Brochure on Speech, Language, and Hearing Development Now Available in Spanish.
A brochure outlining speech, language, and hearing milestones unique to Spanish-speaking children is available free of charge from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). "Que Tal Habla y Oye Su Nino?" ("How Does Your Child Hear and Talk?") contains practical information on the development of communication skills in children from birth through five years of age.
The brochure also gives parents guidance on how to determine a possible speech, language, or hearing problem, where to get help, and how to obtain additional information from ASHA on related topics.
Nearly 8 million children in North America have a speech, language, or hearing disorder that affects their ability to develop the language and speech skills necessary for academic and vocational achievement. Early identification and treatment of speech, language, and hearing disorders are critical to reducing developmental delays and expanding communication skills. Speech-language pathologists and audiologists provide identification and assessment of and treatment to those with communication disorders, including swallowing problems and balance disorders.
Speech disorders affect the way children use and understand speech. Speech disorders include stuttering (a disruption in the flow of speech), articulation (incorrect production or use of sounds), and voice (inappropriate pitch, loudness, or nasality). Language disorders include difficulty with understanding or using vocabulary, grammar, or the right speech for a particular situation. Reading, writing, gesturing, and speaking can all be forms of language.
Hearing disorders interfere with the listener's ability to hear sounds clearly. Conductive hearing loss refers to disorders that interfere with sounds being conducted through the outer ear or the middle ear (for example, wax blocking the ear canal, fluid in the middle ear space, or a hole in the eardrum). Sensorineural hearing loss refers to damage in the inner ear (for example, due to noise exposure) or the nerve pathways to the brain (for example, due to a tumor). The child may also experience some distortion of the signal and may confuse or misunderstand what was heard. ("Give me a quarter" may sound like "Give me some water.") A mixed hearing loss refers to a combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss.
Parents, family members, and medical professionals can receive this brochure by calling ASHA's Action Center at 1-800-638-8255 (TALK). Spanish- speaking operators can also provide additional information on speech, language, and hearing development. Consumers can request information by writing ASHA, Action Center, 10801 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852 or log on to www.asha.org or sending an e-mail to firstname.lastname@example.org.
ASHA is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for nearly 100,000 audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists. This year ASHA celebrates its 75th anniversary-75 years of quality and dedication to the identification, treatment and prevention of communication disorders.
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|Date:||May 5, 2000|
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