Speech therapy

When children learn to speak, they may stutter, but it disappears over time. However, in those cases in which it does not disappear, it may indicate that there is a speech or language disorder that will need treatment by the speech therapist.

These speech disorders affect a child’s verbal fluency and pronunciation as well. The origin may be in various factors such as bilingualism, hearing problems … One of the most frequent disorders is dysphemia, that is, stuttering.

On the other hand, language disorders are those in which language comprehension does not develop correctly. The appearance of these disorders can be marked by hereditary factors, physical or psychosocial environment.

Tachyphemia and dyslalia are disorders, both speech and language, very common in children. The first of them is one that is characterized by the fact that the child increases the speed of speech and makes many mistakes. While in dyslalia there are failures in the articulation of sounds.

Swallowing and chewing problems are very common in children and adults. These are covered, most of the time, with anxious behaviors before food (eating without chewing, eating very quickly), but in the long run there are consequences.

The lack of control over swallowing causes: pain in the joint, displacement of the jaw, open bites … These issues can be intervened with speech therapy work that focuses on:

• Early stimulation of the orofacial system.
• Orientation to promote the correct growth of the teeth.
• Prevention of swallowing problems with infants and children.
• Intervention in babies with eating difficulties (very long feedings, rejection of new foods, rejection of solid textures …).
• Work on inappropriate habits (thumb sucking, use of the sucker after 3 years …)

The mouth forms as it is used, for example, the palate takes its shape as the baby pushes it with the suction of the bottle. For this reason, there are some guidelines on how to feed your child and on what materials to use (types of nipples, suckers …) that can facilitate the correct formation of your baby’s mouth and thus prevent future chewing, breathing or joint problems.

Hoarseness is the loss of the voice, either partial or complete. Many voice problems arise from poor coordination between breath and speech.

When we do not take in the air we need, we place excessive tension on the vocal cords, causing them to be damaged and generate dysphonia.

By learning to breathe in correct patterns and training vocal projection, voice problems can be avoided.