Speech disorders, impairments, or impediments, are a type of communication disorder in which normal speech is disrupted. This can mean fluency disorders like stuttering, cluttering or lisps. Someone who is unable to speak due to a speech disorder is considered mute. Speech skills are vital to social relationships and learning, and delays or disorders that relate to developing these skills can impact individuals function. For many children and adolescents, this can present as issues with academics. Speech disorders affect roughly 11.5% of the US population, and 5% of the primary school population. Speech is a complex process that requires precise timing, nerve and muscle control, and as a result is susceptible to impairments. A person who has a stroke, an accident or birth defect may have speech and language problems.
Developmental disorders comprise a group of psychiatric conditions originating in childhood that involve serious impairment in different areas. There are several ways of using this term. The most narrow concept is used in the category "Specific Disorders of Psychological Development" in the ICD-10. These disorders comprise developmental language disorder, learning disorders, motor disorders, and autism spectrum disorders. In broader definitions ADHD is included, and the term used is neurodevelopmental disorders. Yet others include antisocial behavior and schizophrenia that begins in childhood and continues through life. However, these two latter conditions are not as stable as the other developmental disorders, and there is not the same evidence of a shared genetic liability.
Mixed receptive-expressive language disorder is a communication disorder in which both the receptive and expressive areas of communication may be affected in any degree, from mild to severe. Children with this disorder have difficulty understanding words and sentences. This impairment is classified by deficiencies in expressive and receptive language development that is not attributed to sensory deficits, nonverbal intellectual deficits, a neurological condition, environmental deprivation or psychiatric impairments. Research illustrates that 2% to 4% of five year olds have mixed receptive-expressive language disorder. This distinction is made when children have issues in expressive language skills, the production of language, and when children also have issues in receptive language skills, the understanding of language. Those with mixed receptive-language disorder have a normal left-right anatomical asymmetry of the planum temporale and parietale. This is attributed to a reduced left hemisphere functional specialization for language. Taken from a measure of cerebral blood flow (SPECT) in phonemic discrimination tasks, children with mixed receptive-expressive language disorder do not exhibit the expected predominant left hemisphere activation. Mixed receptive-expressive language disorder is also known as receptive-expressive language impairment (RELI) or receptive language disorder.
St Catherine's School, in Ventnor, on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom, is an independent non-maintained residential special school for children and young people aged seven to 19 years who have speech, language and communication needs. The school has charitable status. Many students have multiple conditions and a range of abilities are supported.
West Heath School is an independent school in Sevenoaks, Kent. It caters for children for whom mainstream schooling has become insufficient, for varying reasons. The school's motto is "Rebuilding Lives Through Education."
Language disorders or language impairments are disorders that involve the processing of linguistic information. Problems that may be experienced can involve grammar, semantics (meaning), or other aspects of language. These problems may be receptive, expressive, or a combination of both. Examples include specific language impairment, better defined as developmental language disorder, or DLD, and aphasia, among others. Language disorders can affect both spoken and written language, and can also affect sign language; typically, all forms of language will be impaired.
St Christopher's School was located in Bristol, England. It was a special needs residential independent school for around 50 children and young people aged 7 to 25, who had severe and complex learning difficulties, or profound and multiple learning difficulties. They all had specific requirements for their care and education.
North Hill House School, also referred to as NHH, is an independent specialist school in Frome, Somerset, England for children and young people with Autism Spectrum Condition between the ages of 7 and 16. Owned by the Aspris Children's Services, North Hill House opened in September 1999. It has been approved by the Department for Children, Schools and Families under Section 348(1) of the Education Act 1996.
Alderwasley Hall School is a private residential special school. The school is for children and young people aged 5 to 20 with High-Functioning ASD, Asperger's Syndrome, Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), and Developmental Language Disorder. It is in and named after the village of Alderwasley in the Peak District, close to Wirksworth in Derbyshire, England.
A speech sound disorder (SSD) is a speech disorder affecting the ability to pronounce speech sounds, which includes speech articulation disorders and phonemic disorders, the latter referring to some sounds (phonemes) not being produced or used correctly. The term "protracted phonological development" is sometimes preferred when describing children's speech, to emphasize the continuing development while acknowledging the delay.
Oasis Academy Brislington is a mixed gender secondary school with academy status, located in the Brislington West area of Bristol, England.
Whitefield Schools is a special school in Walthamstow in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, offering support for children with a wide range of special physical, educational and behavioural needs and difficulties.
Stockport Academy is a non-selective co-educational school within the English Academy programme, located in Cheadle Heath, Stockport, Greater Manchester. It caters for children aged 11–16 and has approximately 869 pupils on roll.
The Ashley School, in Lowestoft, Suffolk, England is a special school for pupils with Moderate Learning Difficulties and complex needs. The school has been twice graded "outstanding" by OFSTED. It is considered a specialist school for Cognition and Learning.
Shapwick School was a specialist school at Shapwick Manor in Shapwick, a village on the Somerset Levels in Somerset, England. In March 2020, it was announced that the school would close at the end of term in March due to financial difficulties.
RNIB Pears Centre for Specialist Learning was a school and children’s home for young people who are blind or partially sighted and who also have multiple disabilities or complex needs such as severe or profound learning disabilities, physical disabilities, additional sensory impairment, healthcare needs and autistic spectrum disorders. The school was run by RNIB. It was based just outside Coventry.
The Together Trust is a British registered charity, founded in 1870 by Leonard Kilbee Shaw and Richard Bramwell Taylor as the Manchester and Salford Boys' and Girls' Refuges and Homes. It provides care, special education and community support services in the north-west of England. It also has a fostering agency.
Oasis Academy Lister Park is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The school is named after Lister Park which is located near the school campus.
Treetops School is an all-through special school with academy status in Grays, Essex, England. Students are from 5 to 19 with moderate learning difficulties and many are on the autistic spectrum, with speech and language problems. The school was first established in 1930 as the Grays Thurrock Open-Air School For 60 Delicate Children and became a special school in 1960. In 1998 it gained SEN specialisms and in 2017 it became an academy. Ofsted rated the school as outstanding in all categories, saying "Teaching is outstanding because teachers have exceptionally high expectations of what pupils can achieve and use practical activities to make learning interesting."
Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is identified when a child has problems with language development that continue into school age and beyond. The language problems have a significant impact on everyday social interactions or educational progress, and occur in the absence of autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability or a known biomedical condition. The most obvious problems are difficulties in using words and sentences to express meanings, but for many children, understanding of language is also a challenge. This may not be evident unless the child is given a formal assessment.
