Have you ever wondered if Misarticulating can be treated? Well we have the answer. Communication forms an integral part of our lives now. It determines our progress in life in terms of cracking job interviews, the way we conduct our business, even our relationships with near and dear ones depends a lot on the way we communicate. Verbal communication is perhaps the most important part of communication. In verbal communication articulation is one of the keys of effective communication. It is the process the speech organs like tongue, lips, palate interact after air stream comes out of the Vocal chords and produce sounds, syllables and words. A person with a disorder of articulation produces sounds, syllables or words, incorrectly, so that the listeners are unable to understand what he or she is trying to speak.
The defects in articulation may include certain disorders like errors types of omissions, substitution or that of distortions.
The Causes of Misarticulating:
The causes of misarticulating may be many. These may be cerebral palsy which means a weakness or problem in the brain. This is what affects many young children leading to Misarticulating along with other defects. Cleft palate also causes misarticulation. Some other causes of misarticulating may be because of hearing loss or dental problems. Though the problem of articulating though arises on account of physical disability, certain functional articulation defects may arise out of faulty learning practices of speech sounds may also be the culprit in many cases.
Studies have shown that in case of a 2 year old child, about 50% of his speech may be intelligible. For a 4 year it should be intelligible overall. However in case of a 7 year old child, should be clearly be able to produce most words and sounds consistent with the norms of its community.
Who can help?
If case of Misarticulation is found in an individual then a visit to a well trained Speech and Language Pathologist (SLPs) would help. SLPs are not doctors but they are the ones who assess, diagnose and treat people suffering from Speech, language and communication defects. Recovery in speech Misarticulating through Therapy varies from case to case and on how severe the problem is.
In case of severe problems early detection, intervention and treatment from the SLPs would definitely help.
In case of children, parents can help in rectify misarticulating in many ways with the help of SLPs. Parents can help child by proper pronunciation of speech sounds. They must provide right opportunities for the child to hear and say the sound correctly. It has been observed that hearing affects sound acquisition, so try to ensure what your child hears is correct.
At Speechplus we have a specialized team of Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) who are all extremely well trained to help you with any any speech, voice or language related difficulties and thereby enable you to cope up with the challenges of everyday life be it in your job, business or personal life.