Make a sentence with each word and word combination. 2. Read the text “Speech therapy”

2. Read the text “Speech therapy”

Speech therapy or logopedics is a science concerning speech disorders, methods of their prevention, revealing and correction with help of special training. The term “ logopedics ” comes from two Greek roots: “logos” - a word and “pedos” – bring up, train.

The structure of modern speech therapy includes preschool, school and speech therapy of teenagers and adults. The main purpose of speech therapy as a science is to develop effective scientifically proven system of training people with speech disorders.

In fact, speech therapists deal with two groups of problems: speech and language disorders. A speech disorder refers to a problem with the actual production of sounds, whereas a language disorder refers to a difficulty understanding or putting words together to communicate ideas.

Speech disorders include:

Articulation disorders: difficulties producing sounds in syllables or saying words incorrectly to the point that listeners can't understand what's being said.

Fluency disorders: problems such as stuttering, in which the flow of speech is interrupted by abnormal stoppages, repetitions (st-st-stuttering), or prolonging sounds and syllables (ssssstuttering).

Resonance or voice disorders: problems with the pitch, volume, or quality of the voice that distract listeners from what's being said. These types of disorders may also cause pain or discomfort for a child when speaking.

Dysphagia/oral feeding disorders: these include difficulties with drooling, eating, and swallowing.

Language disorders can be either receptive or expressive:

Receptive disorders: difficulties understanding or processing language.

Expressive disorders: difficulty putting words together, limited vocabulary, or inability to use language in a socially appropriate way.

In speech-language therapy, a specialist will work with a child one-on-one, in a small group, or directly in a classroom to overcome difficulties involved with a specific disorder.

Therapists use a variety of strategies, including:

Language intervention activities: The specialist will interact with a child by playing and talking, using pictures, books, objects, or ongoing events to stimulate language development. The therapist may also model correct pronunciation and use repetition exercises to build speech and language skills.

Articulation therapy: Articulation, or sound production, exercises involve having the therapist model correct sounds and syllables for a child, often during play activities. The level of play is age-appropriate and related to the child's specific needs. The specialist will physically show the child how to make certain sounds, such as the " r" sound, and may demonstrate how to move the tongue to produce specific sounds.

Oral-motor/feeding and swallowing therapy: the specialist will use a variety of oral exercises — including facial massage and various tongue, lip, and jaw exercises — to strengthen the muscles of the mouth. The speech therapist also may work with different food textures and temperatures to increase a child's oral awareness during eating and swallowing.

Children might need speech-language therapy for a variety of reasons, including:

hearing impairments

cognitive (intellectual, thinking) or other developmental delays

weak oral muscles

excessive drooling

chronic hoarseness

birth defects such as cleft lip or cleft palate

autism

motor problems

respiratory problems (breathing disorders)

feeding and swallowing disorders

traumatic brain injury

Therapy should begin as soon as possible. Children enrolled in therapy early (before they're 5 years old) tend to have better results than those who begin therapy later.

This does not mean that older kids can't make progress in therapy; they may progress at a slower rate because they often have learned patterns that need to be changed.

III.1. Answer the questions:

1) What is speech therapy?

2) What is the structure of speech therapy?

3) What problems do speech disorders include?

4) What are language disorders?

5) What are the basic methods of speech therapy?

6) What is the best age to start speech therapy?

2. Say whether the following statements are true or false:

1) Speech therapists deal with mental retardation in children.

2) The main purpose of speech therapy is to prevent speech disorders.

3) Speech therapists use games to stimulate language development.

4) Speech therapists work with groups of children or one-on-one.

5) Speech therapy should start at school.

6) Weak oral muscles can be the reason of speech disorders.

7) Therapists don’t show articulation themselves.

3. Give synonyms from the text to the following words:

- speech therapist

- articulation

- learning

- intellectual

- problem

- show

- way

- trauma

4. Which word in the list is odd?

1) Impairment, problem, texture, disorder

2) Include, language, articulation, speech

3) Prevention, revealing, prolonging, correction