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Speech
& Language:
Vicki Skraitz
Identifying
Children's Language Issues
Vicki Skraitz is
a Peters Township resident. Vicki is a licensed speech ad
language pathologist. Waterdam Academy is conveniently located
at 4160 Washington Road, Suite 202, McMurray with appointments
available evenings and Saturdays by calling 724-941-2100.
A speech language
pathologist has the awesome opportunity to work with children in
preschool through twelfth grade. The language pathologist serves
children in a variety of ways. Parents may have concerns about
whether a young child should be saying certain sounds or talking
in a certain way. At the elementary grades when a child is
having a difficult time learning to read - the speech
pathologist can determine if this might be due to difficulties
with language processing.
A speech language
pathologist can work with children who have comprehension
problems to develop those skills. At the middle school and high
school levels there can be an opportunity to work side-by-side
with teachers who have students with auditory processing
disorders.
So, what is
"normal" for a child's speech sounds? A child's sound
development follows a progressive schedule. By the following
ages, 90 percent of children have acquired these sounds: age
three: /m, h, n, w, b, p/; age four: /k, g, d, f, j, t/; age
six: /ing/; age seven: /r, l, s, ch, sh, d/; age eight: /z, v,
th-voiced, th-unvoiced/.
Language skills also
follow a natural progression that begins just weeks after birth.
Babbling begins around 16 months and disappears by 24 months. A
two-year-old can identify 5 body parts, understand simple
commands and recognize familiar objects, persons and pets. They
have an average sentence length of 1.5 words, of which 50
percent are usually nouns. Vocabulary consists of about 200
words.
Your three-year-old
should be able to combine 3 words to build a sentence, continues
to increase vocabulary to around 300 words, understands
locations (under, on), size difference, and quantity (one,
many). Following simple and two-step commands becomes easier and
they can repeat 2 digits from memory. An interest in
explanations of why and how begins to emerge. A three-year-old
may demonstrate dysfluencies (stuttering type speech), can
describe actions in a book and sometimes seems to ask too many
questions. Identifying objects by use and understanding simple
opposites can be observed now. Most important is the fact that
90 percent of a three-year-old's speech can be readily
understood.
The four-year-old
preschooler can understand up to 1,500 words and use them in
sentences of 4 words. Watch out - this can be the
"bossy" age. Following 2 - 3 step commands becomes
easier.
The five-year-old
preschooler or kindergartner has a vocabulary of 2,000 words and
can begin to define words in terms of use. Their language is
fairly complete in structure and form but may contain
grammatical errors. They like to tell a story about him/herself
and use longer, more complete sentences. The use of pronouns is
consistent and correct, as are comparative adjectives
(small-smaller, soft-softer). Correct use of irregular verbs,
articles and prepositions is seen. If you have concerns about
your child's speech and/or language development, call a
specialist fro screening.
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