Speech therapist
A speech therapist is a specialist who deals with speech disorders. Children's speech therapist deals with speech problems in children. In modern practice, a speech therapist uses psychotherapeutic, pedagogical methods, listening and many other ways to correct speech.
It is important to know that in case of speech problems, a speech therapist is simply necessary for a child, and the earlier treatment is started, the more chances of recovery are, while in adulthood it is quite problematic to correct speech disorders.
The task of a child speech therapist is to determine the state of the child's speech. This means that the speech therapist-defectologist must find out whether the child pronounces the sounds of speech correctly for his age and whether his vocabulary is rich enough, whether the child constructs phrases correctly and how well he can communicate with the help of speech. If the child is already of school age, then the speech therapist-defectologist also assesses his ability to read and write. In addition, the speech therapist often tries to assess the state of the child's non-speech abilities.
Speech therapist-defectologist tries to find out how well the child has developed figurative thinking. Assesses his ability to orientate in space, the ability to draw, construct, think logically and express thoughts consistently. It is also important to see how and what the baby is playing, how rich and varied his games are.
Contrary to popular belief, a children's speech therapist not only teaches a child to pronounce sounds correctly. Lessons of a speech therapist in a correctional group consist in the development of attention, visual and auditory perception in children, improvement of thinking and memory. Indeed, without all these factors, it is difficult for a speech therapist to establish a full-fledged educational process. The tasks of the speech therapist also include enriching the child's vocabulary, teaching him to read and write, and correcting grammatical errors.
In addition to the methods of correcting written and oral speech, the competence of a children's speech therapist includes knowledge of psychopathology, neuropathology and pathology of the organs of speech and hearing.
If a speech therapist-defectologist discovers any deviation, then his main task is to understand the reasons for the deviations and decide how to help him.
What diseases is a speech therapist necessary for a child?
- Violation of pronunciation of sounds (dysarthria or dyslalia);
- Malocclusion;
- Loss or underdevelopment of speech (aphasia, alalia);
- Speech disorders due to hearing impairment;
- Violations of the tempo and rhythm of speech (stuttering, reactive stuttering).
When should parents contact a speech therapist-defectologist?
- If the child has a late development of speech;
- When stuttering;
- In case of impaired understanding of speech or defective sound pronunciation.
The main symptom of stuttering, when parents urgently need to find a speech therapist for a child, is cramps in the lips, facial muscles and respiratory system.
These seizures are clonic in nature, that is, when the child constantly repeats the same syllable or sound, and also tonic - when it is difficult for the child to start speaking at all. There are mixed convulsions.
In addition to seizures, motor and speech tricks are signs of a child's stuttering, when the child twitches the earlobe or taps his hand, or stretches out sounds before speaking.
Regular speech therapist lessons will help the child get rid of stuttering or minimize its consequences.
Parents should be aware that stuttering often causes personality changes, since the child is complex about his speech, avoids communication with peers, and, sometimes, with loved ones. Such speech pathology in adolescents can create serious difficulties when choosing a profession, not to mention the fact that stuttering significantly reduces a person's self-esteem.
Therefore, speech therapists believe that with stuttering, a person's personality suffers to a greater extent, and not his speech.
What tests can a speech therapist require for a child?
In order to identify speech defects, a children's speech therapist conducts a speech and physical examination of the patient.
Speech therapist tips
Often, children who speak poorly also eat poorly. As a rule, the child has weak jaw muscles that need to be trained. For this purpose, it is useful to give your child apples, carrots and other hard vegetables and fruits. It is necessary to force the child to chew crackers, chunks of meat and bread with crusts. And in order to develop the muscles of the tongue and cheeks in the child, in class speech therapists teach children to rinse their mouths, puff out their cheeks and hold in air.
It is important to develop fine motor skills in children. Try not to interfere with the children themselves buttoning the buttons on their clothes, roll up their sleeves and lace up their shoes. Oddly enough, but the more agile the children's fingers, the clearer the language.
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