|
May Is Better
Speech and Hearing Month
Although more than 5 million
children in the United States have a speech,
language and hearing disorder, parents are often
uninformed and unsure about what to do when
they suspect their child has a problem. May,
and every May since 1927, is Better Speech and
Hearing Month. The American Speech-Language-Hearing
Association (ASHA) uses this month to emphasize
to parents the issues involved with a communication
disorder and to provide parents with information
to help ensure that they do not seriously affect
their children's ability to learn, socialize
with others and to be successful in school.
Speech and language problems
can occur at any time in a child's life. They
can be caused by accidental injury, illness
or inherited by birth. Child speech and language
problems include: stuttering; articulation problems
(saying wabbit instead of rabbit); language
disorders such as the slow development of vocabulary,
concepts and grammar; and voice disorders (nasal,
breathy or horse voice and speech that is too
high or low).
Parents who suspect their
child has a communication disorder should see
a certified speech-language pathologist (SLP).
These professionals identify, assess and treat
speech and language problems including swallowing
disorders. SLPs work in schools, private practice,
hospitals, clinics, rehabilitation centers,
health departments, research laboratories and
other health education settings.
Meanwhile, hearing loss,
like speech and language problems, can have
a negative impact on a child's social and academic
development. Communication disorders like hearing
loss in children can occur at birth or as a
child grows older due to chronic ear infections
or exposure to noise. The earlier hearing loss
occurs in a child's life, the more serious the
effects on the child's development.
Typical signs of a hearing
loss in a children include: inconsistently responding
to sound; delayed language and speech development;
unclear speech; sound is turned up on electronic
equipment (radio, TV, CD player, etc); does
not follow directions; often says "huh?";
does not respond when called; and frequently
misunderstands what is said and wants things
repeated.
ASHA recommends that children
at risk for hearing loss, such as those who
suffer from chronic ear infections, have a family
history of hearing loss, or display several
of the warning signs just described, be screened
by a certified audiologist as frequently as
needed to ensure they are hearing well. Otherwise,
for children ages 5-18, hearing screenings should
occur on initial entry into school and annually
in kindergarten through 3rd grade as well as
in the 7th and 11th grades.
Most SLP jobs require a
master's degree. In 2009, about 240 colleges
and universities offered graduate programs,
at both the masters and doctoral levels, in
SLP accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation.
In 2009, 47 states regulated
SLPs. Oklahoma is one of these states.
The J. D. McCarty Center,
in Norman, utilizes ten masters prepared SLPs
to provide treatment to children with developmental
disabilities. Nine of the SLPs have their Certificate
of Clinical Competence in speech-language pathology
(CCC-SLP) from the ASHA. The tenth will be certified
in June. So far this fiscal year, the McCarty
Center's speech-language department has had
17,616 patient treatment encounters. They see
more than 260 patients a week.
Augmentative communications
are an important piece of the McCarty Center's
SLP practice. Many of the patients seen do not
talk, so finding alternative ways for these
children to communicate is important.
An augmentative communications
device can be as simple as a piece of cardboard
with pictures attached to illustrate what a
child might want or need, to as sophisticated
as a laptop computer that when typed upon activates
a computerized voice to speak for the child.
One of the assessment tools
the McCarty Center SLPs use is a computer program
that simulates a communication device to assess
what will work best for the patient. This program
eliminates the expense of having many different
kinds of augmentative communications devices
on hand.
As part of Better Speech
and Hearing Month activities at the McCarty
Center, CCC-SLP Tiffany Sullivan, will be conducting
two parent/child playgroups. The first playgroup
will be conducted on Tuesday, May 11 at 10:00
a.m. for children 6-18 months old. The second
playgroup will be held on Thursday, May 20 at
10:00 a.m. for children 18-36 months old.
Parents participating in
the groups will learn new ways to play with
toys, ways to encourage language development,
receive a list of red flag behaviors and a list
of recommended children's books.
These playgroups
are for all children and there is no charge.
Attendance is limited. To signup, or for more
information, contact Tiffany Sullivan at 573.5336
or tsullivan@jdmc.org.
For more information about
the J. D. McCarty Center visit www.jdmc.org.
|
