• Federal Definition: Speech or language impairment means a communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired articulation, language impairment, or a voice impairment, that adversely affects a child's educational performance (IDEA 2004).

Common Speech Disorders

*Note: SLP stands for Speech Language Pathologist*

Apraxia Motor Speech Disorder Student has difficulty

pronouncing sounds and words

Symptoms vary SLP evaluation is

imperative Normal Behavior- may

exhibit shyness/anxiety if asked to read/speak aloud in class settings.

Dysarthria Motor speech disorder

caused by brain damage Impaired muscle movement

used to produce speech sounds

SLP Evaluation is imperative Abnormal pitch/rhythm while

speaking Limited muscle movement Choppy speech- difficult to

understand

Impaired Articulation Students may have

difficulty producing certain letter sounds. (r, s, l etc.).

May substitute or leave off sounds to words completely.

SLP evaluation is imperative.

Stuttering Disfluency in speech sounds Repetition of words or word parts Speech may become blocked or stopped Student may appear out of breath Student may use interjections (umm like) May not be as social as other students/SLP evaluation imperative

Instructional Strategies: Articulation Therapy and Motor Oral Therapy are two of the most common strategies the SLP may use with students with speech deficits. They work on muscle memory to help students develop articulation and the motions needed to make sounds for certain words. Syllable Timed Speech Treatment is used with students who have fluency problems to help them become more fluent in their speech. A multi-sensory approach may also be taken by the SLP.

Classroom Accommodations Allow students to touch objects while talking about them Providing more written tasks instead of oral tasks Providing practice activities to help with specific sounds Accepting a close related word or sound when student is speaking Repeating new vocabulary often One on one session to provide students clarity for what they may have not understood

in class.

Educator ResourcesChildren’s Books are a great resource to use in your classroom. These are some good books specifically about overcoming speech disorders. Books are great not only to show the student with the disability that he/she can overcome it, but also to help non-disabled peers understand the disability a little better and how acceptance of differences is important.

http://www.asha.org/ - American-Speech-Language-Hearing- Association.http://www.wisegeekhealth.com - Not the best, but helpful for breaking down informationhttp://apraxia-kids.org- Website Resources to gain more information regarding speech disorders.

Reference List:1.) American Speech-Language-Hearing Association | ASHA. (n.d.). Retrieved February 7, 2015, from http://www.asha.org2.) Andrews, C., O'Brian, S., Harrison, E., Onslow, M., Packman, A., & Menzies, R. (n.d.). Syllable-Timed Speech Treatment for

School-Age Children Who Stutter: A Phase I Trial. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 43, 359-369. Retrieved February 7, 2015, from Education Source.

3.) Smith, T., Polloway, E., Patton, J., & Dowdy, C. (2008). Teaching Students with Communication Disorders. In Teaching students with special needs in inclusive settings (5th ed., pp. 350-353). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

4.) Square, P., Namasivayam, A., Bose, A., Goshulak, D., & Hayden, D. (n.d.). Multi-sensory treatment for children with developmental motor speech disorders. <i>International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders,</i> <i>49</i>(5), 527-542. Retrieved February 7, 2015, from Wiley Online Library.

5.) What Are the Most Common Speech Therapy Techniques? (n.d.). Retrieved February 8, 2015, from

http://www.wisegeekhealth.com/what-are-the-most-common-speech-therapy-techniques.htm