A communication disorder is any disorder that affects an individual's ability to comprehend, detect, or apply language and speech to engage in dialogue effectively with others. The delays and disorders can range from simple sound substitution to the inability to understand or use one's native language.
Echolalia is the unsolicited repetition of vocalizations made by another person. In its profound form it is automatic and effortless. It is one of the echophenomena, closely related to echopraxia, the automatic repetition of movements made by another person; both are "subsets of imitative behavior" whereby sounds or actions are imitated "without explicit awareness". Echolalia may be an immediate reaction to a stimulus or may be delayed.
Reading for special needs has become an area of interest as the understanding of reading has improved. Teaching children with special needs how to read was not historically pursued due to perspectives of a Reading Readiness model. This model assumes that a reader must learn to read in a hierarchical manner such that one skill must be mastered before learning the next skill. This approach often led to teaching sub-skills of reading in a decontextualized manner. This style of teaching made it difficult for children to master these early skills, and as a result, did not advance to more advanced literacy instruction and often continued to receive age-inappropriate instruction.
Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) encompasses the communication methods used to supplement or replace speech or writing for those with impairments in the production or comprehension of spoken or written language. AAC is used by those with a wide range of speech and language impairments, including congenital impairments such as cerebral palsy, intellectual impairment and autism, and acquired conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinson's disease. AAC can be a permanent addition to a person's communication or a temporary aid. Stephen Hawking used AAC to communicate through a speech-generating device.
Speech is human vocal communication using language. Each language uses phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words, and using those words in their semantic character as words in the lexicon of a language according to the syntactic constraints that govern lexical words' function in a sentence. In speaking, speakers perform many different intentional speech acts, e.g., informing, declaring, asking, persuading, directing, and can use enunciation, intonation, degrees of loudness, tempo, and other non-representational or paralinguistic aspects of vocalization to convey meaning. In their speech speakers also unintentionally communicate many aspects of their social position such as sex, age, place of origin, physical states, psychological states, physico-psychological states, education or experience, and the like.
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.
Speech–language pathology is a field of expertise practiced by a clinician known as a speech–language pathologist (SLP) or a speech and language therapist, both of whom may be referred to as a speech therapist. Speech–language pathology is considered a "related health profession" or "allied health profession", along with audiology, optometry, occupational therapy, rehabilitation psychology, physical therapy and others.
Muteness or mutism is defined as an absence of speech while conserving or maintaining the ability to hear the speech of others. Mutism is typically understood as a person's inability to speak, and commonly observed by their family members, caregivers, teachers, doctors or speech and language pathologists. It may not be a permanent condition, depending on the cause, which might be physical, medical, organic, psychological, developmental, neurological or traumatic. A specific physical disability or communication disorder can be diagnosed. Loss of previously normal speech (aphasia) can be due to accidents, disease, or surgical complication; it is rarely for psychological reasons.
Speech-generating devices (SGDs), also known as voice output communication aids, are electronic augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems used to supplement or replace speech or writing for individuals with severe speech impairments, enabling them to verbally communicate. SGDs are important for people who have limited means of interacting verbally, as they allow individuals to become active participants in communication interactions. They are particularly helpful for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) but recently have been used for children with predicted speech deficiencies.
ADAPT – Able Disabled All People Together is an Indian non-profit and non-governmental organization, working to help people with neuro-muscular and developmental disabilities. It was started on 2 October 1972 by Mithu Alur, to provide education and treatment services for the "spastics".
Tobii Dynavox is a SE-based developer, manufacturer, and distributor of speech generating devices headquartered in Danderyd, Sweden with offices in Pittsburgh, Norway, Germany, France, the UK, China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. The company was formed in 1983 and has since become the leading provider of speech communication devices and symbol-adapted special education software used to assist individuals in overcoming speech, language and learning challenges. The company's best-known products include the Maestro and EyeMax System communication solutions, and the Boardmaker Software Family, a suite of tools that allow educational curriculum and activities to be adapted to meet a range of student learning, cognitive and physical needs.
Speech and language impairment are basic categories that might be drawn in issues of communication involve hearing, speech, language, and fluency.
A letter board may refer to two devices.
Semantic compaction, (Minspeak), conceptually described as polysemic (multi-meaning) iconic encoding, is one of the three ways to represent language in Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). It is a system utilized in AAC devices in which sequences of icons are combined in order to form a word or a phrase. The goal is to increase independent communication in individuals who cannot use speech. Minspeak is the only patented system for Semantic Compaction and is based on multi-meaning icons that code vocabulary in short sequences determined by rule-driven patterns. Minspeak has been used with both children and adults with various disabilities, including cerebral palsy, motor speech disorders, developmental disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, and adult onset disabilities such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
Multiple disabilities is a term for a person with a combination of disabilities, for instance, someone with both a sensory disability and a motor disability. Additionally, in the United States, it is a special education classification under which students are eligible for services through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA. Not every governmental education entity uses the classification, however.
Avaz is an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) tool, notable for being India's first successful AAC intervention. It is an electronic version of picture exchange cards, used primarily for children with autism spectrum disorders, cerebral palsy, Angelman's syndrome, Downs syndrome, and other non-verbal disabilities. Avaz was invented by Ajit Narayanan, an invention for which he was on MIT's TR35 list for 2011.
Janice Light is an American academic who holds the Hintz Family Endowed Chair in Children's Communicative Competence in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Pennsylvania State University. As a Distinguished Professor, she teaches graduate courses and seminars in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and has developed an internationally recognized research program in AAC.
Howard C. Shane is director of the Autism Language Program and Communication Enhancement Program at Children's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, former director of the Institute on Applied Technology, and associate professor at Harvard Medical School. He is internationally known for his research and development of augmented and alternative communication systems to support the communication needs of people with neuromuscular disorders, autism and other disabilities.
Deaf and hard of hearing individuals with additional disabilities are referred to as "Deaf Plus" or "Deaf+". Deaf children with one or more co-occurring disabilities could also be referred to as hearing loss plus additional disabilities or Deafness and Diversity (D.A.D.). About 40–50% of deaf children experience one or more additional disabilities, with learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and visual impairments being the four most concomitant disabilities. Approximately 7–8% of deaf children have a learning disability. Deaf plus individuals utilize various language modalities to best fit their communication needs.
Institute for Communicative and Cognitive Neurosciences (ICCONS) is an autonomous not-for-profit neuroscience speciality hospital & research institute established under Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of Kerala. There are two centres, one in Shoranur, Palakkad district and another in Pulayanarkotta, Thiruvananthapuram
