What is Speech & Language?
Language is the understanding or putting words together to communicate ideas and includes -:
- What words mean
- How to put words together in a grammatical sentence
- What words or phrases are most appropriate in what situations
Speech is the actual production of sounds; it primarily involves the lips, teeth, tongue, throat, vocal cords & lungs as well as additional body processes and includes -:
- Articulation - How sounds are made
- Voice - Use of the vocal cords and breathing to produce sound
- Fluency - The rhythm of speech (hesitations or stuttering can affect fluency).
The term Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) is also used to refer to speech and language disorders.
Language disorders can be either receptive or expressive or a combination of both -:
Receptive disorders refer to difficulties understanding or processing language or speech sounds i.e. understanding the message coming from others
Expressive disorders include difficulty putting words together, having a limited vocabulary, or difficulty using language in a socially appropriate way.
Prevalence
Speech and language development delay is the most common developmental disorder in children 3 to 16 years. The prevalence ranges widely mainly due to variation as to who should be considered having a speech and language delay.
Estimate of Speech disorders in UK (2000):
1.5% at 3-5 years
4.6% at 5–7 years
12.6% at 6-12 years
7.3% at 12-14 years
Estimate of Language disorders varies according to age with a median prevalence of 5.95% in children up to 7yrs. In children 2-6 yrs old, 85000-90,000 cases are estimated as referred to speech and language therapists per year.
Language impairment affects more boys than girls.
