Role of A Speech Pathologist in Child’s Holistic Development

As a parent you are fortunate if your kids are born with perfect skills and all their organs are working absolutely fine. Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen with all and some kids are born with some disorders either in their mind or in their body system. These special kids require some different kind of training to deal with routine activities of the surroundings. One such disorder that is seen among kids and adults is speech disorder. Speech disorder is said to be found when a person is not able to produce speech sounds in a correct and fluent way and finds difficulty with his or her own voice. Such scenarios demand the requirement of a Speech Pathologist. A speech pathologist is a kind of medical practitioner who helps to assess, diagnose and treat speech related disorders. They also help in treatment of language, social, cognitive and swallowing disorders in kids and adults.

Role of Speech Pathologist

As said above, speech pathologist fulfils a wide spectrum of roles and responsibilities in treating various speech and language related disorders.

• Language plays a very important role while communicating with others and moving in the society. Lack in speech and language skills will hamper communication in all aspects of life, thereby reducing the quality of life. The main aim of speech pathologists is to provide holistic treatment to kids or adults so that they can easily cope up with the society and carry on their day-to-day life functions with ease.

• Language disorders are slightly different from speech disorders. When a person is found to have difficulty in understanding what others are saying and also is unable to clearly express his own thoughts, ideas and feelings, he is said to have language disorder. Speech therapists help to prevent, assess, diagnose and treat these disorders. They use certain exercises that involve lip and facial muscles,

• These therapists work at all levels of education, be it elementary, secondary and higher secondary. If someone is not able to communicate through speech, then speech therapists make them learn different methods of communication such as pictures, symbols and hand gestures to express their ideas, thoughts and feelings. They help in enhancing both verbal and written expressions. They also use picture exchange cards, talking devices and other tools to improve their communication skills.

• Speech pathologists also help in providing treatment for social and cognitive communication disorders. In such disorders, patients find it difficult to use verbal and non-verbal communication for social use such as finding difficulty in how to greet, comment or ask question from someone. Sometimes kids are not able to pay attention, not able to organize their thoughts and solve problems. These are cognitive disorders which occur as a result of brain injury, stroke or during birth; these are also treated by Speech pathologists. They make kids engaged in some functional activities that improve their cognitive and social interactions.

• They also use self talk, situational talk, and different types of concepts such as colour concepts, big-small concept, left-right concept to enhance their conversational and conceptual skills. Sometimes kids are also found to deal with difficulty during feeding and swallowing. These occur as a result of post-illness, surgery or injury and are treated by Speech Therapists.

• They also conduct tests in education organizations to find out what impact these disorders have on the education of the children. Then accordingly they address their academic, personal and social needs so that they can fulfil their educational goals.

• All four processes of language – reading, writing, listening and speaking have a strong correlation with each other. So, these speech pathologists help in setting up linguistic foundations of curriculum for children with speech and language disorders and also for those who struggle to adapt in school settings and find difficulty in learning.

So, this was all regarding the role of a speech pathologist towards the holistic development of children who are suffering from any speech or language related disorder. These therapists help them attain a better quality of life by improving their speech and language skills.

 

 

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