Tyler Carroll Hope Lybeer Speech Impairments Tyler Carroll Hope Lybeer

Background and History 1874: Paul Broca discovered that damage to the left frontal lobe of the brain was associated with speech impairment. 1906: Alois Alzheimer discovers Alzheimer’s disease. A common symptom of the disease is found to be speech impairment. 1957: Lisps are found to be the second most common type of speech impairment in children. 1960: A gateway school in Baltimore was founded for students with communication disorders such as speech impairments. 2001: Scientists discover the first gene that links to the human trait of language learning that can be used to treat children with speech impairments.

General Information Speech Impairment: an impaired ability to produce speech sounds Can be very mild or very severe Makes it difficult to communicate Three Main Types: Articulation Disorder Fluency Disorder Voice Disorder The two most common speech impairments are dysarthria, difficulty in articulating speech, and aphasia, impaired expression or comprehension of spoken or written language.

Symptoms and Signs of the Barrier For Voice: Pitch deviations Loudness and quality of voice deviations For Articulation: Leaving out consonants Distortion of sound For Disfluency: Head jerking or eye blinking while talking Repetition of sounds, words, or phrases Early Signs… how to know if a child may have a speech impairment: Cooing and babbling at a young age Inability to respond to and follow simple directions

How Speech Impairments Can Affect a Student’s Learning… Embarrassed to talk aloud Do not like to participate in class discussions, etc. Frustration in communication with their peers Can lead to discouragement and low self-esteem to learn

What Can Parents Do? Have the child see a speech therapist or speech-language pathologist. Have a quiet spot in the house for the student to do homework. Oral Motor Exercises: Relaxation strategies to relax mouth muscles Posture Control Voice Exercises

What Can Teachers Do? Reduce extra classroom noise so that the child can focus to comprehend Be near the student when giving oral instructions. Ask the student to repeat the instructions. Create a positive and patient learning environment. Speak slowly and articulate. Use gestures and visual cues. Avoid correcting speech difficulties Can lead to a low self-esteem Instead, model correct speech patterns

Famous People with Speech Impairments Lisp: Barbara Walters Winston Churchill Elton John Stuttering Problems: Julia Roberts Tiger Woods Samuel Jackson

Other Facts to Know About Speech Impairments… Over the past 35 years, 2.45% of children in the federal school system have had a speech impairment. Many professions work with people with speech impairments, including speech-language pathologists, speech therapists, and audiologists. A speech impairment can affect a student’s writing because they have difficulty with all verbal communication.