Information and resources for students with communication disorders
What are communication disorders?
A communication disorder is any disorder that affects a person's ability to communicate. There are two main types of communication disorders, language disorders and speech disorders. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association defines language disorders and speech disorders as:
A language disorder is impaired comprehension and/or use of spoken, written and/or other symbol systems. The disorder may involve (1) the form of language (phonology, morphology, syntax), (2) the content of language (semantics), and/or (3) the function of language in communication (pragmatics) in any combination.
What are the main types of language and speech disorders?
Language disorders:
How are communication disorders related to other disabilities?
Speech and language disorders occur more often in people with disabilities. A speech/language disorder is often the first sign that a child may have a disability. When a child has a language disorder that continues beyond the age of four, it is likely that the child has another disability such as a learning disability, intellectual disability, or emotional/behavioral disability that is contributing to the language disorder. Intellectual disabilities and communication disorders often co-occur (Rosenberg, Westling, & McLeskey, 2011).
How often do communication disorders occur, and what are the major causes?
Approximately 5% of school-age children have speech disorders. Between 2% and 8% of school-age children have language disorders. Approximately 2.3% of students receive services for communication disorders, not including those who receive services for another disability. The cause of speech disorders is often unknown, but some are an effect of a physical disorder such as neurological damage, brain trauma, cerebral palsy, a cleft palate, or a severe inner ear infection (Rosenberg, Westling, & McLeskey, 2011).
How are students with communication disorders identified? What kinds of assessments do speech-language pathologists use to plan interventions for students with communication disorders?
A speech-language pathologist (SLP) will use a variety of assessments to identify the type of communication disorder. Some of the assessment questions an SLP will look to answer are:
For information on how to recognize the signs of a communication disorder, visit http://identifythesigns.org/the-signs/
What are the major features of interventions for communication disorders and the service delivery options that may be used?
There are four models used to address communication disorders:
When serviced for speech/language, students are often taken out of the classroom for intensive therapy, working 1:1 with a speech-language pathologist or in a small group of their peers with the pathologist. This pull-out model is considered to be a very effective service. The downfall to this model is that the student misses class time, could be seen a "different" from his peers, and could come back to class feeling lost or confused after missing important instruction that was given by the homeroom teacher (Rosenberg, Westling, & McLeskey, 2011).
What are some ways that teachers can collaborate with speech-language pathologists?
The SLP only sees the student for a designated amount of time. The student is with his/her general teacher for the majority of the day. It is important for the general teacher and the SLP to work closely together so that the general teacher can provide the student with the communication skills he/she needs. The general teacher should know the specific skills and goals so he/she can build communication exercises into lessons and routines. The SLP should inform the general teacher of student progress and the general teacher should inform the SLP of any behavior issues that could be a possible result of the communication disorder.
A communication disorder is any disorder that affects a person's ability to communicate. There are two main types of communication disorders, language disorders and speech disorders. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association defines language disorders and speech disorders as:
A language disorder is impaired comprehension and/or use of spoken, written and/or other symbol systems. The disorder may involve (1) the form of language (phonology, morphology, syntax), (2) the content of language (semantics), and/or (3) the function of language in communication (pragmatics) in any combination.
- Form of Language
- Phonology is the sound system of a language and the rules that govern the sound combinations.
- Morphology is the system that governs the structure of words and the construction of word forms.
- Syntax is the system governing the order and combination of words to form sentences, and the relationships among the elements within a sentence.
- Phonology is the sound system of a language and the rules that govern the sound combinations.
- Content of Language
- Semantics is the system that governs the meanings of words and sentences.
- Semantics is the system that governs the meanings of words and sentences.
- Function of Language
- Pragmatics is the system that combines the above language components in functional and socially appropriate communication.
- Pragmatics is the system that combines the above language components in functional and socially appropriate communication.
- Form of Language
- An articulation disorder is the atypical production of speech sounds characterized by substitutions, omissions, additions or distortions that may interfere with intelligibility.
- A fluency disorder is an interruption in the flow of speaking characterized by atypical rate, rhythm, and repetitions in sounds, syllables, words, and phrases. This may be accompanied by excessive tension, struggle behavior, and secondary mannerisms.
- A voice disorder is characterized by the abnormal production and/or absences of vocal quality, pitch, loudness, resonance, and/or duration, which is inappropriate for an individual's age and/or sex (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 1993).
What are the main types of language and speech disorders?
Language disorders:
- Form disorders: when a person has difficulty saying the sounds that are used to make words (phonology), has difficulty constructing words or word parts (morphology), and/or does not connect words together (syntax).
- Content disorders: when a person has trouble using the correct meaning of a word, has a low-level vocabulary, and/or has trouble understanding abstract language
- Use disorders: when a person has difficulty using language for social purposes
- Diffuse language disorder: when a person has symptoms of more than one of the disorders listed above.
- Phonological and articulation disorders: when a person replaces one phoneme for another or leaves a phoneme out of a word. Articulation disorders may have to do with "structural problems such as a cleft palate" (Rosenberg, Westling, & McLeskey, 2011 p. 296).
- Fluency disorders: the most common fluency disorder is stuttering
- Voice disorders: "when a person's pitch, loudness, or phonatory quality differs significantly from others with the same gender, age, ethnicity, and cultural background" (Rosenberg, Westling, & McLeskey, 2011 p. 299). Voice disorders in children are often caused by vocal abuse such as yelling, coughing, or inadequate breath support while speaking.
- Motor speech disorders: speech that is affected by an impairment in the muscles that control speech sounds (as in cerebral palsy) (Rosenberg, Westling, & McLeskey, 2011)
How are communication disorders related to other disabilities?
Speech and language disorders occur more often in people with disabilities. A speech/language disorder is often the first sign that a child may have a disability. When a child has a language disorder that continues beyond the age of four, it is likely that the child has another disability such as a learning disability, intellectual disability, or emotional/behavioral disability that is contributing to the language disorder. Intellectual disabilities and communication disorders often co-occur (Rosenberg, Westling, & McLeskey, 2011).
How often do communication disorders occur, and what are the major causes?
Approximately 5% of school-age children have speech disorders. Between 2% and 8% of school-age children have language disorders. Approximately 2.3% of students receive services for communication disorders, not including those who receive services for another disability. The cause of speech disorders is often unknown, but some are an effect of a physical disorder such as neurological damage, brain trauma, cerebral palsy, a cleft palate, or a severe inner ear infection (Rosenberg, Westling, & McLeskey, 2011).
How are students with communication disorders identified? What kinds of assessments do speech-language pathologists use to plan interventions for students with communication disorders?
A speech-language pathologist (SLP) will use a variety of assessments to identify the type of communication disorder. Some of the assessment questions an SLP will look to answer are:
- Is there a communication problem?
- Is there a diagnosis for the problem?
- What communication skills and deficits does the person exhibit?
- How severe is the problem?
- What is the probable cause of the problem?
- What form of treatment or intervention should be provided?
- What is the likely outcome (prognosis) is or is not provided?
- Does the individual meet eligibility requirements to receive services for a communication disorder (Rosenberg, Westling, & McLeskey, 2011 p. 307)?
- articulation
- complex phonological naming tasks
- grammatical understanding
- grammatical production
- pragmatic language use
For information on how to recognize the signs of a communication disorder, visit http://identifythesigns.org/the-signs/
What are the major features of interventions for communication disorders and the service delivery options that may be used?
There are four models used to address communication disorders:
- behavioral: focuses on shaping the behavior
- linguistic-cognitive: helping student understand the structure of language
- social-interactionist: scaffolding social interaction and communication skills
- information processing: treating or determining the processing deficit that is causing the communication problem
When serviced for speech/language, students are often taken out of the classroom for intensive therapy, working 1:1 with a speech-language pathologist or in a small group of their peers with the pathologist. This pull-out model is considered to be a very effective service. The downfall to this model is that the student misses class time, could be seen a "different" from his peers, and could come back to class feeling lost or confused after missing important instruction that was given by the homeroom teacher (Rosenberg, Westling, & McLeskey, 2011).
What are some ways that teachers can collaborate with speech-language pathologists?
The SLP only sees the student for a designated amount of time. The student is with his/her general teacher for the majority of the day. It is important for the general teacher and the SLP to work closely together so that the general teacher can provide the student with the communication skills he/she needs. The general teacher should know the specific skills and goals so he/she can build communication exercises into lessons and routines. The SLP should inform the general teacher of student progress and the general teacher should inform the SLP of any behavior issues that could be a possible result of the communication disorder.
For more information about the SLPs role in Response to Intervention (RtI), please visit:
http://www.asha.org/SLP/schools/prof-consult/NewRolesSLP/
For more information regarding treatment and interventions for communication disorders, please visit:
http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?&id=14501&cn=37
http://www.abilitypath.org/areas-of-development/communication--speech/speech-and-language/articles/communication-disorders-early-intervention.html
http://ajslp.pubs.asha.org
http://lshss.pubs.asha.org/solr/topicResults.aspx?f_Categories=Research+Issues%2c+Methods+%26+Evidence-Based+Practice&resourceid=24433&fd_JournalID=143
For more information about the definitions of communication disorders, view the video below:
http://www.asha.org/SLP/schools/prof-consult/NewRolesSLP/
For more information regarding treatment and interventions for communication disorders, please visit:
http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?&id=14501&cn=37
http://www.abilitypath.org/areas-of-development/communication--speech/speech-and-language/articles/communication-disorders-early-intervention.html
http://ajslp.pubs.asha.org
http://lshss.pubs.asha.org/solr/topicResults.aspx?f_Categories=Research+Issues%2c+Methods+%26+Evidence-Based+Practice&resourceid=24433&fd_JournalID=143
For more information about the definitions of communication disorders, view the video below:
For information about AAC devices, view the video below: