Specific Areas of Speech and Language Development (continued)
Source: Pearson Allyn Bacon Prentice Hall
Topics: Speech and Language Issues, Speech and Language Development, Articulation Disorder, Expressive Language Disorder, Receptive Language Disorder (Auditory Processing Disorder)
Hearing
For most children, hearing is a primary means of learning to communicate. For this reason, when speech and language development is delayed or disordered, it is essential to find out if the child is hearing adequately (Oyler, Crowe, & Haas, 1987). Assessment takes the form of a screening or full hearing evaluation. If a hearing impairment is found, the speech and language pathologist often works with an audiologist or teacher of the deaf and hearing impaired to provide intervention services.
Play Skills
Children progress through developmental stages of play. Each of these stages of play relates to speech and language and cognitive milestones. A variety of play experiences should take place for language to develop, especially as the child uses more symbolism (Cheng, 1989). It is important for the speech and language pathologist to engage or observe children during play activities to better understand their level of speech and language development.
Problem-Solving Skills
Language assessment also includes consideration of how a child uses language to perform thinking and reasoning tasks appropriate to the child's age. In younger children these skills are manifested in abilities such as matching or naming. As children become older they should be able to analyze things they encounter in more complex ways. They should become able to use language to perform more difficult tasks such as explaining and predicting (Blank, Rose, & Berlin, 1978).
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© 1997, Merrill, an imprint of Pearson Education Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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