Articles of Interest

For those of you who are interested in articles about Autism Spectrum, here is a link to an Article in The NYTimes

For parents and SLP's interested in childhood language development, here is another article from the Times that may be of interest.

What Do Toddlers Talk About?

The development of speech and language can vary between children -- and often does. However, there is a natural progression that typical development follows. Simply speaking, easier skills must be mastered before more difficult ones. Nonverbal benchmarks before verbal. Vocalizations typically emerge before babbling. Shorter utterances come before more lengthy ones. Sounds that require an open vocal tract such as ah come before sounds that require complex coordination of the articulators such as b or p. B and p come before s and z and so on. Additionally, children will typically tell you that there is an apple before they tell you that they eat apple and they will tell you they eat apple before they tell you that they eat apple on table.
While many of us may know when single words start to emerge in a child’s communication, other benchmarks are not so straight forward. When determining language development in your infant and toddler, the following points of reference can help frame typical development from birth to three years of age.
· At 6 months a child should be responsive to his/her name. S/he should vocalize and babble with intonation, respond to different emotional vocal tones and facial expressions, and turn his or her head towards sounds.
· At 12 months a child may be using one or more words with meaning such as mama, or baba. This is when a child begins to express intention. S/he should also understand simple directives when accompanied by visual cues and gestures.
· At 18 months a child’s vocabulary should be approaching 25 word; mostly nouns. S/he should use jargon with intonation, repeat a lot of what s/he hears, and follow simple directives without supporting gestures or visual cues.
· At 2 years of age a child should be able to verbally identify common objects with approximately 65% intelligibility. S/he should produce 1 and 2 word utterances combining nouns with verbs such as “eat cookie”. Verbs and adjectives are emerging in their lexicon and their vocabulary is growing larger approaching two to three-hundred words. Prepositions will also emerge such as on and in. S/he will begin to refer to him/herself as I or me. Their voice quality (pitch and amplitude) will not be well regulated at this time. Receptively, your child typically will follow directives such as “show me” “give me” and the most important “clean- up”
· At 3 years of age, your toddler should communicate with close to 90% intelligibility. S/he should use pronouns correctly. You may notice temporal markers such as the past tense “ed” are emerging in their language. Their vocabulary could be between 500 and 1000 words and s/he produces 3 word utterances. S/he will identify body parts and will be able to answer some “wh” questions such as, what do you do when you are tired? Additionally, a 3 year old child will relate better to their environment and they will begin to comment on their surroundings.
Do not fret, it does not necessarily mean there is a delay or impairment if your child has not met all of these milestones. Language development is influenced and dependent upon so many other factors. If you are concerned, contact your child’s pediatrician or a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist with your questions. They will help you to determine if a full language evaluation is necessary.

What is a Speech-Language Pathologist?

SNAKES GO /s/

It is no easy task to become a bubble blowing, Play Doh snake rolling Speech-Language Pathologist! The requirements that must be met to earn a license to practice Speech Language Pathology in the State of New York are stringent and challenging. Additionally, to receive ASHA certification there are another set of criteria which must be met! This is all on top of an extremely rigorous and thorough graduate school curriculum that requires many hours of difficult course work and clinical training.

The professional responsibility of a Speech Language Pathologist is to improve the quality of life of an individual by optimizing their ability to communicate and swallow. According to The American Speech-Language and Hearing Association, a Speech-Language Pathologist's role includes addressing "typical and atypical communication and swallowing." Areas addressed include speech sound production, resonance, voice, fluency, language (comprehension and expression), cognition, and feeding and swallowing. Causes for atypical functioning could be many, from genetic disorders and neurological impairments to neonatal problems and developmental disabilities such as Autism Spectrum Disorder and Specific Language Impairment.

Speech-Language Pathologists work with people of all ages, from Early Intervention (0 - 3 years old) to older folk. While many SLP's choose to specialize in a particular age group, they all receive clinical and academic training in the treatment of adult, adolescent and childhood communication and swallowing impairments. Like choosing any other health care professional, make sure you are comfortable with the SLP you choose. Please consider cultural and language factors, as well as other issues that are important to you. The American Speech-Language and Hearing Association has a database of practicing SLP's who have received their Certification of Clinical Competency. This is a handy resource that will help you find an SLP in your area.

Some Helpful Organizations

Childhood Development Institute
http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/
National Stuttering Association
http://www.nsastutter.org/index.php
Stuttering Foundation of America
http://www.stutteringhelp.org/
Autism Society of America
http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer
Alexander Graham Bell Association
http://www.agbell.org/DesktopDefault.aspx
Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association (CASANA)
http://www.apraxia-kids.org/
International Association of Orofacial Myology
http://www.iaom.com/

PROMPT Therapy

For me, the jury is still out! But one thing I can tell you is that when you are working in the field, parents are very aware of PROMPT therapy and they will ask you about it. A lot of children seem to have a diagnosis of Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). It will benefit you guys to know a little about it and speak to it from an informed point of view. Here is the website where you can get some information about the therapy, the certification, and the classes.... I am thinking about taking a course in the fall .... anyone want to join me?

http://www.promptinstitute.com/

Welcome

Welcome to my Blog! I hope to use this venue to share current information with my colleagues, clients, and the general public who have concerns and seek information regarding issues pertaining to early childhood language development. I hope to be able to share some of my experiences with you, as well as lead you to valuable resources that you may find helpful. I look forward to learning from your experiences as well; whether it be professional or personal.

Diane Freedman, M.S., C.F.Y.