What kind of requests are made?
- the child does not speak or speaks little for his age;
- speech is incomprehensible to others, sounds are distorted or replaced;
- does not pronounce individual sounds - R, L, hissing, whistling;
- stuttering, hesitation, “getting stuck” on the sound;
- poor vocabulary, difficulties with constructing phrases and retelling;
- difficulties with reading and writing in schoolchildren, persistent errors;
- preparation for school: attention, memory, fine motor skills, sound analysis.
Speech therapist and defectologist - what's the difference?
A speech therapist works with speech: sounds, vocabulary, grammar, reading and writing. A defectologist is broader: with cognitive development in general, attention, memory, thinking, learning skills. In practice, these tasks often overlap, so a specialist with dual training can treat a child in a comprehensive manner, and, if necessary, transfer part of the work to a neuropsychologist or child psychologist.
About bilingualism
If two languages are heard at home, this in itself is not a reason for speech delay. But mixing languages can mask the real problem or, conversely, create its appearance. Therefore, the specialist separately clarifies the family’s language environment and builds a program taking into account which language the child hears and speaks more.
