COMMUNICATION

DELAYS
 

ANNE BONIDAN
MARK HOOPER
LESLIE GORDON
KRISTIN BALL
 Did You Know?

 1 in 10 Canadians have a speech, language or hearing impairment

 4% of the preschool population has a significant speech or language disorder

 8 - 12% of school children have some form of speech or language impairment

 Communication disorders are strongly related to failure in reading and writing

 Communication disorders in school-aged children are often misdiagnosed as learning

disabilities or behavioural problems

 Children with behavioural problems are ten times more likely than other children to have

language disorders
 Drop out rates in students with communication disorders is 43% compared to 23% in non-

impaired students

Obtained from: http://www.oafccd.com/

 Definitions
 Speech is a skill that children begin to develop with the first sounds they make
as babies. For most children, their first words are made up of simple sounds
such as Mama, Dada or bye-bye. Gradually children begin to use their speech
skills, or sounds, to form language.

 Language refers to the use of words and sentences to convey ideas. As

children begin to develop more complicated language, they produce longer
words that require more fine motor control. By the time they are ready to go to
school, most children have speech that is easily understood by an unfamiliar
listener. However, some children take longer to develop their speech to a level
where everything they say can be understood. These speech or language
delays can occur for a variety of reasons.

Obtained from: http://www.childrensdisabilities.info/speech/guidelines.html

 Common Causes of Delays
1. Hearing Loss: From 12 months to 4 years of age language development is
at its peak, so repeated ear infections during this time may affect speech
and language.

2. Language Delay: Children may have difficulty learning the meaning of

words and how to use words in sentences. Learning delays affect language
acquisition.

3. Genetic Inheritance: It is common but not inevitable that late speech

development runs in families. Can also be physical (cleft palate, dental
malformations, etc)

4. Bad Speech Habits: When children are beginning to speak they say many
words incorrectly. If a child repeats an incorrect pattern long enough they
learn it as a habit.

Obtained from: http://www.childrensdisabilities.info/speech/guidelines.html

 Speech Delay
 Speech delay is an impairment of voice, the
articulation of speech sounds, and/or fluency.

 Articulation disorder: the abnormal production of speech sounds. E.g.

distortions, substitutions, omissions, additions
 

 Voice disorder: are abnormalities of speech related to volume, quality,

or pitch. E.g. Nasality, Tourette’s

 Fluency disorder: the abnormal flow of verbal expression,

characterized by impaired rate and rhythm. E.g. Stuttering, Cluttering
 Language Delay
 Language delay is impaired comprehension
and/or use of a spoken, written, and/or other
symbol systems RECEPTIVE vs. EXPRESSIVE
 Most common communication disorder***

 Difficulties in areas such as: retrieving vocabulary, grammar, putting

things together, following directions, social interaction, etc.

 FORM: phonology, morphology, syntax

 CONTENT: semantics (intent and meaning of

language and its rule system)

 USE: pragmatics (who we are communicating with

will determine what language we use
 Indicators for the Teacher
Primary grades:
 Problems in following verbal directions
 Difficulty with pre-academic skills (recognizing sound differences)
 Phonics problems
 Poor decoding skills
 Difficulties with structural analysis
 Problems learning new material

Intermediate grades:
 Word substitutions
 Inadequate language processing and production that affects reading comprehension
and academic achievement

Middle/junior and high school:

 Inability to understand abstract concepts
 Problems understanding multiple word meanings
 Difficulties connecting previously learned information to new material that must be
learned independently
 Widening gap in achievement when compared to peers
 Problems/Needs

• Difficulty socializing
• Poor eye contact.
• Inappropriate comments and answers to questions.
• Difficulty expressing wants, needs, and ideas
• Asks questions that are off-topic
• Has poor sense of humour
• Takes things literally
• Speech rambles.

• Emotional difficulties
• Low frustration level
• Gullible (literal interpretation of figurative language and jokes).

• Classroom issues
• Poor retention of learning.
• Problems with organizing and planning.
• Difficulty with higher-level thinking skills (deduction, inferences)
 Strengths

 It is not impossible for our students with Communication

Disabilities to succeed in a verbal world:

Children with language disorders: Can compensate for their

weaknesses through:
• Visual organizers.
• Anchor charts.
• Multi-sensory learning methods.
• Assistive Technology (Kidspiration, Clicker…).

Children with speech disorders: Can overcome their difficulties

through art (e.g.singing or acting make stuttering disappear).
 Inclusion Strategies
 Environmental Accommodations
 Arrange classroom for effective interactions
 Music, books, games

 Instructional Accommodations
 Visuals (ppt, ELMO, smartboard, written instruction)
 Elicit language from students
 Help students to monitor their own speech
 Increase receptive language in the classroom
 Listening buddies (rephrase information to each other)

 Assessment Accommodations
 Simulated real-life circumstances to increase language use
 Choice in assignments
 Reduce number of tasks
 Tape record students for self-evaluation
 Jigsaw

1. Mark Strategies in Physical Education

2. Kristin Stuttering Manual

3. Leslie First Words (Pre school)

4. Anne Receptive Language Disorder