Many children have problems with diction. Incorrect pronunciation of sounds can become entrenched and then it will be much more difficult to teach the child to pronounce words clearly and clearly. For this reason, at an older age, many psychological complexes develop; it is difficult for a person to read, express his thoughts out loud, he withdraws and reduces communication with the surrounding society to a minimum. That is why, from the age of 4-5, children are referred for consultation to a speech therapist. The specialist determines whether there are problems with pronouncing sounds and teaches the child to speak correctly. How to make an appointment with a speech therapist at a children's clinic will be discussed below.
Who is a pediatric speech therapist?
A specialist with a higher pedagogical education who knows effective methods for correcting speech development defects in children under 14 years of age is a children's speech therapist. For children with minor speech impairments, classes with a specialist in this profile, available in most kindergartens, may be sufficient. Children with serious speech disorders are referred to a speech therapist at a children's clinic for individual lessons. Such communication with a specialist includes special exercises for training the muscles of the cheeks and tongue, saying tongue twisters, learning songs and much more. Good specialists often have their own effective methods that allow them to achieve excellent results.
Important: if the child has speech problems, classes should be systematic, all recommendations of a specialist should be followed by studying with the child at home, involving all family members in this process
Individual lessons with a child conducted by an experienced specialist are mandatory for severe speech disorders, which include:
- aphasia, when speech is absent due to organic lesions of the cerebral cortex;
- alalia, absence of speech while maintaining normal hearing and intelligence;
- severe degrees of logoneurosis (stuttering), the main causes of which remain psychological problems (experienced stress, parental divorce, lack of attention).
In addition, the baby may be diagnosed with:
- GSD (general speech underdevelopment);
- dysarthria (impaired speech clarity, tempo, intonation, voice problems);
- dyslalia (the child cannot pronounce a sound or group of sounds correctly).
If a problem is identified, it is necessary to help the child in a timely manner.
After all, the absence of speech leads to inevitable delays in mental development, which worsen as the child grows up, and even if the child
speaks, there are long coherent phrases in his speech, the baby can please you with a story about his day or events during a walk and pronounces only some of the sounds incorrectly; classes with a speech therapist can correct the situation. It is better to do this before school; problems with speech make it difficult to perceive new information and lead to a decrease in academic performance.
Smooth or intermittent
Early detection of speech disorders and accurate diagnosis will make it possible to solve the problem faster and with much less effort, Olga Skoblikova, teacher-speech therapist at school No. 2124 “Center for Development and Correction,” is sure.
With all the variety of tools that speech therapists have at their disposal, there are no universal effective tools for all children, she adds.
“The set of tools is very large, but there should always be an individual approach to each child. In case of severe speech impairment, one remedy is needed, but in case of mental retardation, completely different help should be offered,” says the specialist, who has been practicing since 1996.
Speech therapy has changed a lot over the past 20+ years. Once upon a time, she said, visual materials for work had to be drawn by hand, but now technology has come to the rescue. “The biofeedback complex is very good for children who stutter and, in general, for children whose speech breathing is impaired. This speech therapy simulator allows you to see the child’s cardiac activity and evaluate how he breathes - smoothly, shallowly or intermittently. This can be seen when I simply teach a child to breathe: first inhale through the nose, and then exhale smoothly,” explains Olga Skoblikova.
Another technology helps to increase work efficiency and develop correct auditory perception in a child - neurosensory stimulation. To do this, specialists use a program based on the developments of the French otorhinolaryngologist Alfred Tomatis. “The child puts on headphones and listens to specially processed classical music. After several sessions, the brain works with sounds differently, and information is processed better,” says Olga Skoblikova.
Despite all the technological innovations, no one is immune from failure, she adds. The work of a speech therapist is painstaking and requires a lot of patience - sometimes you need to wait a long time for results. “You have to move in small steps, but even children with intellectual disabilities can achieve some success. A child needs to at least understand the speech addressed to him in order to be able to socialize,” adds Olga Skoblikova optimistically.
When to contact a pediatric speech therapist
Of course, each child is individual, everyone develops differently, but normally a one-year-old baby should understand some simple phrases addressed to him, show the location of the eyes, nose and mouth, and understand the meaning of the word “impossible.”
At two years old, a baby normally knows more than 20 words, speaks simple phrases, responds to messages “Let’s go for a walk” by starting to get dressed or pointing to clothes for a walk, brings a certain toy upon request, and is able to listen to a short fairy tale.
By the age of 3, a child already has a fairly extensive vocabulary, asks a lot of questions, and tries to share his impressions with his parents.
Today, the norms have changed somewhat, many three-year-olds are just beginning to speak in sentences, and the number of words spoken has decreased significantly.
However, if a child has not started talking by the age of three, avoids communicating with peers on the playground, and cannot interact with loved ones, this is a serious reason to turn to specialists.
In this case, a consultation with a neurologist is necessary, a hearing test should be performed and a speech therapist should be consulted.
A comprehensive examination of the baby will identify the problem and begin treatment. Even if your family or close friends have examples where a child was silent for up to 3 years or more, and then spoke successfully, this is not a reason to postpone a visit to specialists.
How does a speech therapy kindergarten differ from a regular kindergarten?
There is an opinion that a speech therapy group is a certain “stigma” in a child’s personal file. Is it really?
First, let's figure out what a speech therapy group is?
Correctional groups are divided into speech (speech therapy) and groups of children with mental retardation (delayed psycho-speech development).
In speech therapy groups, they introduce sounds that were not there and correct incorrectly pronounced ones (correction of speech defects), enrich the vocabulary, develop phonemic awareness, coherent speech, and teach correct grammatical formatting. In the senior and preparatory groups they prepare for learning to read and write.
In the ZPR groups there are both a speech therapist and a defectologist (in addition to teachers who have the necessary qualifications). Also, a speech center can work in a kindergarten - in this case, a speech therapist individually works with children with impaired pronunciation according to a certain schedule.
But in any case, a speech therapy group in our time is not a punishment, but, most likely, a reward, because it has become more difficult to get there, and the general underdevelopment of speech is easier to correct in the garden, where all the work is aimed at eliminating this problem.
Perhaps it is no longer a secret to anyone that in speech therapy kindergartens the preparation of children, no offense to anyone, is sometimes much stronger than in mass kindergartens. Because children from speech therapy groups come to school with a much better vocabulary than children from a regular kindergarten. They know more, they have a wider vocabulary, and many skills are better developed, starting with graphic skills, sound-letter analysis and ending with stories based on pictures. Generalizing concepts are better formed. That is, children come from speech therapy kindergartens even more prepared.
Some parents are very attracted by all this splendor, and they dream of enrolling their children in a speech kindergarten. Others are afraid of speech therapy kindergartens, believing that a child who finds himself among poorly speaking peers will begin to speak even worse than before.
These are misconceptions. A child with speech therapy problems does not begin to speak worse because he communicates with other children with similar disorders. The only exceptions are those cases when a child with pronunciation problems ends up in a group of children who stutter. Indeed, there are cases where a child develops stuttering “by imitation.” But specialists, as a rule, avoid such mistakes.
So, for one reason or another, you think that your child definitely needs a specialized speech therapy group. What do you need to do to get into a speech therapy garden?
The speech therapy kindergarten accepts children mainly 4-5 years of age, since correction of speech disorders is especially important for them in order to successfully prepare for school. From the age of 3 you can join a group for children with delayed psycho-speech development (DSD).
How to make an appointment
You can make an appointment with a speech therapist in a children's clinic at the reception of the medical institution during a personal visit, by telephone, by calling and specifying the appointment schedule. In addition, registration is carried out on the website of the selected clinic. Often, parents are referred to see a speech therapist by a pediatrician on the recommendation of a specialist from a preschool institution.
Unfortunately, it is not yet possible to sign up with a speech therapist through the State Services portal.
If the appointment is made at the medical institution at the place of registration of the child, the doctor’s appointment will be free; if the parents looked for a specialist on their own, the price of the visit may vary significantly among different doctors.
How is the appointment going?
At the first speech therapy appointment, the doctor interviews the mother in detail, asks questions about the course of pregnancy and childbirth, the presence of diseases in the baby, the presence of a hereditary predisposition to the presence of speech problems, and makes a general impression about the situation in the family.
Often, speech problems in a baby arise due to a lack of communication in the family, when there is no close contact with the parents, in cases where, while fulfilling their responsibilities for caring for the baby, they do not communicate enough with the baby, do not teach him to pronounce words and sounds, or speak too much quickly and the child’s brain does not have time to assimilate the information received.
Having collected all the data about the family, the specialist begins to communicate with the baby using certain techniques. At the appointment, it is important to establish emotional contact with the baby, and the time of the first appointment rarely exceeds 35 minutes.
After talking with the child, the specialist makes a speech therapy conclusion and tells the mother in detail about the baby’s speech problems and ways to eliminate them.
You should not be alarmed if a speech therapist discovers violations, but a frivolous attitude to his recommendations can result in big troubles.
How much does an appointment cost?
The cost of an appointment depends on the qualifications of the chosen specialist; in Moscow it starts from 1000 rubles for an initial appointment; in the regions, prices are slightly lower.
In children's clinics at the child's place of residence, if indicated, admission and subsequent classes are provided free of charge.
The frequency of classes is selected individually, taking into account the identified violations. Clinics often conduct group classes, selecting children with similar problems. Groups are formed taking into account the age and development of the child.
How to choose a good children's speech therapist
Usually, mothers give each other the contact details of a good speech therapist, because by communicating on the playground, parents often make new acquaintances. You can look for a good specialist on the appropriate website for your region. There is detailed information about the qualifications of the speech therapist supported by customer reviews. As a last resort, if there is evidence, the child is given a referral to a specialized kindergarten. To do this, you must pass a special psychological-medical-pedagogical commission (PMPC).
The arrival of a baby in a family is not only a holiday; raising and nurturing a child requires enormous effort from parents. Try to spend as much time as possible with your baby, communicate with him, talk, patiently teach him the simplest things. Do not give a child under 3 years old a smartphone, try not to give in to the temptation to turn on the TV and go about your business, if necessary, do not delay a visit to a specialist and let your “whys” open up this huge colorful world.
Commission for a speech therapy group - why it is needed and how it works
Kuznetsova Anna
Commission for a speech therapy group - why it is needed and how it works
A referral to a commission to register a child in a speech therapy group causes protest and anxiety among parents. Many parents feel that the goal of the commission is to make a diagnosis and issue a certificate, but they are not interested in the needs of the baby.
In addition, hearing about a correction group in a preschool educational institution (preschool educational institution), parents have the feeling that their beloved child is mistaken for mentally retarded . And they, throwing away the voice of reason, strive to prove the opposite to everyone. Although the conclusion of a speech therapist is the first step towards eliminating the defect After all, the earlier a violation is detected, the easier it is to cope with it.
What is a speech therapy group and who needs it ?
The correctional group in kindergarten is designed to create optimal conditions for children with severe speech impairments to eliminate the defect, master the program for preschoolers and prepare for literacy (reading and writing)
At school.
In the speech therapy group , educators and defectologists work on establishing correct articulation, improving the perception and recognition of phonemes by ear, increasing passive vocabulary, developing coherent oral speech, and eradicating grammatical errors. Additionally, classes are conducted that develop fine motor skills of the fingers, the ability to draw, strengthen memory, promote concentration, and the development of imaginative and spatial thinking. This comprehensive approach allows you to quickly eliminate speech underdevelopment.
Corrective work is carried out jointly by a speech therapist , a teacher, a physical teacher and a kindergarten music worker, and a psychologist .
PMPC - what is it?
The commission for the speech therapy group is called PMPC and stands for psychological-medical-pedagogical . Children 4–5 years old with severe speech disorders are referred to PMPK. And speech disorders that do not correspond to age, a child of 5 years old cannot correctly pronounce sounds that should have already formed by this age.
The purpose of the commission is a comprehensive examination of the small patient, identification of speech disorders, recommendation of the necessary training program and duration of correction.
The PMPC includes:
pediatrician (children's general practitioner)
;
clinical psychologist;
psychiatrist or psychoneurologist;
speech pathologist or speech therapist .
A teacher , speech therapist , psychologist or head of a preschool educational institution recommend passing Parents can also initiate an examination on their own, believing that the child needs help from a speech therapist .
How to get on the commission ?
The first thing that is necessary is to take a referral for a PMPK examination in kindergarten, from a speech therapist or pediatrician . Then you need to prepare the necessary package of documents.
From the preschool educational institution that the child attends, you need to take a reference from the teacher and speech therapist , certified by the signature of the head and seal.
Then the date of the commission . Registration for examination is carried out at the city center for psychological, medical and pedagogical support . When undergoing the examination, parents provide passports, the baby’s birth certificate and a prepared package of documents.
What happens at the commission ?
Parents come to the examination with their baby. The PMPK meets collegially in one room. A speech pathologist , clinical psychologist, teacher, psychiatrist or neurologist talks with the baby in the presence of adults
The listed doctors are located at the same table, communicating with the child standing opposite them. Or they are at different tables, and the baby takes turns approaching each person present. During the examination you will have to answer questions and complete tasks.
The atmosphere of the commission can frighten the child. Specialists do not try to find an approach to the baby; they ask questions hastily, without giving time to think.
The duration of the examination is 30-40 minutes. It is important that parents encourage the child.
How to prepare?
Before the examination, you need to explain to the child what is required of him, explain in what form the conversation will take place . You can ask your child the questions that will be on the commission . They depend on the age of the baby and the preliminary diagnosis.
At the commission, experts ask :
Tell about yourself and your family: name, age, place of residence, occupation of parents. Describe what the baby prefers to play with friends, what to do with mom and dad. Give the names of teachers and nannies. Tell about your pets: what they name, what they eat, how they play. Describe your home: the number of rooms, the purpose of the kitchen, toilet, bathroom.
Tell him what he knows about the concepts of day and night, weekdays and holidays, describe his daily routine.
Name the colors and shapes of the objects shown in the pictures, their location (under the table, on the chair, above the window)
.
Sort the pictures into groups : food, pets, furniture, toys. Find an extra item in the row, explain why .
Name the parts of the body and their purpose.
Remember a series of objects, turn around and find what has changed.
Repeat the words spoken by the specialist in the same order.
They check the articulation and literacy of sentence construction in accordance with age standards. The child should know what synonyms are (fun - joy, antonyms (crying - laughter, homonyms (key, braid, give examples.
Then phonemic awareness is checked. To do this, the child names the syllables of a given word and counts the words in the spoken sentence. They check whether the baby perceives the meaning of words that are similar in articulation: bark - hole.
The level of coherent speech is analyzed by asking a small patient to compose a story based on a picture.
The perception of someone else's speech is assessed by giving the task to retell a short story. The child must:
demonstrate how he sings, jumps, eats;
express your needs and feelings: tired, hungry, wants to sleep;
catching or hitting a ball, jumping on one leg is an indicator of coordination of movements.
The tasks and questions asked by PMPC members are not difficult. It is important to understand the reason why the child could not complete them. This could be banal excitement, pedagogical neglect, poor understanding of the Russian language (if it is not the child’s native language)
or speech underdevelopment that requires correction.
It is necessary to test the child in advance so that he does not worry when he hears a question or task, and understands what awaits him. However, the diagnostic questions of PMPK are standard and any child of a certain age can cope with them.
Commission conclusion
Based on the results of the testing, members of the PMPC draw up a protocol and familiarize the parents with it under their signature - this indicates the presence of the parents or legal representatives of the child at the examination.
The commission makes an opinion on whether the small patient can attend a regular preschool group , whether transfer to a specialized (
speech therapy ) group , whether correctional classes with a speech therapist , observation or treatment by a neurologist or psychiatrist are necessary.
The results of the PMPC are of a recommendatory nature. Parents themselves decide whether to adhere to them or not.
Information about the availability of correctional (
speech therapy ) groups for children with severe speech disorders in preschool institutions will be provided by the regional education departments.
