Speech Therapy Terms Defined

There are a LOT of acronyms and terms in speech therapy and related fields. If you are feeling overwhelmed by the different names, you’ve come to the right place.

Articulation

As a parent, you may have heard the term "articulation" thrown around in conversations about your child's speech development. Simply put, articulation refers to how we use our lips, tongue, teeth, and palate to produce speech sounds.

It's important to note that while some degree of speech sound errors are common in young children, persistent or severe articulation errors may indicate a speech disorder that could potentially impact their communication with others. Common articulation errors include substituting one sound for another, leaving out a sound altogether, or distorting a sound. Click here to learn more about articulation development and disorders.

Language

Language is the special set of rules and symbols we use to share messages with each other. These symbols can be spoken or written words, but they can also be gestures or expressions like blowing a kiss or waving "bye-bye." While speech is how we actually make sounds and words with our mouths, language is the bigger picture that helps us understand and communicate with the world around us.

Language is having a toolset with different tools that we can use to build sentences, tell stories, and share our thoughts and feelings. Just like how a builder needs a hammer, nails, and screws to build a house, we use different words like nouns, verbs, and adjectives to build sentences. Imagine you are talking to your child about a new toy that they have never seen before. You might say, "This is a toy car, and it has four wheels. You can push it around and make it go vroom vroom!" By using different words, you are able to give your child a clear understanding of what the toy is and how it works. As your child's language skills develop, they will be able to use these words and build their own sentences to express their thoughts and ideas. You can learn more about what language is here.

Receptive Language

Receptive language is what a child understands. When we talk to our children, they use their receptive language skills to listen, understand, and make sense of what we're saying. This is important for all kinds of daily activities, like following instructions, understanding stories, and engaging in conversations with others.

Expressive Language

Expressive language refers to our ability to use words, gestures, and other means to express our thoughts, feelings, and ideas. Expressive language is a complex skill that develops over time and becomes quite sophisticated! Developing expressive language is important for building social connections, forming relationships, and succeeding in school and beyond.

Pragmatic Language

Pragmatic language refers to the way we use language in social situations to communicate effectively with others. It's like the "social glue" that helps us connect with people and understand their feelings and intentions. For example, using an appropriate tone of voice, making eye contact, taking turns in conversation, and understanding sarcasm and jokes are all important aspects of pragmatic language. Children who struggle with pragmatic language might have difficulty with making friends, following social rules, and understanding nonverbal cues. But with practice and support, they can develop strong social communication skills that will help them in all areas of life.

Childhood Apraxia of Speech

Childhood apraxia of speech is a speech disorder that makes it difficult for a child to coordinate the movements of their mouth and tongue to produce clear and accurate speech. It's like having a "traffic jam" in the brain, where the signals that tell the mouth how to move to produce certain sounds get mixed up or lost. This can make it hard for others to understand what the child is trying to say, even though they may have lots of ideas and things they want to share. 

Stuttering

Stuttering is a speech disorder that affects the normal flow of speech. It is characterized by disruptions or interruptions while talking that may include repetitions of sounds, syllables, or words, prolongations or elongating sounds or pauses, or the use of filler words or phrases. Stuttering can vary in severity and frequency and can occur in different patterns, including the following three types of disfluency:

• Repetitions: This type of disfluency involves repeating a sound, syllable, or word, such as "b-b-ball" or "I-I-I want."
• Prolongations: Prolongations involve stretching out a sound or syllable, such as "sssssssnake" or "mmmmom."
• Blocks: Blocks involve a pause or hesitation in speech where the speaker cannot produce a sound or word. This can be accompanied by tension in the facial muscles or other secondary behaviors, such as eye blinking or body movements.

It's important to note that not all disfluencies are considered stuttering, as most people experience some level of disfluency in their speech from time to time. However, it may indicate stuttering when the disfluencies become more frequent and severe or interfere with communication. 

Joint Attention

Joint attention is a skill where a child and caregiver both attend to the same thing and are mutually aware they are doing so. It is an important skill that helps children develop interaction and language skills. Joint attention can be gained by using eye contact, gestures (e.g. pointing using the index finger), and/or vocalizations, including spoken words (e.g. “look over there”). Here are two examples of joint attention:

1. A baby looks at a toy, then looks at their parent, and then back at the toy, suggesting that they enjoy knowing that their parent is looking at the same thing as them.
2. A child points to a passing fire truck and gazes at their parent to get them to look too. Perhaps they are excited, smiling, or vocalizing. They may use a declarative gesture (a type of gesture used by people to direct another person's attention to something in the environment that they consider to be interesting. These gestures are used to share attention or point out something of interest).

Joint attention usually develops towards the end of a child’s first year and continues to improve into their second year. It is important for parents to engage in activities that involve taking turns and drawing attention to their face and voice to help their child develop joint attention skills.