Saturday, May 24, 2014
May is Better Speech and Hearing Month
8:44 AM | 
Posted by
Kaplan Center for Health and Wellness
As a speech-language pathologist,
it would be a shame not to mention that May is Better Speech and Hearing
Month! The American Speech and Hearing
Association promotes better speech and hearing all year long, but May is
dedicated to awareness of communication disorders. Nearly 1 in 6 people suffer from communication
disorders and the number of Americans with hearing loss has doubled in the last
30 years (ASHA, 2014). That means that
nearly 40 million Americans have some sort of speech and language disorder.The
key to treating communication disorders and hearing loss is early
detection. What are some signs to look
for?
In Children:
•
Infants:
–
if they don’t respond to sound or recognize
faces
–
If they are not making any sounds by nine months
•
Toddlers:
–
if they seem frustrated
–
if they are not able to follow directions
•
Preschool:
–
if they are not understood by family and peers
–
If they are not able to follow directions
•
School Age:
–
if they are not understood by teachers or
strangers, or are embarrassed by their speech
–
if they have trouble putting words into the
right order (spoken or written)
In Adults:
-
severe repetition of sounds or words (signs of stuttering)
-
inability to find the right word or slurred
words (signs of a stroke)
-
asking for repetition (signs of a hearing loss)
If you suspect that someone has a
communication disorder, it is best to consult a speech and language
pathologist. They will provide a
screening and make recommendations for treatment options. Concerns about possible strokes and/or
hearing loss should be brought to your primary care physician.
While communication disorders are
very common, they are also often treatable.
Early detection is the best key to success. It never hurts to ask a professional for
their opinion or advice!
For more information about early
detection of speech and hearing problems, please see:
Valerie J Connor, MA CCC-SLP
ASHA (2014). The prevalence and incidence of hearing loss
in adults. Retrieved from http://www.asha.org/public/hearing/Prevalence-and-Incidence-of-Hearing-Loss-in-Adults/
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1 comments:
Thanks for this awesome post. You are great man and always do something unique for us. It is discussed on various outlets of the media and in no time, they move on to the next topic of the day. Truth be told, genetics health information prescription drugs affects everyone from the young to the old, the professional, the student, the preacher, etc. It takes it's toll on many lives.
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