Speech and Language Therapist
The Speech and Language Therapist can provide appropriate assessment, advice and intervention for any impairment of speech, language or communication which may occur due to a developmental delay or specific disorder or be acquired through injury or a degenerative process.
Areas which may be affected are as follows:
- Verbal comprehension understanding of spoken language.
- Verbal expression and use of spoken language, i.e. vocabulary, sentence structure/meaning.
- Intelligibility of speech, use of speech sounds, prosody, i.e. intonation.
- Fluency of speech.
- Oral-motor control for speech – verbal dyspraxia where the child has difficulties in making and coordinating the precise movements necessary for the production of spoken language in the absence of neural or muscular damage.
- Associated language areas: symbolic development.
- Auditory memory & processing.
- Communication skills: use of interactive verbal and non-verbal skills e.g. use of gesture, facial expressions.
- Contribution to the assessment and treatment of feeding difficulties.
Many children who present to a Speech and Language Therapist may have a speech disorder which is not straightforward and progress from therapy is often slow; often their presentation is inconsistent and difficult to diagnose.
