EYMP 5 1.3

EYMP 5
1.3
Speech is vocalized language. It is the capability to express feelings and thoughts through structured sentences. It cannot be written or signed. Children's progress with speech varies from one child to another and is dependent upon various factors, for instance, friends, parents, living surroundings.

Language can be written, spoken or signed. The age and pace at which children reach each milestone of language development differs significantly from child to child. Children start off by pointing at objects and speaking single words, for instance, 'that' or the first few letters of the word. Girls build up language at a faster rate than boys. Language development mirrors the development of the brain. A child who has difficulty in expressing himself/herself or who has a foreign language to the one being used find difficulty in managing his behavior since not being capable to express himself/herself through language tends to make him/her behave aggressively, throw tantrums and have outburst of anger for no explanation.

Communication is the imparting or exchanging of information and news and can be written or verbal. It can be seen through facial expressions, body language and gestures. Messages are communicated by the tone, quality of voice and eyes contact.

Speech, language and communication difficulties can result in profound and lasting effects in a child's life. Although for some children their impairment cannot be avoided, early intervention is essential to give the children the best possible support required. The impacts of these impairments vary depending on the seriousness of the problem, the support received by the child, the child's confidence and the demands for the child's environment.

Children with speech and language impairment risk continued communication problems and associated cognitive, academic, behavioral, social and psychiatric problems. The preliminary pattern of speech/language deficits is related to the overall prognosis. A child whose difficulty involves articulation or phonology usually manages better than a child whose impairment involves language. In fact, it has been reported that children having specific language impairment encounter problems in the area of Social and Behavioral Difficulties. This is believed to rise from issues, for instance, frustration, peer rejection and lack of confidence in the face of poor linguistics skills. Most children with specific language impairment experience behavioral and social problems upon reaching the age of high school. Furthermore, said problems intensify with time.

Several children having specific language impairment seem to demonstrate withdrawn social interactions styles, which includes playing on their own, being less liked by others and being less likely to initiate conversations. Paul and Kellogg discovered that children with slow expressive development at the age of two years were regarded as shyer and less outgoing than peers when followed up at the age of six years. Poor interaction and increased withdrawal can result in poor self-esteem; this is a quality of older but not younger children with language difficulties. Studies also showed that a child with early language impairment has considerably higher degree of anxiety disorder in young adulthood when compared with a non impaired child. Furthermore, most of the participants with anxiety disorders had a diagnosis of social phobia.

Behavior difficulties of an aggressive nature show increased prevalence in young children with speech and language impairment. Beitchman and Colleagues showed that nearly half of the five-year-old-speech-language-impaired group suffered from behavioral disorders, the main cause being attention hyperactivity difficulties.

Children with speech and language difficulties encounter difficulties in relating to others, even as early as in a pre-school these are less likely to make friends and risk being bullied.

Furthermore, such children can encounter learning difficulties. Early language impairment (rather than speech impairment) is linked to continued academic difficulties into adulthood. Tomblin, Zhang, Buckwalter and Catts discovered that children with language impairment were at risk of both reading and behavioral problems. Furthermore, behavioral difficulties were associated with the reading impairment. Levels of frustration, misunderstanding, inability to access the curriculum ND Failure to understand other children and adults could give rise to subsequent aggressive behavior. Helen Stringer argues; “Literacy difficulties in adolescents tend to contribute to language disorders as adolescents get a lot of higher language development input from what they read: if they read little, they also tend to not develop language as fast as their more literate peers. Consequently, even children who appear to have normal language development can have literacy difficulties and develop language impairments as they grow older.” Furthermore this can also lead to reduced job opportunities.

High level of speech, language and communication difficulties can result in the children committing crimes. Linda Lascelles argues: “There are thousands of children and young people effectively disabled by speech, language and communication impairments. There’s a progression between this “hidden disability”, exclusion from school and young adults ending up in trouble and it starts early. We need to spot and offer provision for these impairments as early as possible.”

Speech and language impairment identified at the age of five years has long lasting effects and study shows that almost one fourth of children suffering from speech and language impairment at the age of five remained impaired at the age of twelve years. Social and behavioral problems are not a short term problem for children with speech and language impairment but rather appear to intensify. In fact a study of young adults identified as suffering from Speech and language impairment at the age of 5 years and subsequently followed at the age of 12 and 19 found:

• high degree of continued communication difficulties
• significant stability in language performance over time
• better long-term outcomes for those with initial speech impairments than for those with language impairments
• more favorable prognoses for those children having specific language impairments as opposed to children with impairments secondary to sensory, structural, neurological, or cognitive deficits

Practitioners have the task of providing everything necessary for speech, language and communication development. By participating in activities, games, songs and rhymes designed for this purpose and which are used on the daily basis, children are developing their speech, language and communication.