Vol. I, No. 3

 

What is the difference between 'speech' and 'language?'

SPEECH is the style of speaking. It is the ability' to produce sounds correctly.

LANGUAGE is any means of communicating thought or feeling. It is the ability to put words together correctly to form sentences and questions.

Can a person have trouble with one and not the other? Absolutely. For example, a 3 year old may perform all 3 year old language skills, according to the speech therapist's evaluation. However, when he speaks, you can't understand him. He has a speech, or articulation, problem. On the other hand. an adult who had a stroke. may be able to speak clearly, but can't think of the appropriate words to use to communicate. This is a language problem. Both of these difficulties can usually be improved with speech therapy.

Enrich your child's speech and language development

Although time is precious, it is the quality more than the quantity of time spent with your child that counts L'tilize the time you do spend with your child. For example:

Mother and child are waiting in a parked car' count the red cars that pass by. describe what people are wearing, call attention to various street sounds, etc.

When Dad takes his son to the store, he can talk about what they see andhear and then later help his son relate the experience to Mom.

Mom's washing clothes Have your child "help" sort the laundry - white inone pile, red in another, etc. The child can also match like clothing articles - socks in one pile, shirts in another, etc.

Encourage your child to hold and feel things: talk about how things feel- cold, hard, rough, soft. sticky, smooth, etc.

What is Aphasia?

"APHASIA" means "loss of language." Aphasia often occurs after a stroke or head trauma. A person can have receptive aphasia, expressive aphasia or a combination of both. It differs greatly in severity from patient to patient. An aphasia can be mild, moderate, severe or complete.
 

RECEPTIVE APHASIA READING, UNDERSTANDING

Major problems are:

• cannot recognize objects
• cannot understand what he reads
• cannot understand what people say
• cannot enjoy movies or TV
• cannot realize location of himself or objects

EXPRESSIVE APHASIA SPEAKING, WRITING

Major problems are: 

• cannot write
• cannot name objects 
• cannot point to things 
• cannot spell words
• cannot tell time 
• cannot use telephone 
• cannot gesture appropriately 
• cannot speak in sentences 

When should speech therapry begin?

Speech therapy should begin as soon as possible. It not only will help the patient communicate more easily, but the psychological effect of knowingthat someone is interested and understands the nature of his difficulty willbuild his morale immeasurably.

SUCCESS

If you stutter, lisp, or have trouble pronouncing sounds, speaking may make you tense and anxious. People listen to the way you sound - not to what you say.

There is help available. A Speech Pathologist can help you become more fluent and overcome barriers to successful communication.

Call for an evaluation. It can make a dramatic difference.