Üsküdar University NP Feneryolu Medical Center Language and Speech Therapist Hazel Ezgi Dündar shared important information and advice about the articulation problem, which is seen as the inability to make certain sounds as they should.
Due to the inability of organs such as the tongue, teeth, palate, uvula, and jaw used while speaking to perform consecutive movements regularly, a pronunciation disorder, also called articulation, occurs. Stating that the pronunciation disorder is frequently seen in childhood, experts state that if the child's speech intelligibility is below the specified limits, a specialist should be consulted. Experts recommend that when the child makes sentences by subtracting Y or Ğ instead of R, even if it looks cute, not to reinforce the mistake and to be the right model to correct it.
Common in childhood
Speech and Speech Therapist Hazel Ezgi Dundar stated that some children cannot pronounce certain sounds correctly. We see similar sounds in some adults. We call the inability to pronounce one or more sounds/letter or mispronunciation, which we frequently encounter in childhood and can be seen in adults from time to time, or articulation disorder. used the phrases.
Neurological disorders can also cause articulation.
Expressing that the pronunciation disorder occurs due to the inability of the organs such as tongue, teeth, palate, uvula, and chin used when speaking, to perform consecutive movements as they should, Dundar said, "This situation is caused by incorrect learning, structural disorders, hearing impairment, cleft lip-palate and It can occur due to reasons such as mouth-facial anomalies, orthodontic anomalies, hearing loss, mental disability, neurological disorders.” said.
When speaking, attention should be paid to intelligibility.
Speech and Language Therapist Hazel Ezgi Dündar emphasized that the expected speech intelligibility should be 2 percent at the age of 50, 3 percent at the age of 75 and 4 percent at the age of 100, and said, "When considering these rates, we should consider the situation of being understood by the people around, not by the parents. If our child's intelligibility falls below these limits, it should be evaluated by a specialist and appropriate therapy should be initiated. When the therapy process is entered, speech disorder therapies are among the most effective therapies among other language and speech disorders.” he said.
In the first stage, reinforcement is done with repetitions.
Dündar, who stated that in articulation disorder therapies, the organs that need to be used for the correct production of the target sound are positioned correctly and the expected movements are made, said, “This can be provided with auditory, visual, tactile clues or auxiliary materials. After the targeted sound is produced in this way and reinforced with repetitions, in the next stage, the correct use of this sound in words and sentences is reinforced. Finally, the generalization of the acquired sound in daily speech is ensured.”
Be a model instead of correcting by warning
Speech and Language Therapist Hazel Ezgi Dündar concluded her words as follows:
“For example, if our child says “bear” instead of “bee,” families can often imitate the child’s incorrect production because they find the dialogues that may develop more entertaining, or they can reinforce this incorrect production by showing the child that they enjoy it when the child makes this production. Instead, the correct form of the word should be modeled by using something like “Oh, yes, that’s a bee” right after the child’s incorrect production. At this point, modeling should not be confused with constantly forcing the child to correct it. Instead of wearing down a child who has not acquired the sound correctly by warning him, expert support should be sought to find the right solution to this disorder that may cause bigger problems in the coming years.”
