Speech Help

If you think your child is at risk for language difficulties, the last thing you want to do is wait around. But, it’s scary not to know how to approach such a delicate situation. And the truth is, your fear of the unknown can sometimes be worse than the situation itself. Luckily, the missing piece that will help you and your child overcome the challenges that a speech delay or disorder brings is closer than you think. Yasmin Akhtar, an SLT, is on a mission to help parents understand language development through the power of games.

Speech therapy is a practice that assists people with speech and language disorders, or who have trouble swallowing. This audiobook takes you through the role of a speech therapist; the anatomical structures and physiological functions of speech and hearing; phonetics; language development and speech disorders; the structure of language; and career paths in this field.

Research suggests that the first six months of life are the most critical to a child’s development of language skills. For an individual to become sufficiently skilled in any language, they must be exposed to the language as early as possible, preferably before school age.

Early and social interaction skills are essential for every child to get the best start in life. Skills like language, eye contact, and self-regulation are just some of the things your child needs in order to excel - personally and academically! Since the pandemic, both parents and teachers are becoming more concerned about children’s abilities to interact. On top of that, there are delays in referrals to specialists. As early interaction is so important, you are probably thinking that you don’t have the qualifications to make a difference. This is not true!

According to Mencap, there are approximately 351,000 children in the UK with a learning disability. In the US, 17 percent of children have delays in physical, learning, language, or behavior development. It doesn’t stop there. Worldwide, there are around 18.5 million people with speech, voice, or language disorders! If you yourself don’t have or never have had a speech and language delay or disorder, it’s nearly impossible to understand what your little one is going through.