SPOT 4 KIDS SPEECH PATHOLOGY

What do SPOT4KIDS Speech Pathologists do?

We aim to improve communication by targeting the following areas:

Articulation
This refers to incorrect pronunciation of sounds, usually presented as a lisp.
During articulation errors the tongue or lips are in the incorrect position, making the sound disordered. Lisps can usually be heard on ‘s’, ‘z’, ‘sh’, ‘zh’, ‘ch’ and ‘j’ sounds and are usually easily to identify. A child with a lisp may be difficult to understand or may be bullied for speaking different.

Phonology
This refers to the substitution of sounds rather than incorrect pronunciation.
For example, the child may say ‘t’ instead ‘k’ and will therefore say ‘tat’ instead of ‘cat’. The child will usually be unable to produce the correct sound and will not know that what they are saying is different to what you are saying. Phonological errors in a child’s speech may result in reduced intelligibility and may also lead to spelling and reading difficulties.

Expressive Language
This refers to use of language through the following areas:

- Vocabulary: If a child has a reduced vocabulary or a difficulty retrieving words they will find it difficult to get their message across clearly and concisely. They will use a lot of non specific vocabulary such as ‘thing’ and ‘stuff’. They may also have difficulty describing objects as they haven’t got the vocabulary available to give a good description.

- Grammar: A child needs to use correct word endings such as plurals, past tense and pronouns (e.g. ‘he/she’). If a child isn’t using grammar structures correctly, it may make them difficult to understand. It will also lead into writing problems as they will write it the way they say it and their sentences will have grammatical errors.

- Sentence structures: A child needs to use a range of different types of sentences that are needed for communication. The child needs to be able to use statements, to ask and answer questions and to clarify when they haven’t understood something. Without a range of sentence types, the child’s language will be very limited and they may not be able to understand and participate in conversation easily.

Receptive Language
This refers to understanding of language through the following areas:

- Following instructions: A child needs to be able to follow instructions of increasing length accurately. A child with a difficulty following instructions may often follow other children and copy what they are doing. They may also only do part of an instruction and therefore not complete the task.

- Concepts: A child needs to understand what words mean. For example, they need to understand a range of concepts describing sequence (e.g. ‘before’), location (e.g. ‘between’) and inclusion/exclusion (e.g. ‘neither’).

- Word Classes: A child needs to understand how words can be categorized and how they relate to one another. They need a good understanding of opposites and they need to be able to identify how words and objects can be similar and different.

Pragmatics
This refers to the social skills involved in communication. A child needs to know how to interact in different situations and what is acceptable and not acceptable. A child with a pragmatics difficulty can present with one or more of the following signs, just to name a few:
- decreased use of eye contact
- inappropriate hugging
- inability to understand non-literal language e.g. idioms and jokes
- difficulty expressing when they haven’t understood something
- difficulty maintaining topics or changing topics
- inappropriate volume when speaking

Auditory Perception
This refers to the ability to remember information long enough to be able to use it. If a child has an auditory processing problem, they may not be able to follow long instructions as they simply will not remember all the information in the instruction.

Fluency
This refers to the ability to speak without stuttering. We all have occasional dysfluencies in our speech but a child who stutters will have frequent dysfluencies. They may also become frustrated when they can’t get their message across.

Vocal Quality
This refers to the sound of the voice. A child with disordered vocal quality may speak with a hoarse or croaky voice, speak as though they have a blocked nose or speak with too much air coming through their nose. If a child has a disordered vocal quality, it needs to be assessed to determine if there is a structural abnormality or if they are just using their voice incorrectly.

Phonological Awareness
This refers to the following pre-literacy skills:
- counting syllables
- rhyming
- identifying sounds in words
- segmenting words into their individual sounds
- blending sounds to create words
- deleting sounds from words to create new words
If there is a deficit in any of the above areas, it may lead to literacy problems.

How SPOT4KIDS can help

We assess each child to determine their strengths and limitations and develop recommendations. We then follow through these recommendations, whether it is therapy, home and school programs or a review.

We are a mobile service, so we can visit the children at home or at school.