and speech problems.

It can be used in many areas from pronunciation disorders to acquired language and disorders. In order to use this technique, it is necessary to get a certificate by attending the courses given by the PROMT Institute. There are many therapists in our country who have this certificate.

What is speech therapy?

Pronunciation therapy refers to the study of faulty production of speech sounds. It can be applied in a wide range of ages, from small children to adults.

7. Can speech therapy be applied at home?

Yes, it can be applied. Especially in patients who have partially or completely lost their walking ability, therapists practice speech therapy at home.

In speech therapy to be done at home, good progress can be made by doing the exercises that the therapist gives to the parents to work at home.

8. Is online speech therapy helpful?

In areas where there is no access to speech therapists, therapies can be continued in this way. I think this is a necessity, not an option. Because accessibility always comes first for me. Of course, online speech therapy is also a useful application.

9. What are the challenges of speech and language therapy?

I think it is a serious challenge for families to accept the problem and act together towards a solution. Some families are unable to put such a problem to their children and deny the situation. Some accept it, but they have difficulty in fulfilling their responsibilities, leaving the solution only to speech therapists. Others go this route but soon give up.

Causes and processes are of course very variable, but these are the situations I frequently encounter. Families who patiently walk to the end of the process can achieve the desired result to a great extent. For kids, it’s not that different from school and homework at school. The only extra responsibility they don’t want is if they don’t really enjoy talk therapy and don’t like their therapist. At this point, it falls to the coordinated effort of the therapist and family to motivate them. Therefore, it is very important for families to be engaged in the process.