Major symptoms in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), or autism for short, are problems with proper speech and proper language. Children with autism face different levels of speech and language impairments, which depends on the severity of the autism on the spectrum.
Language impairment is defined as a disorder in one or more of the basic learning processes involved in understanding or in using spoken or written language; whereas, speech impairment is a condition in which the ability to produce speech sounds that are necessary to communicate with others is impaired. Speech and language impairments have different symptoms; these are as follows:
Speech Impairment
- Articulation disorders: Characterized by the distortion or absence of speech sounds.
- Fluency disorders: Characterized by an interruption or break in the normal flow of speech (stuttering and stammering).
- Voice disorders: Characterized by impairment in the voice, including loudness, vocal quality, and pitch.
Language Impairment
- Syntactic impairment: Difficulty in arranging the sentence or phrase.
- Phonological impairment: Difficulty in proper voice or tone of the words.
- Morphological deficit: Difficulty in articulating internal structure of words and the construction of word forms.
- Fluency of the pronunciations: Characterized by blocks, interjections, revisions, and repetitions of sounds, syllables, words, and phrases, which may affect the rate and rhythm of speech.
- Limited vocabulary
Both types of the impairment, language and speech, can be treated by a therapy called speech and language therapy. This is a recognized program developed by the experts engaged in the treatment of both the impairments. The therapy is implemented by speech language therapists (SLTs), who are certified professionals.
Speech and language therapy is implemented by a set of instructions and interactive activities that are professionally designed for the treatment of specific impairments in language and speech. Such activities involve games, vocal drills, physical massage, voice repetition, and other related activities that can improve and help children to develop speech and language proficiency. Some of the activities involved in the speech and language therapy are given in brief here.
- Language intervention activity: This is an interactive program in which the SLT interacts with children, turning games into healthy environment. In this activity, pictures and events may be used in treating speech and language deficiencies. Generally, in this activity, the SLT corrects the pronunciation of words and organizes a drill for the same.
- Swallowing/Feeding therapy/oral motoring skills: In this therapy, the therapist helps children make different oral and facial exercises to improve the facial muscles related to speech and language development. Different sensing activities are also involved to convey to children the real experience of the learning matter.
- Articulation therapy: This is an exercise that makes children aware of the procedures on how to develop certain voices and how to pronounce certain words and letters. This playful game is very good for children with autism to exercise on a daily basis.
The aforementioned are a few main exercises that involve speech and language therapy. These activities are not harsh and fast-paced, but the variations can be implemented by an SLT as per the need of the child. Therefore, special caution should be taken while hiring a SLT.
