Why and when you need classes with a speech therapist. Directions of work of specialists

Children are not born with ready, correctly placed pronunciation – only gradually, getting to know the world, the child learns to form words and pronounce them correctly. Unfortunately, there are often cases of late development of speech or its incorrect formation, and in this case classes with a speech therapist are necessary.

Speech therapist – is a specialist with a higher pedagogical education in defectology, who is engaged in identifying and eliminating speech defects in a child. The work of a speech therapist – this is not only the formation of the correct pronunciation of sounds and words, but also the development of attention, thinking, memory, i.e. all components necessary for the educational process.

Consultation of a speech therapist-psychologist may be needed at any age, especially since parents cannot detect language problems in a child on their own. If earlier it was believed that one should turn to a specialist at the age of five, modern medicine means receiving consultations from a specialist as early as 2-3 years of a child's life. The thing is that by the age of five, the baby's language is already fully formed, and it will be difficult to correct the defects, although it is possible.

Parents should turn to a speech therapist for consultation when the child is two years old, because only a specialist will be able to identify problems and draw up an individual training program. It is considered that a speech therapist is needed for a child in case of non-compliance of its development with the norms:

1. At the age of one year, a child who develops normally pronounces and often uses 3-4 "babbling" words. words, fully understands individual words and can correlate them with specific objects. At this age, the child understands instructions that are accompanied by gestures (for example, "give me a pen", "can't".
2. Up to the age of two, the baby can use sentences of two or three words, perfectly understands a two-step instruction (for example, "go to the kitchen and bring a spoon"), his vocabulary is at least 50 words. At this age, a speech therapist-defectologist can find out how correctly a child pronounces the sounds "п", "б", "ф", "д", "к", "н", and "м". ; and "in".
3. Three-year age – this is the ability to put words into sentences, use conjunctions and prepositions. At this age, the baby should master and correctly pronounce the sounds "с", "з", "ц", "ш", "ж", "ч", and "щ".

The sounds "r/l" they begin to pronounce clearly by the age of 5-6. At the same time, the child fully learns everyday vocabulary, freely uses generally accepted concepts (clothing, vegetables, etc.). Although it is possible to rearrange sounds in words that are difficult to pronounce (for example, "excavator") – this is considered the norm.

If a speech therapist in a kindergarten notices a speech defect in a child, he can recommend to parents to transfer the child to a special group for learning or conduct individual classes. There are several types of specialists in this area:

1. Individual speech therapist. He will work with the child individually, devoting maximum time to her. This approach means that classes will be more efficient, and the results will be noticeable in a short period of time.
2. Corrective speech therapist. This specialist does not teach the child to pronounce sounds from the very beginning, he corrects the speech that is already there. The help of such a specialist may be needed for a child aged 3-5 years, when spoken language and understanding of words are excellent, and the pronunciation of individual sounds is incorrect.
3. Home speech therapist. He is also a high-level specialist who conducts individual classes at the child's home. A great option for children who feel awkward in a group or who have a disability and limited mobility.

No matter how classes are conducted with a specialist, parents must understand that it will be necessary to perform all the tasks of a speech therapist, to constantly consolidate the lessons learned – this will help the child learn the program faster, shorten the period of speech development. There is nothing complicated in the classes, most often the setting and correction of speech is done in a playful way.

It is worth separately determining the situation when a child with deviations in general development needs the help of a speech therapist. It is not uncommon for parents to direct all their efforts to the correction of health and treatment of the main disease before entering a general educational institution. In this case, a speech therapist at the school will help. By the way, such specialists work not only in specialized educational institutions of the correctional type, but also in ordinary schools. Their task is to identify speech defects in students and conduct appropriate classes, which will help children to be socially adapted in the future.

What areas does a speech therapist cover, what classes are held with children and where can you get help – answers to these questions can be found on the pages of our site.