All About Speech Therapy: Definition, Benefits and Tips for Parents

What is Speech Therapy?

Speech therapy is a treatment service aimed at improving the speech and language skills of a child, including nonverbal language. The approach used differs depending on the kind of disorder. Physical activities can help to strengthen the muscles involved in speech production, speech exercises to increase clarity, or practices of sound production to enhance articulation.

Two important components of speech therapy are-

Controlling the mouth in a manner that can produce sounds which lead to the formation of words and sentences. This helps in articulation, control of voice volume and fluency.
Understanding language and ability to express. It is useful in comprehending written, oral, pictorial and other non-verbal forms of language along with understanding other channels of communication like social media, PCs, mobiles, etc.

Who needs speech therapy?

Speech therapy benefits individuals with various speech and language disorders, such as:

Articulation disorders This is the inability to form particular word sounds. The child suffering from this disorder may omit, add or swap word sounds.
Receptive disorders- Individuals suffering from this disorder face difficulty in comprehending and processing speech of others. This may make one seem uninterested in a conversation, have restricted vocabulary or may find it hard to follow directions.
Expressive disorders– This is referred to as the inability to express themselves or difficulty in conveying information.
Fluency disorders– The fluency disorders hinder the flow, tone, rhythm and speed of speech. The two fluency disorders are stuttering and cluttering. In stuttering, there is difficulty getting out sounds and speech gets blocked whereas in cluttering, the individual speaks in a fast pace and words tend to merge.
Aphasia- Aphasia is a communication disorder which influences an individual’s ability to speak and understand others. The reading and writing ability of individual also gets affected.
Dysarthria- A condition where individuals are unable to control their muscles used in speech and are seem to have a slow and slurred speech.

What happens in a session of speech therapy?

The sessions with children are either one on one or in small groups. Language exercises also involves the use of image books, speaking and play and repetition to develop language skills. A major aspect of speech therapy is sound exercises. The sounds and phrases of texts are pronounced by the therapist to make it easier to repeat and speak. The therapist explains the child how to make the sounds for letters and words. Children may also be taught how to use their tongues while pronouncing.

Some common techniques used-

Introduce modern breathing techniques and speak with the use of voice.
mouth and throat exercises with lips, muscles, and tongue.
Enable infants to speak who lose their language capabilities due to stroke or brain trauma and helping them recognize new vocabulary.
Assistance in thought organization or memory enhancement.
Supporting with varied and alternative forms of communication.

Benefits of Speech Therapy

Speech therapy can be helpful in a numerous for a child-

Improved Articulation-

Articulation is an important aspect for those affected by impaired speech. An articulation disorder is characterized by atypical sounds of letters or words which include addition, substitution, omissions making the overall meaning difficult to understand.

The communication skills and confidence increase when the skills of articulation are learnt. The lack of articulatory exercises as a child lead to the development of these problems.

Speech therapists use several ways to help in the better articulation of words, often in the form of games for children.

Improved Swallowing-

Difficulty in swallowing is often observed in individuals suffering from speech disorders. It is also known as dysphagia. A speech therapist may use a variety of techniques and practices to reduce the risk during aspiration along with ease the difficulty experienced during oral intake. The techniques used are-

Head positioning
Swallow maneuvers
Biting methods
Limiting the foods and fluids taken

Reduction in Stuttering-

Stuttering prevents people from being able to speak with fluency. With the help of speech therapist, this condition can be improved to such an extent that it becomes non-existent. Some tips given by speech therapists to individuals who stutter are-

Taking deep breaths before speaking and maintaining the pace while talking
Talking at a slow speed
Avoiding words that trigger an individual’s stutter.
Practicing the trigger words when alone in order to gain fluency of those particular words.
A rhythm while speaking helps too
Pacing and gestures are useful in calming oneself

Accent Improvement-

Speech therapy is not solely about people who try to cope with a speech disability. It may benefit support people who would choose to lose or become more accentuated. Actors are an important example of people needing speech therapy to alter their accents. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) or speech therapists can allow people to change their accents by learning how they sound. They concentrate on multiple sounds and assess whether or not a person can be taught to embrace a new accent. Understanding the rhythm of the speech is the primary step in learning an accent, it helps to gain knowledge of which places to emphasize more or less.

Increase in Confidence and Decreased Anxiety-

People who difficulty in speaking clearly suffer from low levels of confidence and high levels of anxiety. They are afraid that peers or people around them will make fun of them.

Speech therapists can help the individuals gain confidence in their speech and be more assertive while speaking. This will also reduce the anxious feelings while speaking in front of people, mainly a larger group.

Individuals can easily begin communication with the assistance of a good speech therapist and do not need others to help them while initiating or participating in a conversation. This increases your trust in the efficient sharing of information and decreases your worries so that you can connect and engage with peers.

Tips for Parents

Practice– Parents should help the children practice sounds that are difficult for them. They can start with one letter and move on to syllables. Children can also be rewarded with tokens to keep them motivated.

Minimize background distractions and disturbances- While learning and at other times, distractions may make it difficult to develop. Studies suggest that excessive TV will potentially hinder language growth when parents don’t speak to their children as much as they would otherwise. When th++ey are really spoken to, infants learn to communicate best.

Focus on the strengths of the child- More attention should be given to what a child is capable of doing instead of what he or she is not capable of. Small victories of the child should be appreciated and applauded.

Listen- Parents need to be patient while working with their children and not expect them to learn everything instantly. They need to let them have conversations naturally, without adding any pressure.

Read- Reading story books or their preferred book to them and allowing them to read it back can be a fun activity that will improve their speech.

Conclusion

The therapy enables individuals to better understand and express thoughts, ideas and feelings. Children can better manage to participate in school activities without worrying about the comments of their peers. The speech therapy is not a cure but it reduces the difficulties to a great extent. It improves the confidence and self-esteem of the child which are key aspects of the growing self of an individual.