Speech delay or alalia is a common childhood problem consisting of a delay in the normal development of articulating verbal expression. Although known to affect 3 out of 10 children, speech delay can also indicate the presence of a neurological or physiological dysfunction that needs immediate diagnosis and treatment. Taking into account that alalia has been found to produce further emotional, social and cognitive problems, a child who cannot pronounce at least two words by the time he/she is 18 months old or does not seem to understand and respond to what parents say, will have to be taken to a physician.
Some of the reasons why your child might manifest speech delay are presented below.
· Deformed frenulum, lips or palate
Sometimes speech delay has a simple explanation and is mainly the result of a physical disruption in the mouth. For example, Ankyloglossia, also known as tongue tie, is a congenital anomaly that is caused by an unusually short lingual frenulum. In short, the tongue's mobility is dramatically diminished, so that your child may not be able to pronounce words, although he/she has already developed language.
· Oral-motor dysfunctions
A child with oral-motor dysfunction will not babble as an infant would normally do, will have problems with combining words, and most importantly, will articulate words but with sounds missing. Mainly, this category of dysfunctions is created by an incoordination between the region of the brain in charge with speech production and the muscles in the mouth and tongue. One of the most common oral-motor disorders is Developmental Apraxia of Speech (DAS). Children with dyspraxia of speech have problems with moving and coordinating different parts of their mouth for verbal expression.
· Autism spectrum disorders
There are many red flags that can indicate your child has autism or Asperger's syndrome, but one of the most noticeable symptoms is speech delay. Usually, the lack of receptivity or interest in the spoken language, doubled by the inability to reproduce syllables or words, is typical for autistic children. They may later develop the ability to articulate words and express short sentences, but only after having gone through an intensive recovery program with a speech specialist.
· Auditory processing disorder
Also known as the central auditory processing disorder, APD affects 5% of all pre-school children and it relates to how the brain processes auditory information. Specifically, the dysfunction of the central nervous system leads to a difficulty in recognizing and interpreting sounds, although the structure of the outer, middle and inner ear is integral. APD can be easily mistaken for ADHD because they share a list of common symptoms: poor listening skills, low academic performance and behaviour problems.
Some of the reasons why your child might manifest speech delay are presented below.
· Deformed frenulum, lips or palate
Sometimes speech delay has a simple explanation and is mainly the result of a physical disruption in the mouth. For example, Ankyloglossia, also known as tongue tie, is a congenital anomaly that is caused by an unusually short lingual frenulum. In short, the tongue's mobility is dramatically diminished, so that your child may not be able to pronounce words, although he/she has already developed language.
· Oral-motor dysfunctions
A child with oral-motor dysfunction will not babble as an infant would normally do, will have problems with combining words, and most importantly, will articulate words but with sounds missing. Mainly, this category of dysfunctions is created by an incoordination between the region of the brain in charge with speech production and the muscles in the mouth and tongue. One of the most common oral-motor disorders is Developmental Apraxia of Speech (DAS). Children with dyspraxia of speech have problems with moving and coordinating different parts of their mouth for verbal expression.
· Autism spectrum disorders
There are many red flags that can indicate your child has autism or Asperger's syndrome, but one of the most noticeable symptoms is speech delay. Usually, the lack of receptivity or interest in the spoken language, doubled by the inability to reproduce syllables or words, is typical for autistic children. They may later develop the ability to articulate words and express short sentences, but only after having gone through an intensive recovery program with a speech specialist.
· Auditory processing disorder
Also known as the central auditory processing disorder, APD affects 5% of all pre-school children and it relates to how the brain processes auditory information. Specifically, the dysfunction of the central nervous system leads to a difficulty in recognizing and interpreting sounds, although the structure of the outer, middle and inner ear is integral. APD can be easily mistaken for ADHD because they share a list of common symptoms: poor listening skills, low academic performance and behaviour problems.
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