Turner Syndrome Speech and Language Disorders Shauna Haight, Speech Language Pathologist Centrepointe Professional Services

Speech and Language Disorders: Speech disorder refers to difficulty in producing sounds Language disorder refers to difficulty in receiving, understanding, and formulating ideas and information. Interpret information literally and have difficulty understanding figurative language Repeat Questions: they may repeatedly ask for the same information

Some girls with Turner syndrome have excellent reading and verbal reasoning skills and larger than average vocabularies. They also tend to have much better verbal skills than ‘practical’ skills. However, some girls may have problems with their speech and language. Source: Turner Syndrome Support Society, UK Verbal Skills

A high, arched palate (roof of the mouth) means that some sounds, particularly those involving precise contact between the tongue and the roof of the mouth (e.g. n, l, d, ch, j), may be difficult to make. Speech Problems

Hearing impairment may mean that the child hears speech sounds as ‘muffled’ and reproduces these sounds as ‘fuzzy’ speech. Or your child does not hear quieter and higher sounds such as ‘s’; this is important if the child is learning plurals (cow/cows) and possessives (Mommy’s) and how verbs are formed (I go, she goes). Hearing Impairment

Lack of confidence may mean that a child doesn’t say much or speaks very quietly. These may also indicate a hearing impairment. Confidence

Narration: there may be difficulties in narrating past events or retelling stories. Your daughter may have difficulty in finding exactly the right word and in organizing what she wants/needs to say, which might make her speech hesitant. Language Problems

Processing information and responding to body language and facial expressions can be difficult. This can make some interactions seem ‘inappropriate’. Abstract concepts: a child may have difficulty with more abstract concepts in language, such as either/or, next to, beside etc. Language Problems

Following Instructions: they may have difficulty in following multistep instructions Interpret information literally and have difficulty understanding figurative language Repeat Questions: they may repeatedly ask for the same information Language Problems

Children with speech and language delays benefit from early intervention to target the specific areas of difficulty. Speech Language Pathologists work closely with children, parents and teachers to improve a child’s ability to produce sounds, to process language and to express themselves.

At school, a child with language difficulties benefits from accommodations and supports to improve their understanding and use of language for learning in the classroom. The Speech Language Pathologist works with the teachers and the students to educate and inform regarding areas of strength and weakness and to optimize learning through language.