What is Speech/Language Pathology?

Speech-Language Pathology is the study of communication disorders. Communication is the exchange of information, the sending and receiving of messages. The practice of speech-language pathology includes prevention, diagnosis, habilitation, and rehabilitation of communication disorders.

Speech-language pathologists, sometimes called speech therapists, assess, diagnose, treat, and help to prevent speech, language, cognitive-communication, voice, swallowing, fluency, and other related disorders.

Language is a system of communicating with other people using sounds, symbols and words in expressing a meaning, idea or thought. Expressive language can be used in many forms, primarily through oral and written communications as well as using expressions through body language.   Receptive language, understanding the message communicated, occurs primarily through listening and reading. 

Speech is the production of sounds in meaningful combinations.  Speech can also be affected by oral motor structure and functioning of the lips, tongue, teeth, palate, vocal cords, and lungs.  (Think about the different movements your mouth makes to produce each individual sound!)

Voice is the characteristics of pitch, loudness, quality, nasality, and breath support.

Fluency involves the pacing and rhythm of speech production.  Dysfluency, or stuttering, may demonstrate itself as repetitions of whole words or part of words, prolongations of sounds, or silent blocks.

Cognitive aspects of communication includes areas such as attention, memory, problem solving, and executive functions.

When should you be concerned about your child’s ability to say certain speech sounds? 

Here are two factors to consider.  First is your child’s intelligibility – how easy (or hard) is it for you and others to understand what your child says.  If adults who are familiar with your child have difficulty understanding what your child says, you should consult your speech/language pathologist.  The second factor is the specific sounds that your child articulates incorrectly.  Below is a chart of each consonant sound.  The shaded area indicates the ages at which each sound typically develops.  For example, it is considered typical development if your child can not say the /s/ sound before age eight.