Children most especially can benefit from speech therapy. This is especially true for those who have certain disorders concerning the brain or showing signs of problems with language development, speech and social communication.
Primarily, the goal of speech therapy is to make your child able to understand the world around him or her by improving communication skills. It cannot be denied that so many things in life depend on one’s ability to communicate. Some examples include reading the newspaper, ordering in a restaurant or going from one city to the other. A child with impaired ability to communicate properly may have a hard time making friends, following instructions, expressing his or her ideas, and knowing what’s going on around. Undergoing speech therapy can help make a child communicate more easily and effectively.
The outcome of such particular form of rehabilitation is usually dependent on the little one’s disability as well as capabilities. Similarly, the length of time required for the benefits to be reaped is also dependent on factors such as the problem’s severity and the therapy’s consistency and frequency.
Speech therapy can be highly beneficial for children with:
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Dyslexia or learning disability
- Asperger’s syndrome
- Autism spectrum disorder
- Down’s syndrome
- Auditory processing disorder
- Challenging behavior
- Neurological disorders
- Neuromuscular disease
- Low-birth weight
- Premature birth
- Feeding problems
- Dysfunction in sensory incorporation
Experts say that speech therapy may be helpful if your child is not talking by 2 years of age, or has difficulty understanding speech at age 3. The same is true for a 7-year-old child whose words do not sound correctly. Speech therapy may also benefit your little one if his or her writing and/or reading skills are below age or grade expectation.
The nicest thing about signing up a speech specialist for your child is he or she can come up with a program that is highly suited for your child. Whether the child is suffering from a mild speech or language delay or is at high risk of developing speech or language disorder, a speech therapist can whip up a custom-made solution. The service may be provided at a very flexible scheduling, and it may be provided in a wide array of setting — clinical, daycare center, preschool, home, etc.
Additionally, speech therapy may be provided during school breaks or summers. This is a good thing because it can keep your little one from regression of skills learned during time away from the program. You will be glad to know, too, that service fees are covered by a lot of health insurance plans.
The following are some of the benefits provided by speech therapy:
- Improvement in the child’s ability to express his or her thoughts, ideas and emotions.
- Provide meaningful and intelligible speech, allowing your little one to be understood by everyone else around.
- Increased capability to deal with problem or tasks in an independent manner.
- Attainment of skills necessary for schooling or literacy.
- Achievement of more fluent speech.
- Improved vocal quality as well as swallowing function and safety.
- Development of various practical social skills.
Basically, speech therapy can help improve the quality of life of your little one. With the help of the various benefits mentioned above, it can be easier for a child to attain self-confidence and self-esteem, enabling him or her to become more independent and appreciative of the world around. Speech therapy can help your child not only understand language but also use it to his or her full advantage.
As a parent, it is a good idea to collaborate with your chose speech specialist in coming up with the right program. Additionally, you and the expert should both agree to come up with a set of realistic goals and expectations.
