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Communication Disorders
Communication Disorders
• Communication Disorders involve a wide
variety of problems in speech, language, and
hearing.
• The term communication disorders refers to
difficulties with the transfer of knowledge,
ideas, opinions and feelings.
• Communication disorders range in severity
from mild to profound.
Prevalence of Communication
Disorders
• Approximately 20% of all children with
disabilities receive SPED and related services
for speech or language disorders.
• Of that 20%, over 88% of these students are
included in general education classrooms.
– Bottom line:
• Most students with communication disorders will be in
general education classrooms.
Communication Disorders (continued)
• May be developmental or acquired through
injuries or diseases that affect the brain.
• Are divided into three broad categories
– Speech Disorders
– Language Disorders
– Hearing Disorders
Speech disorders are the most common
communication disorder among students.
Typical Speech Disorder found in
Students with Communication
Disorders
• Individuals have speech disorders when their
communication is intelligible, unpleasant, or
interferes with communication.
• The most common speech disorders are
articulation disorders (47%).
• Even if sounds are not fully developed,
children’s speech should be at least 90%
intelligible by the time they enter
kindergarten.
Types of Communication Disorders
•
Speech Disorder
–
Students with speech disorders have difficulty
with the verbal means of communication.
• The major components of speech are:
(i) Articulation- the production of speech
sounds.
(ii) Fluency-flow and rhythm of language
(ii) Voice-focuses on the quality of the speech
including resonance, pitch, and intensity.
Common Errors in Speaking
• Types of Errors in Speech
(i) Substitutions- one sound is replaced with
another. For example, /w/ for /r/ (wabbit for
rabbit).
(ii) Distortions
(iii) Additions
(iv) Omissions- when a sound is not included in a
word. For example, a student says boo when
he means to say blue and pity instead of
pretty.
Common Errors in Speaking
(continued)
• Additions- an extra sound or sounds are added
to the intended word. (Class share examples)
• Distortions: Sounds are changed slightly so
that the intended sound may be recognized
but sound "wrong,".
Vocal Production of Language
• One of the components of vocal production of
language is fluency.
– Stuttering is an interruption of the forward flow of
speech and it the most common fluency disorder.
• Another component of vocal production of
language is semantics.
– Semantics refers to the ideas or concepts one is
communicating and the relationships among
those concepts.
More about Articulation
• Articulation is affected by development,
regional dialects, and cultural uses.
• Variations of language are products of
historical, cultural, geographic, social,
economic, ethnic, and political factors.
– These variations in speech or language are not
communication disorders, rather these variations
are dialects.
Metalinguistics
• The concept that language is a code for
representing sounds, words, and ideas is
called metalinguistics.
• By the age of 13, students can switch their
communication style depending on the person
with whom they are talking. Communication
style is referred to as register.
Metalinguistics (continued)
• Code switching refers to alternating between
one or more languages or dialects.
• Whenever, we use different forms of
expression depending on the person we are
speaking to and where we are speaking to
that person, we are code switching.
• Would you say that the idea of codeswitching exists in your first language? If so,
would you consider yourself to be a "code
switcher?
Pragmatics vs. Metalinguistics
The area of most important linguistic growth
during the school age years is language use or
pragmatics.
• Pragmatics refers to the purposes or functions
of communication, or how we use language in
a social context.
• Metalinguistics- refers to how students can
use language to thing about, analyze, and
reflect on language as an object.
Instructional Techniques /
Interventions for students with LD
Due to the diversity in students with LD, no one
technique is appropriate for all students with
LD. However, if a student has an LD related to
the following a teacher might try one of the
following interventions:
Listening- Provide flowcharts, pictures, or other
visual displays. Pre-reading questions/terms
at end of a chapter. Keyword note-taking
systems expand/jog memory.
Interventions (continued)
Problem= Distractibility
• Minimize visual distractors in the
environment; don’t have interesting activities
going on in one corner of the room while
expecting the student to do his/her seatwork.
Provide a “quiet corner” for anyone who
wishes a distraction-free place to work.
Identifying, Assessing, and
Teaching Students with
Communication Disorders
Overview
• Communication disorders are divided into two
categories, speech and language disorders.
• Under each category are specific disorders.
• For example, an articulation disorder is placed
under of Speech Disorders.
• Articulation disorders occur when students
are unable to produce various sound and
sound combinations.
Speech Disorders
• Refer to difficulties producing speech sounds
or problems with voice quality.
• Characterized by an interruption in the flow or
rhythm of speech, such as stuttering (fluency
disorder). Problems with the way sounds are
formed, called articulation or phonological
disorders, or students may have difficulties
with the pitch or quality of the voice (voice
disorder).
Language Disorders
• A language disorder is an impairment in the
ability to understand and/or use words in
context.
• Characteristics of language disorders include
improper use of words and their meanings,
inability to express ideas, inappropriate
grammatical patterns, reduced vocabulary,
and inability to follow directions.
Types of Language
• Receptive- ability to understand what is being
communicated.
• Expressive- ability to convey the intended
message.
• Language disorders divided into three
categories:
(i) Content- semantics (meaning of words)
(ii) Form- phonology, morphology, and syntax
(iii) Use- pragmatics (the various purposes of
communicating)
Identification
• Most communication disorders are identified
in preschool or elementary school.
• Hearing screening are used to detect
communication disorders.
• Chronic ear infections can cause hearing,
speech, and language problems.
• There are two main types of hearing
infections.
Ear Infections
• Otitis media is an ear infection.
• The first type is called acute otitis media
(AOM).
• This means that parts of the ear are infected
and swollen. It also means that fluid and
mucus are trapped inside the ear.
• AOM can be painful.
Ear Infections (continued)
• The second type is called otitis media with
effusion (fluid), or OME.
• This means fluid and mucus stay trapped in
the ear after the infection is over.
• OME makes it harder for the ear to fight new
infections.
How does otitis media happen?
• Otitis media usually happens when viruses
and/or bacteria get inside the ear and cause
an infection. It often happens as a result of
another illness, such as a cold.
• It is harder for children to fight otitis media
than for adults, so children develop ear
infections more often. Some researchers
believe that other factors, such as being
around cigarette smoke, can contribute to ear
infections.
How Otitis Media Affects Hearing
• Sounds around us are collected by the outer
ear. Then sound travels to the middle ear,
which has three tiny bones (eustachian tubes)
and is filled with air.
After that, sound moves on to the inner ear. The
inner ear is where sounds are turned into
electrical signals and sent to the brain.
How otitis… (continued)
• An ear infection affects the whole ear, but
especially the middle and inner ear.
• Hearing is affected because sound cannot get
through an ear that is filled with fluid.
Other Causes of
Communication/Speech Disorders
• Stroke, brain injury or deterioration,
developmental delays or disorders, learning
disabilities, cerebral palsy, cleft palate, voice
pathology, mental retardation, or hearing loss.
• Problems can be congenital (existing at birth),
developmental (event causing change), or
acquired (developed).
The Teacher’s Role in Indentifying
Language Disorders
• Observer and listener for students who have
significant difficulty communicating.
• Language is divided into three areas: form,
content, and use.
• Language Form
– Does the student mispronounce words or sound?
– Does the student understand and produce
sentences similar to other student in class?
Language Content
Language Content
• Does the student comprehend others’ ideas
and express his ideas as effectively as others in
the class?
• Does the student comprehend and produce
vocabulary as rich and varied as the other
student in the class?
Language Use
• Does the student use language for different
purposes such as sharing information,
expressing feelings, and persuading?
• Does the student stay on topic during a
conversation?
• Does the student recognize when the listener
is not understanding and act to clarify
communication for the listener?
Evaluating Students for Language
Delays or Disorders
• If a student fails a hearing or speech
screening, a Speech and Language Pathologist
will collect a language sample from that
student.
• Sampling involves taping students as they
interact, and the analyzing the student
suspected of the speech problem utterances
for mean length, types of utterances,
vocabulary, topic maintenance and turn
taking.
Speech-language Pathologist
• Speech-language pathologists, sometimes
called speech therapists assess, diagnose,
treat, and help to prevent disorders related to
speech.
• Ex. Speech rhythm and fluency such as
stuttering, voice disorders, such as
inappropriate pitch or harsh voice, and those
with problems understanding and producing
language.
Speech Therapist (continued)
• Develop an individualized plan of care tailored
to each patient’s needs
• Select augmentative or alternative
communication methods
• Teach students how to make sounds, improve
their voices, or increase their oral or written
language skills to communicate more
effectively.