Two Types of Acquired Speech Difficulty in Adults – What You Need to Know?

When you think of speech difficulties, the first image that comes to your mind is children who are trying to communicate effectively but are not getting to do so, for some or the other reason. But what about adults, who also face acute difficulty with their speech? Today, we will look at two of the main type of acquired speech difficulty in adults and what you need to know about them. The following pointers will give you a better perspective:

1. There Are Two Main Categories of Acquired Speech Difficulty – While acquired speech difficulty can be of various kinds, the categories are mainly divided into two. These include –
1.  Dysarthria – In this condition, the muscles of the face, the tongue, mouth, lips or jaws become weak and move slowly. This leads to difficulty in forming sounds clearly. As a result, the quality of the speech becomes slurred. It can also lead to difficulties in breathing. The voice can also become quitter than usual and the person will find it difficult to make himself/herself heard. It can range from mild to severe and there can be the need for consulting a therapist.
2. Apraxia – When it comes to Apraxia, there is no muscle weakness involved. In this condition, although the person knows what they want to say, they find it difficult to coordinate the movements of the tongue, mouth and lips to pronounce the words. Moreover, the speech errors are not consistent and each time, the word uttered is different. As a result, it is difficult to understand their speech.
2. The reasons - These acquired speech difficulties occur in adults even though they have already developed speech. These are caused due to the damage in the parts of the brain that controls the way we speak. More often than not, the reason behind this is – head injury, tumors, neurological disease and stroke.
3. Therapy can help – For both the conditions, a SLP or speech-language pathologist will be useful in assessing a person’s speech defects. They will be able to find out the levels of difficulty and how severe it is. For instance, you can opt for speech and language therapy in Dubai and get the best treatment for your loved ones.

These are the main pointers that you need to learn about acquired speech disorders in adults. For more such insightful write-ups, keep a tab on this space.

How To Foster Good Speech Habits In Your Baby?

Nothing compares to the sweet sound of your baby’s voice, right? Well, every one of us remembers all those first-times when our little one utters all those sweet words. All this babbling and talking reveal what the child is thinking and his overall development.

When it comes to speech development, each child is different and progresses in different patterns. Thus, you need to pay careful attention to your bub’s daily growth and ensure that you inculcate good speech habits right from the start.

Delayed speech, learning disorders, and other developmental issues can be signs of major concern. For the very same reason, there is an option of speech therapy in Dubai and elsewhere. However, you can start early and avoid this scenario. Just by adding a few simple tips to your daily regimen, you can foster perfect speech habits in your baby.

Here is a rundown of some simple tips to foster good speech habits –

1    1. Have your baby’s hearing checked-

Even if your child has got a clean slate, you need to get his hearing checked as soon as possible.

A late talker could also have different auditory problems and so you need to be sure that you visit a pediatrician to check the hearing of your bub. Thus, it is a good practice to keep talking and calling out to your child so that you check his responses.

2    2. Keep a close attention on your baby’s gestures and play style-

When your little one reaches a certain age, he or she should be able to communicate verbally or at least with actions. If the signs of nonverbal communication or difficulty in the articulation of thoughts are shown, then you need to consult a speech therapist.

Make sure to observe all the cues of his speech development and learning while he is busy playing or doing something that he is fond of. If you experience that he is doing well at learning, this states long-term effects on good speech.

3    3. Consider talking to him-

Children learn through imitation and so you need to be on your toes while you foster some good speech habits. Having said that, you need to talk directly to your child to ensure that he learns the language as soon as possible. Naming him of colors, shapes, and singing nursery rhymes and small poems to him will do you good!

It is also a good practice to let your child imitate your small actions like clapping of hands or playing peekaboo. Notably, you can use baby sign language so that it becomes easy for him to comprehend and execute the same.

4    4. Consider an early intervention program- 

You don’t want your child to lag behind and develop serious issues of development. Thus, you need to plan ahead of time and start early with observing and making your child learn all the good habits that it takes.

It is a good practice to seek some professional help so as to boost his learning process and ace the game. Having said that, make sure that you consult a credible speech therapist or counselor to help you out in these matters.

Following these simple tips will do you good and you will be able to foster a good speech development in your little one!

Conclusion-

Inculcating good habits in your child right from the very beginning can be very rewarding for the parents. Hence, make sure to start at the right time and aim at the perfect speech of your baby dearest! 

HOW TO GET RID OF A LISP IN ADULTS

    Sure, it is very cute to hear a child say ‘wedd’ instead of red. However, having a lisp is not endearing when it comes to adults. Are you afraid to pronounce specific words while giving a presentation or a speech? Well, suffering from embarrassment and anxiousness is understood when you have a lisp.

    However, don’t lose your heart and keep up the hopes! Having a lisp is not permanent. You can get rid of it with concentrated efforts towards the same. Adults speech therapy in Dubai and elsewhere helps the adults with a lisp to overcome it through integrated activities and practices.

Here are a few tips to help you get rid of your lisp –

1    1.  Evaluate

    The first step in solving a problem is evaluating it, isn’t it? Well, this is applicable even in this scenario!

    If you want to get rid of your lisp, you need to physically examine yourself first. Having said that, it means that you need to pinpoint the position of the mouth and tongue while you say these words. This will help you examine whether your tongue is against the teeth or on the roof of your mouth? You might also discover other problems like for instance – your tongue might be too large than normal, you might have a broken tooth, or you might be a mouth breather.

    The critical examination will help ensure that you have identified where the problem lies. This will help you achieve faster results with speech therapy. Also, while consulting a speech therapist, this will keep you prepared!

2    2.  Isolate the problem sound

    Now that you have identified the problem, now what? Well, the next step is to pinpoint the sounds that you are pronouncing in the wrong way.

    For starters, start saying the sounds out loud. You can try this out in front of your family member or someone you feel comfortable with. Isolating the problem words or sounds will help you assess the problem in a better way. You have already examined your mouth and tongue placement and structure. Now is the time to examine how this structure takes shape while you speak.

    All things considered, you can compare your mouth and tongue position while saying these words to the ideal or expected position. Won’t you definitely get a better idea of how it is to be done?

3    3.  Activities and Practice

    The saying – “Practice makes a man perfect’’, holds true in this case. Practicing the single syllables and then progressing to multi-syllables and sentences will do you good!

    One popular method to do so is to read or talk loudly with a smile on your face. This will ensure that your tongue moves to the different parts in your mouth with ease. Many speech pathologists also suggest drinking with a straw to develop oral-motor skills. 

Pro tip: Practice in front of a mirror to ensure that you are on the right track.

Following these basic steps rigorously will do you good!

Conclusion 

    Do not stress over your lisp when you can eliminate it totally. Seek a credible speech therapist and talk your way to confidence!