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Specific Speech and Language Disorders

 
Having your child assessed for a speech problem is not a sentence. Many wildly successful people had speech and communication problems in their childhood. We don't realize this, because for so many of them, the problem is no longer there.

Dr Nancy Dickey, taken from Dr Nancy Dickey’s Column

http://www.medem.com/msphs/msphs_drdickeycolumns_detail.cfm?article_ID=ZZZA8JQQ1KE

 

Photo of girl with face paint

The criteria for students to be assessed as having a specific speech and language disorder are outlined in Department of Education and Science (DES) Circulars SP ED 02/05 and 0038/2007.

Students may have receptive, expressive or global language disorders. Language disorders can result in poor self-confidence and low self-esteem, which can affect personal and social relationships. Research indicates that students with more complex disorders have a greater likelihood of experiencing behaviour problems. Students need to be directly taught the speech, language and social communication skills that other students learn naturally.