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The following is a list of common terms you may encounter when you speak to your speech language therapist or pathologist. You may also hear them from your child's teacher as they describe problems you child may have in school.
Such words include, for example: learning difficulties, auditory processing difficulties / disorders, Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD), Specfic Language Impairment (SLI), mumbling or unclear speech, speech delay, stuttering, lisp etc.
We will continue to expand the list over time so please refer to this list when you need.
Articulation
The way speech sounds are produced. Children who mis-articulate sounds usually have difficulties saying sounds such as 's', 'l', 'g', 'k' correctly in words. Articulation problems can be caused by poor listening ability, developmental delay, dental problems, or poor control of the lips and tongue.
Attention
The ability to focus on things that you see or hear.
Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Individuals diagnosed with ADHD tend to be easily distracted, do not seem to think before doing something, and are almost constantly active.
Audiological Test
A test for how well you can hear.
Auditory Memory
The ability to remember things you have heard, both short-term and long-term.
Auditory Processing
How our brains work to understand and remember information we hear: paying attention to a sound in the presence of background noise, auditory memory, auditory discrimination between different sounds, sequencing the order of what we hear, forming a concept or image or idea.
Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
This is a developmental disability that hinders a person's ability to communicate and develop social relationships. People with Autism or ASD may have severe communication and behaviour problems. Autistic individuals are characterised by impairment in communication skills, poor social skills and repetitive stereotyped behaviour.
Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD)
CAPD is used to describe individuals with normal hearing who have auditory-based receptive communication or language learning problems. According to the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) panel, CAPD can result from a "dysfunction of processes dedicated to audition" while other factors include a general dysfunction that affects performance across modalities (e.g., attention deficit disorder).
Cognitive Ability
Generally used as an umbrella term to include the overall mental ability for different thinking processes that the brain is capable of.
Consonant
Any letter of the alphabet other than the vowels A, E, I, O, or U.
Consonant Blend
2 or more consonants that appear together in a word but keep their individual sounds e.g. the "bl" in "black". In general, consonant blends are more difficult to articulate and children may leave out one of the sounds. For example, children may leave out the 's' sound when they say 'school'.
Developmental Disability
A slowdown in learning and thinking abilities that affect a child's physical or mental progress in learning new skills or other forms of development.
Discrimination
The ability to tell the difference between different sounds or visual symbols.
Dyslexia
A specific difficulty in understanding visual symbols for reading. It is different from other factors that may contribute to reading difficulties such as attention deficit disorder, and/or speech and language difficulties.
Expressive Language
The ability to express ideas in communication either verbally through speech, through writing, or through other means such as sign language or using assistive communication devices.
Generalize
To learn one skill and be able to apply it to various different situations.
Hearing Disability
Hearing impairment due to problems with the ear, the nerves, or the brain, which affect how sound is processed.
Impulsivity
Reacting without thinking, and not being able to adjust behaviour from past experiences or lessons. If this is persistent, it might be due to conditions such as ADHD (Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder).
Language
The understanding and usage of symbols with the correct rules in order to communicate. When symbols used are written alphabets and words, we are using written language, as in writing and reading. When symbols used are the speech sounds for a particular language such as English, we are using verbal language for speaking and listening. The rules for the use of the symbols or words in a language form the grammar.
Language processing
Receiving and understanding verbal symbols in reading or listening.
Lisp
A form of speech difficulty where the person has difficulty in pronouncing 's' and 'z' sounds, which may sound like 'th' to a listener. A certified Speech Therapist / Pathologist can help an individual to correct a Lisp through speech therapy.
Phonics
A method of teaching beginners to read by recognizing the sounds of different letters or groups of letters i.e. learning to read parts of words, rather than memorizing the sounds of entire words visually by sight.
Pragmatics
The social aspect of language; using language for certain functions such as making requests or indicating refusal. Good understanding and use of pragmatics are essential for good social skills.
Receptive Language
The ability to receive ideas in communication and understand what someone means either verbally through speech, through writing, or through other means such as sign language, Braille, or using assistive communication devices.
Rhyme
Words with the same vowels and sound similar at the end, e.g. "wild" and "child". They may not be spelt with the same letters e.g. 'bee' and 'sea'.
Sequencing
Remembering the order of sounds, words or events. Some examples of sequencing problems are: seeing "13" but writing "31", mixing up letters when spelling words, not being able to answer questions about simple series e.g. "What day comes before Thursday?", or not being able to do something step by step in the right order e.g. applying glue behind a picture, turning over the picture and then pasting it onto paper.
Specific Language Impairment (SLI)
Specific Language Impairment (SLI) is a developmental language disorder that can affect both expressive and receptive language. SLI is an impairment that is not related to or caused by other developmental disorders, hearing loss or acquired brain injury. Research in the past decade showed that as high as 7 to 8% of children in kindergarten can have Specific Language Impairment.
Speech Delay
Refers to a delay in the use of body mechanism to produce sound. There are three broad causes of speech delay: problems with input of speech (difficulty in hearing), problems with processing speech (difficulty in working with what is heard) and problems with output of speech (difficulty due to physiological constraints).
Stuttering
Speech that is choppy due to hesitation, repeated sounds, or unnecessary blocks when speaking.
Vocal Disorder
Problems in voice production: poor quality (hoarse or nasal), pitch (too high or low pitched), or intensity (loudness).
Vowel
The letters A, E, I, O, and U.
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