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Linda Phillips
Speech Pathology and Dyslexia Centre
  

   
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SPEECH DEVELOPMENT IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

What’s normal?

Speech
Four to five year olds commonly make speech sound errors on a small number of sounds, including “k”, “g”, “l”, “f” “r”, “v”,and “th”.  Despite this a four year old should be readily understood by unfamiliar people almost all of the time

Language
Three to four year olds communicate effectively about events around them in sentences of four and more words.  They can ask questions starting with “can” and “is” (“Is it your ball?”)
They use a range of pronouns like “he” and “his” and are able to talk about events that happened yesterday using past tense words like “jumped” and “climbed”.

Getting help early is important
 The years before school commencement are the most important time for a child to learn how to communicate.  Children use this time to develop the skills they will need to start learning to read when they begin school.

Research consistently shows that children with good speaking and listening skills do better at school. Sometimes it is difficult to know whether a child needs particular help with their speech or whether just a bit more time will do the trick.  In general:
  • specialists in early childhood such as kinder teachers know the most about children of this age
  • “wait and see” may mean valuable time is lost in treating a problem that may be easily fixed
  • early treatment in the preschool years can be fun for the child, while therapy at school-age takes longer and may be less enjoyable

More information can be found at:
www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

 
DYSLEXIA

Dyslexia is a term used to describe a specific difficulty learning to read at the level expected for one's age. Many people think of dyslexia as a problem with letter reversal, or of writing letters back to front.

However,
there are a variety of reasons why someone has difficulty learning to read. The most common reason is a problem listening for sounds in words and using this to help work out (decode) new words. A smaller percentage of dyslexic students have difficulty recalling the usual patterns of letters within words.

Further information is available at:
www.ldaustralia.org
www.auspeld.org.au

 

AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER or ASD

There are three key characteristics of the child with autism spectrum disorder.  The child must demonstrate all three characteristics in order to be considered to be on the spectrum:

  • An impairment in the development of communication skills appropriate for the child’s age
  • An impairment in the development of social relationships
  • Either a restricted pattern of interests which prevent the child engaging in normal social play and interaction, or evidence of repetitive movements that look the same each time they occur.  Commonly these movements consist of things like flapping the hands, flicking fingers, looking at objects from an unusual angle or blinking the eyes.

A diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder is made by a team of specialists headed by a paediatrician.  Information is usually gathered from medical specialists, an occupational therapist, a psychologist and a speech pathologist, together with the child’s family and teachers.  This provides the most effective form of diagnosis. 

Further information can be obtained from:
www.autismvictoria.org.au
 

 

More:
Dyslexia
Autism Spectrum Disorder

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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