Communication Disorder

Introduction to SPED

Deborah A. Homillano

Taylor/Smiley/Richards, Exceptional Students

What is Communication?• Communication is the process by which

one individual expresses ideas, feelings, opinions, or messages to others and receives and understands ideas, feelings, opinions, or messages from others.

• Language is a rule-governed system of arbitrary symbols that stand for meaning.

• Speech is the physical production of that system.

• Typical speech development– Follows a typical and predictable pattern and time table– By the age of 8, children can produce nearly all the

consonants and vowels that make up the native language.

– There is variation among children in the time of acquisition.

• Speech disorders– Articulation: production of individual or sequenced

sounds• Substitutions, omissions, additions, and distortions• If these problems interfere with peer interactions or

educational performance: REFER

• Speech and language disorders (often associated with other disorders)– Speech disorder refers to difficulty in

producing sounds (cleft palate).– Language disorder refers to difficulty in

receiving, understanding, and formulating ideas and information.

• Cultural diversity–Difference does not always mean disorder.–Dialects are various forms of language.

Communication Disorder

Speech Disorder

Language Disorder

Hearing Disorder

Voice Disorder

Articulation Disorder

Fluency Disorder

Delayed Language

Aphasia & related disorders

Conductive Hearing loss Sensorineural Hearing Loss Auditory Nerve & Central Auditory

Nervous System Hearing Loss Functional Hearing Loss

– Apraxia of speech: motor speech disorder affecting the planning of speech• Difficulty with the voluntary, purposeful

movement of speech (stroke, tumor, head injury, developmental)• Can produce individual sounds but cannot

produce them in longer words or sentences– Voice disorders: pitch, duration, intensity,

resonance, and vocal quality– Fluency disorders: interruptions in the flow of

speaking• Stuttering: frequent repetition and/or

prolongation of words or sounds

Speech or Language Disorder Causes

• Brain injury, abuse, cleft palate, birth trauma• Disease, malfunction of certain

organs• Lack of stimulation in childhood and

psychological factors.

• Typical language development– Language development is complex– Depends on biological preparation, successful

nurturance, sensorimotor experiences, and linguistic experiences

• Five components of language– Phonology: the use of sounds to make meaningful

syllables and words• Phonemes: individual speech sounds

– Morphology: the structure of words• Morphemes: the smallest meaningful unit of speech (e.g., s)

– Syntax: the rules for putting together a series of words to form sentences

– Semantics: word and sentence meanings for what is spoken

– Pragmatics: social use of language

• Characteristics of language impairments– Language disorders may be receptive, expressive, or

both.– Language disorders may be related to another

disability or may be a specific language impairment.• Phonological disorders – difficulty in discriminating

differences in speech sounds or sound segments• Morphological difficulties – problem using the structure

of words to get or give information (e.g., proper tenses)• Syntactical errors – problem with the correct word order

in sentences that meaning is lost for listeners• Semantic disorders – problems using words singly or

together in sentences• Pragmatic disorders – problems in the social use of

language (e.g., eye contact, body language, organization)

• Two types of speech and language disorders– Organic: caused by an identifiable problem in the

neuromuscular mechanism of the person (hereditary malformations, prenatal injuries, toxic disturbances, tumors, traumas, seizures, infectious diseases, muscular diseases)

– Functional: those with no identifiable origin

• Speech and language disorders can also be classified according to when the disorder began.– Congenital: present at birth– Acquired: occurs well after birth

How to Evaluate Students with Disorder

• Speech assessment: speech pathologist uses a standardized articulation test to measure articulation, voice, and fluency problems.

• Voice evaluations: includes both quantitative and qualitative measures (interviews and case history)

• Fluency assessments: evaluated through a conversation with the student and interview with parents

• Three areas to be assessed relative to language interactions in the classroom:– The student’s ability to use language

effectively by speaking and listening tasks– The teacher’s language– The language requirements of the lessons

and textbooks• Assessments for students who are bilingual or

multilingual• Evaluation teams need to take a holistic view

of the student’s communication skills using ecological assessments.

Hearing Impairment

• It refers to whether permanent or fluctuating hearing impairment that adversely affects a person’s communication performance.

• The ability to hear is an integral part of the normal communication process. An impaired ability to relate to sounds can result in social isolation, depression, avoidance, and diminished quality of life.

• Conductive hearing loss results from dysfunction of the outer and/or middle ear. Patients with conductive hearing loss usually can understand (discriminate) speech correctly but require louder volumes of speech. Possible causes of conductive hearing impairment include cerumen impaction, presence of a foreign body, tympanic membrane perforation, otitis media, and otosclerosis.

• Sensorineural hearing loss results from dysfunction of the inner ear (cochlea) or of neural fibers of the eighth cranial nerve. Patients with sensorineural hearing loss usually have decreased speech discrimination.

• Conditions causing sensorineural impairment include excess noise, advanced age (presbycusis), ototoxic drugs, viral or bacterial illness, tumors, and cortical lesions.

• A mixed hearing disorder involves components of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss. Central hearing impairment results from dysfunction of the central auditory pathways (eg, tumors, demyelinating disease, vascular damage).

The most common rehabilitative therapy for hearing impairment is the hearing aid. Any person with hearing difficulties that limit daily activities should be considered a prospective candidate for a hearing aid. A hearing aid evaluation should be performed by a certified clinical audiologist. The use of a hearing aid does not cure the impairment, but it does improve the ability to communicate effectively. Successful hearing aid use is dependent on the patient's self-perceived impairment, acceptance of the device, and desire to use hearing amplification.

• Adapting Instruction– Ask varied types of questions to encourage students’ self-

expression– Expand student utterances by using modeling more

elaborate language– Augment or alter classroom language by providing

statements that explain a student’s nonverbal behaviors– Allow students opportunity to practice public verbalizations

• Augmenting Instruction– Repetition of the curriculum– Visual supports: graphic organizers, photographs, gestures,

sign language– Direct instruction in social skills

• There are systems that helps to develop communication abilities of individuals who cannot meet their communication needs through gestures, speaking, and/or writing.

• Ex. communication books, communication boards, communication charts, mechanical/electrical voice output, computers, etc.

– Using eyes to look at the symbol– Touching the symbols with fingers– Using a laser beam attached to the head– Scanning– Encoding

Thank you for Listening!