Logopedist

The logopedist – the specialist dealing with problems of disturbance of the speech. The children's logopedist deals with problems of the speech at children. In modern practice the logopedist uses psychotherapeutic, pedagogical methods, audition and many other ways of correction of the speech.

It is important to know that at speech problems the logopedist is simply necessary for the child, and, the earlier to begin treatment, the it is more than chances of recovery whereas at mature age to correct disturbances of the speech it is quite problematic.

Task of the children's logopedist is to define a condition of the speech of the child. It means that the logopedist-speech pathologist has to find out whether correctly the child says speech sounds for the age and whether its lexicon is rather rich, whether correctly the child builds phrases and how well he is able to communicate by means of the speech. If the child of already school age, then the logopedist-speech pathologist estimates also his ability to read and write. Besides, the logopedist often tries to estimate a condition of nonverbal abilities of the child.

The logopedist-speech pathologist tries to find out as far as at the child the figurative thinking is developed. Estimates its abilities concerning orientation in space, ability to draw, design, think logically and to consistently state thoughts. It is also important to see as well as what the kid as far as his games are rich and various plays.

Contrary to popular belief, the children's logopedist not only teaches the child to say sounds correctly. The logopedist's lessons in correctional group consist in development in children of attention, visual and acoustical perception, improvement of thinking and memory. Without all these factors it is difficult for logopedist to adjust full educational process. The logopedist's tasks also include enrichment of a lexicon of the child, training in its diploma and coherent speech, correction of grammatical mistakes.

Except a technique of correction of written and oral speech, competence of the children's logopedist includes knowledge of psychopathology, neuropathology and pathology of organs of speech and hearing.

If the logopedist-speech pathologist finds any deviation, then its main objective is to understand the reasons of deviations and to solve how to it to help.

At what diseases the logopedist is necessary for the child?

• Disturbance of a pronunciation of sounds (dysarthtia or dyslalia);
• Malocclusion;
• Loss or underdevelopment of the speech (aphasia, alalia);
• Alalias owing to a hearing disorder;
• Disturbances of speed and rhythm of the speech (stutter, reactive stutter).

When parents have to address the logopedist-speech pathologist?

• If at the child late development of the speech;
• At stutter;
• At disturbance of understanding of the speech or a defective sound pronunciation.

The main symptom of stutter when parents have to find urgently the logopedist for the child, is spasms of lips, face muscles and the respiratory device.

These spasms on character happen clonic, that is when the child constantly repeats the same syllable or a sound, and also tonic – when it is difficult to child in general to begin to speak. Spasms of the mixed type meet.

In addition to spasms, symptoms of stutter of the child are motive and speech tricks when the child before beginning to speak, pulls a lobe of an ear or taps with a hand, or stretches sounds.

Regular lessons of the logopedist will help the child to get rid of stutter or to minimize its effects.

Parents have to know that often stutter causes personal changes as the child has complex concerning the speech, avoids communication with peers, and, sometimes, and with close people. Such speech pathology at teenagers can create serious difficulties at choice of profession not to mention that stutter significantly reduces a self-assessment of the person.

Therefore logopedists consider that at stutter the identity of the person, but not his speech more suffers.

What analyses the logopedist for the child can demand?

For the purpose of detection of defects of the speech the children's logopedist conducts speech and physical examination of the patient.

Councils of the logopedist

Often children who badly speak also badly eat. As a rule, the child has weak maxillary muscles which it is necessary to train. For this purpose it is useful to give to the child apples, carrot and other firm vegetables and fruit. It is necessary to force the child to chew crackers, lumpy meat and bread with crusts. And to develop at the child of a muscle of language and cheeks, at lessons logopedists teach children to rinse a mouth, to inflate cheeks and to hold air.

It is important to develop small motility at children. Try not to prevent children to button independently clothes, to roll up sleeves and to lace up boots. As it is strange, but the children's fingers are quicker, the language is more clear.