Child is having difficulty with words, sounds and speech, make an appointment with the best speech therapist in Sharjah and start speech therapy before it’s too late.

1. What Is Speech Therapy?
Everything You Need To
Know

2. You might have heard the term “Speech Therapy” and
assumed it has something to do with speech
challenges. Yes, you are partially correct! However, in
this article, we will examine the topic as a whole so that
you attain a clear understanding of the term. So, let’s
start at the base, shall we?

3. What Is Speech Therapy?
Speech therapy is a treatment
method that involves the
assessment, treatment and
improvement of speech and
language disorders and other
communication issues.
Not anyone can perform speech
therapy sessions but someone with
adequate qualifications.

4. Only speech-language pathologists (SLPs),
often referred to as speech therapists, can
diagnose and treat speech-related problems.
Speech therapy sessions contain language
interaction activities to improve speech and
language skills such as voice and sound
production, comprehension, fluency, clarity and
expression.
Children and adults have distant speech
therapies as their requirements and treatment
techniques are different from each other.

5. Who Needs Speech Therapy?
The next inevitable question to answer is who is
the required set of people who needs speech
therapy sessions.
Children with speech disorders and adults with
speech impairments caused by stroke or brain
injury, or other illnesses are the ones in need of
speech therapy.

6. The best speech therapist in UAE
deals with different childhood
speech disorders.
Children with speech and
language disorders have difficulty
expressing their feelings and
thoughts, comprehending
messages etc.

7. Here are some of the speech and language disorders
commonly seen in children which require special
attention and treatment:
Apraxia: Apraxia is a speech disorder that occurs due
to some damage to the nerve endings that connect
the brain to the muscles that produce speech. As a
result, they know what they want to say but have
trouble forming words. They also face difficulty reading,
writing, swallowing, or other motor skills.

8. Aphasia: Aphasia is an acquired
communication disorder that
affects the ability to speak and
understand others, and read and
write languages. This condition
occurs when the brain's
processing areas are damaged
due to stroke injury or tumours or
other brain disorders.

9. Articulation disorders: An articulation disorder is related to the
ability to produce certain word sounds. A child with an
articulation disorder may often drop, swap, distort or add word
sounds that will lose the real sense or meaning of the word or
produce nonsensical words. For example, a child would say “thith”
instead of “this”, “th” sound used in the place of the “s” sound.

10. Fluency disorders: A fluency disorder
affects flow, speed, and rhythm of
speech while speaking.
Stuttering/stammering and cluttering
are common fluency disorders.
Stuttering occurs when a person has
trouble getting out a sound or repeats
a sound of the word, which will block or
interrupt the flow of speech. On the
other hand, a person with cluttering
often speaks very fast, so they tend to
merge words together.

11. Receptive disorders. This language
disorder is associated with receiving input
that has trouble understanding and
processing what others say. It occurs due
to autism or hearing loss or a head injury.
As a result, people with the receptive
disorder will have only a limited
vocabulary, have difficulty following
directions, and might seem uninterested in
conversations. Auditory Processing
Disorder is one of the major receptive
disorders.

12. Expressive disorders: Difficulty in conveying or expressing
information comes under expressive disorders. A person with
expressive disorders has trouble forming accurate sentences.
Expressive disorders are often associated with developmental
impairments, such as Down syndrome and hearing loss, head
trauma or any other medical condition.

13. Cognitive-communication disorders:
Difficulties in communication that
have been raised because of an injury
in the area of the brain that controls
the ability to think is referred to as
cognitive-communication disorder.
This disorder causes problems with
listening, speaking, memory, and
problem-solving. Abnormal brain
development, certain neurological
conditions, a brain injury, or stroke can
also be the cause of this disorder.

14. What happens during speech therapy?
Speech therapy sessions always begin with the
diagnostic stage. An expert speech therapist will
conduct a few assessment tests and identify the
type of communication disorder. Once the speech
disorder is accurately found, the speech therapist
will formulate the right combination of speech
therapy techniques that can deliver the right
results.

15. Interact with the children through talking or playing, using books,
pictures and other objects.
Model correct sounds and syllables during exercises and activities
to teach the children how to produce certain sounds.
Provide tips, strategies and homework to the child and parent or
caregiver on how to enunciate speech therapy in their respective
homes.
When considering speech therapy for children, skill-developing
exercises, games and activities may vary depending on the speech
disorder, age and individual needs of every child. During speech
therapy, the SLP may:

16. What are the benefits of speech therapy?
Recent studies have shown that speech therapy is an
effective way to help children and adults improve their
communication skills. More than 700 children with speech or
language problems have shown positive results with speech
therapy interventions.

17. Improved self-esteem.
Increased independence.
Ability to comprehend and express ideas, thoughts and feelings.
Acquiring school-ready skills
Enhanced vocal quality, fluency and clarity of speech
Better swallowing function.
Improved quality of life.
Development of practical community skills
Speech therapy offers several benefits, including:

18. How long do you need speech therapy?
One cannot accurately predict the exact duration of
speech therapy. The amount of time may vary for each
individual depending on many factors such as:
The age
Type and severity of the speech disorder
Frequency of therapy sessions
Underlying medical condition

19. Some kinds of speech disorders appear in childhood and rectify
along with age maturation, while there are other types that
continue into adulthood and require long-term therapy.
Language disorders that are majorly caused by a stroke or other
medical condition may improve as the medical condition
improves.
Whatever be the case, if you notice that your child is having
difficulty with words, sounds and speech, make an appointment
with the best speech therapist in Sharjah and start speech therapy
before it’s too late.

20. THANK YOU