Potential Impact

							Language Development
     and Delay

                                   &
                             The Impact of
                               Language
                             Delays on the
                              Curriculum


    Dickey LaMoure Special Education Unit
            Normal Language
            Development
Age             Language Level
Birth           Cries
2-3 months      Cries differently in different
                circumstances; coos in response to you
3-4 months      Babbles randomly
5-6 months      Babbles rhythmically
6-11 months     Babbles in imitation of real speech, with
                expression
12 months       Says 1-2 words; recognizes name;
                imitates familiar sounds; understands
                simple instructions
         Normal Language
         Development
Age              Language Level
18 months        Uses 5-20 words, including names.
1 - 2 years     Says 2-word sentences;
vocabulary is growing; waves goodbye; makes
“sounds” of familiar animals; uses words (like “more”)
to make wants known; understands “no”.
2 - 3 years     Identifies body parts; calls self
“me” instead of name; combines nouns and verbs;
has a 450 word vocabulary; uses short sentences;
matches 3-4 colors, knows big and little; likes to
hear same story repeated; forms some plurals.
           Normal Language
           Development
Age                Language Level
3 - 4 years        Can tell a story; sentence length of 4-5
words; vocabulary of about 1000 words; knows last name,
name of street, several nursery rhymes

4 - 5 years Sentences of 4-5 words; uses past tense;
vocabulary of about 1500 words; identifies colors, shapes;
asks many questions like “why?” and “who?”

5 - 6 years Sentences of 5-6 words; vocabulary about 2000
words; can tell you what objects are made of; knows spatial
relations (like “on top” and “far”); knows address; understands
same - different; identifies penny, nickel, dime; counts ten
things; knows right and left hand; uses all types of sentences
• Language delay is when a child’s language is
  developing in the right sequence, but at a
  slower rate.
• Speech and language disorder describes
  abnormal language development.

  Speech/language delays and disorders are the
  most common developmental problem among
  preschool kids. It affects five to ten percent
  of preschool kids.
Potential Impact

                  Career     Communication




   Daily Living                              Language




Academic                                           Speech




     Reading                                  Social




                  Behavior     Emotional
              Causes of speech and language
              problems
Developmental Speech/Language Disorder - trouble using
language, producing sounds, or understanding others.
Hearing Loss
Mental Retardation
Extreme environmental deprivation - A neglected/abused
child who doesn’t hear others speak will not learn to speak.
Premature Birth
Auditory Processing Disorder - trouble decoding sounds
Neurological problems - (i.e. cerebral palsy) affect muscles used
for speech.
Structural problems - (i.e. cleft lip) interfere with speech.
Apraxia - trouble sequencing & executing speech movements.
Selective mutism – won’t talk in certain situations (often school).
                Impact on Academics
Communicating orally is necessary in all curriculum areas.
Students with speech difficulties avoid participating in
class. This can result in low self-esteem. They also have
difficulty learning sound/symbol associations and sequencing
necessary for reading and spelling.

• Articulation disorders and poor oral motor coordination
  skills can make speech difficult to understand or
  distracting for the listener.
• Voice disorders - inappropriate quality (hoarseness), pitch
  (too high or low for age and gender), and volume (too loud or soft for the
  message or situation) can distract or irritate a listener.
  Students experience vocal fatigue when asked to speak
  too long
                 Impact on Academics
• Fluency disorders & stuttering—              Make the student hard
  deviations in rate, rhythm &                 to understand or to
  fluency of speech.                           follow.
   – Cluttering (excessive rate of speech or
     "mumbling" patterns) may be present.



                                               Students use more
• Semantic Language Dysfunction                immature, imprecise, or
  (inability to understand/use                 limited vocabulary than
  language/vocabulary effectively)—
                                               peers. Language
  difficulty with multiple meanings,           subtleties are limited.
  antonyms/synonyms, analogies                 Visual presentation of
  and categorizing.                            information and
                                               opportunities to work on
                                               vocabulary development
                                               benefit students.
                Impact on Academics
• Pragmatic Language Deficit—            Causes students to
  difficulty interpreting or             misinterpret information,
  expressing social aspects of           sarcasm, jokes, or puns.
  communication. Choosing the
  correct word, rules of social
  language, forming questions,
  facial expressions, and body
  language, and the (i.e. turn-taking,
  being tactful, friendship skills).
                                 Negatively affect
                                 writing, reading, speaking
• Syntax and Grammar Deficits— skills, as well as ability to
  using sentences with parts     communicate ideas.
  missing, incorrect verbs or    Story-telling skills will
  plurals, incorrect word order. be "scattered."
           What can we do to help?

• Use visual cues in the classroom.
  – List assignments on the board;
  – Provide lecture outlines
  – Use demonstrations and examples to clarify
    information
  – “Step out” directions
  – Use graphs or posters help students visualize the
    information or concept
• Reduce noise and increase structure when the
  child can't pay attention
• Allow preferential or roving seating to ensure
  that the child is seated as close to the speaker
  possible
            What can we do to help?

• Use assistive listening devices (ALDs) such as a
  sound field amplification system or an FM
  auditory trainer;
• Allow the child to use a tape recorder and/or a
  peer note taker;
• Have the child look at you when you're speaking;
• Use a slower speaking rate;
• Repeat directions;
• Allow time for the child to respond to questions;
• Pause to allow the child time to catch up.
          Language Remediation
          Techniques

• Dramatize the meaning of a concept;
• Use pictures or illustrations to show
  meaning;
• Put vocabulary into sentences so the
  child can see how its used in context;
• Correctly model the student’s incorrect
  syntax;
• Expand what the student says (e.g.
 “medicine--You got some medicine for your cold?”).
            Language Remediation
            Techniques

• Give synonym and use in a sentence with
  synonym in parentheses (e.g. What effect
  [outcome] will this red stain have on my mother’s white
  sofa?);
• Use negative definition (e.g. cold—not hot);
• Use general term to give a specific
  meaning (e.g. a type of walk—trot);
• Explain vocabulary context by rewriting
  at a lower level.
         Strategies for Increasing
         Reading Comprehension

• Define new vocabulary;
• Provide a variety of reading material on
  similar subjects;
• Send the book home to review;
• Role play/Act out the story;
• Provide hands-on activities involving
  objects in the story;
• Discuss vocabulary/concepts prior to
  reading.
         Strategies for Increasing
         Reading Comprehension

• Teach cognitive/language strategies to
  help understand the text;
• Outline major points of the story;
• Select appropriate materials which allow
  practice of skills at the student’s level
  and progress from this point;
• Review written material with the student.
  Question and model to ensure
  comprehension.
          Helping Children Help
          Themselves
• Teach compensatory strategies, "meta"
  strategies, or executive functions:
  – Teach the student to identify and resolve
    difficult listening situations.
  – Develop skills to understand the demands of
    listening (attending, memory, identifying important parts of a
    message, self-monitoring, clarifying, and problem solving).
  – Develop memory techniques: verbal rehearsal
    and mnemonics (chunking, cueing, chaining).
  – Encourage use of external organizational aids
    (checklists, notebooks, calendars, etc.).
  – Develop vocabulary, syntax, and pragmatic skills
    to facilitate comprehension.
The End
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  Encouraging Young Children
       to Use Language

 Bibliography        End Show
           Bibliography


• http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/yourchild/speech.h
  tm
• http://www.thespeechy.com/speechprobs.asp
• http://www.asha.org/public/hearing/disorders/effe
  cts.htm
• “The Bridge to the Future” Language Arts
  Curriculum by the North Dakota School for the Deaf
• http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/auditory.asp
• http://ericec.org/digests/e634.html
• http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/medical/ears/cen
  tral_auditory.html
                                         End Show
       Encouraging Young Children
       to Use Language
• Encourage turn-taking:
  – Pause after you say something
  – give the child an opportunity to respond
• Describe what you and/or the child sees,
  hears, & does as you engage in different
  activities using short, simple phrases.
• Talk about things that will happen in the
  future.
• Label and explain objects or activities (you
  have an apple, you have a red apple).
          Encouraging Young Children
          to Use Language
• Repeat what the child says and give a more
  acceptable way to say it or expand on it.
  – Don’t correct a child in the middle of sharing an exciting
    experience
  – If the child says “me go circus”, say “You went to a
    circus! Where was the circus? What did you see?”
• Watch the child; show interest in what they say.
• Play. Act out pretend situations. Encourage the
  child to use imaginative settings (the moon, a
  bridge, in a car).
         Encouraging Young Children
         to Use Language
• Say things that keep a conversation going
• Give the child a portion of an item and encourage
  them to ask for the rest (crayons but no paper, hat &
  mittens but no coat).

• Use silly situations to encourage responses, e.g.,
  put their shoe on your foot, make pudding and stir
  in the box, give silly responses to their questions
  (make sure they know you’re joking).

• Begin conversations at or slightly above the child’s
  level.
       Encouraging Young Children
       to Use Language
• Encourage the child to use puppets to act out
  conversations between people and in different
  situations.
• When using pictures to encourage responses,
  don’t assume the “correct” response. Ask
  questions to determine what the child is
  thinking.
• Create situations where the child
   needs to ask for assistance
  (e.g. put toys on a high shelf).
        Encouraging Young Children
        to Use Language
• Ask questions using appropriate facial
  expression. Begin with “yes/no” ?’s, then “what,
  where, who” ?’s. “Why & how” ?’s come later.
  Play games that encourage the child to ask
  questions.
• When reading to the child, encourage discussion
  of the pictures. Model and expand on their
  utterances. Older children can read to younger
  children.
• Write. Younger children practice scribbling and
  progress to letters & words. Older children can
  write stories.