Children with language difficulties.

Children with language difficulties.

by | Jan 11, 2017 | news

Speech and language disorders are relatively common in preschool and school children. However, their consequences may worsen once they enter the education system. The child is now in a new, fully oralized and demanding environment.

Language or speech difficulties have negative effects on children. We could talk about 3 main aspects.

  1. In the child's communication with teachers and peers.

Those children whose difficulties make them unintelligible . That is, they will not be able to effectively communicate their feelings and needs to their teachers, peers or any listener outside their home.

  1. In the child's learning.

Language alterations in children have negative consequences on academic performance. Mastery of both expressive and comprehensive language is fundamental to the learning process. Aspects such as literacy, reading comprehension, familiar vocabulary, new vocabulary and amplification of concepts need language. If the student has deficiencies in these aspects he will have other difficulties. We may encounter problems in withholding information and understanding read and written information. Children with language impairments usually have impaired hearing skills, such as discrimination and auditory retention of information. This makes the results in subjects based on teaching methodologies such as dictation deficient.

  1. In the psychological and emotional development of the child.

The child who does not receive the right therapy at the right time drags these problems along through his school years. These become more and more critical as academic demands increase. The end result is a discouraged student with low academic performance and low self-esteem. Also many of these children are excluded by their peers because of their difficulty in communicating.

This is why children who have failed to develop age-appropriate verbal skills will need additional encouragement. In this sense, language therapists, whether in schools or in private practice, can provide specialized intervention to support the student until necessary.

Ask about our support services in both Speech and Occupational Therapy. We're in Guadalupe, San José.

Rocío Vargas Moya

 

Language and learning difficulties.

Language and learning difficulties.

by | Jan 20, 2015 | news

Speech and language disorders are relatively common in pre-school and school-age children. For the proper development of your child it is essential to pay close attention to the presence of these difficulties not only in order to improve the child's communication with his or her environment, but also to ensure that your child is prepared to successfully face the challenges of this new stage of learning.

It is widely recognized and there is much evidence that speech and language disorders are a risk factor associated with learning difficulties. There are compromised areas of the development whose functioning is fundamental so that the child acquires new information and integrates it as part of his learning. Developing skills such as auditory discrimination, reasoning processes, attention, concentration and memory as well as the development of written language are more difficult for children with the presence of language pathologies. Also their psychological and emotional development can be negatively affected. Children with language disorders are often more exposed to teasing, exclusion from the group and bullying, leading to anxiety disorders, depression and putting their self-esteem, security and independence at risk.

The child who does not receive the right therapy at the right time drags these difficulties along in his development, which become more critical as academic demands increase. The end result is a small, unmotivated and underachieving student.

Parents should always be attentive to their children's language and speech development and keep in mind that it is not something that should be left for later. If you believe that your child needs to be evaluated by a specialist, the sooner you get an accurate diagnosis, the better your child will face treatment. In most cases, early intervention has a better chance of success and your child will be able to enjoy all the school challenges.

Lic. Rocio Vargas.