Speech is the most important tool in communication. Babies first start talking by babbling around 2 months of age. Babies start babbling around 4-6 months of age, saying ba, da. Around 9 months, syllables like ba -ba begin. This is often thought of as the child's speech, but all children around the world start using meaningful words at the age of 1 by spelling ba-ba. While he/she has a treasure trove of 10 words around the age of 1, this increases rapidly and reaches 50 words at the age of 18 months. During this period, the child learns words by repeating them (echolalia). This is a completely normal development. When children reach the age of 2, they can make 2-word sentences. Around the age of 2, the vocabulary is approximately 200-400. At the age of 3, children begin to make 3-word sentences.
The above development may differ among children.
The most common reasons for speech delay are;
- Normal language delay,
- Developmental delays,
- Hearing losses,
- Using more than one language at home,
- Lack of social stimulation,
- Excessive time spent on TV-computer-phone,
- Autism,
- Selective mutism,
- Neurological problems affecting the brain
can be counted.
Normal language delay results from late maturation of the speech center in the brain. In normal language delay, the child speaks later than his peers, but when he starts speaking, there is no difference from his peers. The same situation is common in relatives of children with normal language delay. In some cases, this delay may last until school age, but since other problems cause speech delay, the situation should be evaluated by a specialist as soon as possible.
The other two disorders under speech disorders are: Verbal Expression Disorder (Expressive Language Disorder) and Mixed Language Perception-Verbal Expression Disorder (Receptive Language Disorder). In Verbal Expression Disorder, the child experiences problems in speaking (little vocabulary, difficulty in finding words, short speech, difficulty in expressing himself). In Mixed Language Perception-Verbal Expression Disorder, there is a problem both in perceiving what is spoken and in speaking. For this reason, speech is more affected in Mixed Language Perception-Verbal Expression Disorder than in Verbal Expression Disorder. The prevalence of these disorders in society is approximately 5%. While this rate is higher in the preschool period, the incidence decreases with the school period.
In both disorders, the risk of developing a Learning Disorder in the later periods is much higher than other children. Other psychiatric disorders that most frequently accompany speech disorders are Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Anxiety Disorders, Depressive Disorders and Conduct Disorders. 80%of children with Speech Disorder improve when they reach school age, but the underlying Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Learning Disorders continue. That's why their treatment is very important.
Another disorder under the name of Speech Disorders is Phonological Disorder (Articulation Disorders). Children with Phonological Disorders cannot produce sounds correctly compared to their peers. They sometimes confuse the sounds (e.g. d instead of b) and change their places (e.g. lab instead of honey) and pronounce them incompletely. (e.g. ba instead of father..). Children with phonological disorders are more likely to be affected by their peers. makes it difficult to understand. That's why children experience problems such as social withdrawal, introversion, and not wanting to go to school. Since hearing problems and neurological problems may sometimes underlie phonological disorders, it is important to evaluate these cases. The prevalence of phonological disorders in society varies between 1-3%.
While the rate is high in the pre-school period, it begins to decrease when school starts. Phonological Disorder is observed much more in boys than in girls. Stuttering, another speech disorder, is explained in the stuttering section. In the treatment of speech disorders, it is important to determine the underlying cause and other accompanying psychiatric disorders. Treatment includes medical treatment and speech therapy when necessary.
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