Speech Disorders in Cchildren

Speech Impediment

A speech impediment happens when your child’s mouth, jaw, tongue and vocal tract can’t work together to produce recognizable words. Left untreated, a speech impediment can make it difficult for children to learn to read and write. Speech therapy can make a significant difference for children whose speech impediment isn't related to other conditions.

Helping Your Child

Children learn speech and language skills by listening to the speech of others, and practicing as they talk to others. Parents are the most important teachers for their child in the early years.

They can help the child by giving lots of opportunities to listen to speech and to talk. This can be done by frequently pointing out and naming important people, places, and things. They can also read and talk to the child throughout the day, especially during daily routines, interactive plays, and favorite activities. Parents can give the child models of words and sentences to repeat.

Parents can also set up opportunities for the child to answer questions and talk. Listening to music, singing songs, and sharing nursery rhymes are also great ways to build speech and language skills while having fun with your child.