A cleft is any opening in a normally closed structure. A cleft lip is an opening in the lip, typically the upper lip. These clefts are more commonly unilateral (on one side of the lip) as compared to bilateral (on both sides of the lip). Unilateral clefts occur more frequently on the left side of the mouth. A cleft palate is an opening on the roof of the mouth. Clefts can be found in the hard palate (towards the front of the mouth), soft palate (more towards the back of the mouth) or both.
Tags: Speech, Language, Communication, Voice, talking, Cleft Lip, Cleft palate
Barotrauma is the term used to describe the discomfort or injury caused by increased air pressure during airplane flights (or increased water pressure when scuba diving).
Tags: Audiology, Hearing, Hearing Loss Prevention, "ears", Ear Pain, Ear Anatomy
Hearing loss generally happens gradually over a long period of time. Often, the subtle, and not so subtle, signs of hearing difficulty are more apparent to significant partners than it is to the person with the hearing loss.
Tags: Hearing Aid, Hearing Aids, Hearing, Support, Caregiving, Hearing Loss, "ears"
Parents often wonder what they can do to help their child improve their speech and language skills. Many families seek additional private speech therapy to supplement school-based treatment.
While added speech therapy may be an advantage, it depends on the unique needs of your child. School-based speech therapy and private speech therapy differ in many ways. Before determining if your child would benefit from additional speech and language therapy, it is essential to know the difference between the two.
Tags: Speech, Language, Communication, Teens, Stuttering, Voice, toddler, talking
A concussion is a mild form of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head. Concussions can also occur from a fall or a blow to the body that causes the head to move rapidly back and forth.
It is a common opinion that concussions happen mostly to football players. However, they can also occur while playing other contact sports such as soccer, as a result of a vehicular accident, or during a fall.
Tags: Teens, Support, Brain Injury, toddler
Dysarthria is a motor speech disorder caused by damage to the central or peripheral nervous system – or sometimes both – as the result of a stroke or brain injury. People with dysarthria may have trouble with respiration (breathing), phonation (voicing), articulation (speech), prosody (patterns of stress and intonation) and resonance (e.g., nasality).
Tags: Speech, Communication, Stroke, talking
Let's face it, sometimes we give it our all and just don't see the results we desire. When you or your child has been working forever on a sound like "r" or "s" and the progress isn't happening, the results can be disappointing. I get it-- having one little speech sound error hang around comes with a whole host of problems. Whether it is jokes at your expense, anxiety meeting new people, or even bullying, you would do anything to make a change.
Tags: Speech, Communication, Teens, Voice, talking
Angelman syndrome is a rare neurogenetic disorder that occurs in about 1 out of every 15,000 people. Most people with Angelman have very limited speech, or no speech at all. If you’re the parent of a young child with Angelman, you may be wondering how you can help your child learn to communicate, since speech is not going to be their main way of communicating. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
Tags: Speech, Language, Communication, Voice, toddler, talking
Good ear hygiene is often associated with the presence of earwax, commonly known as cerumen. Wax may not be visually pleasing, but it is beneficial to your health. This substance is naturally produced in the ear canal and acts as a protective lubricate against external objects such as dust, dirt, and insects.
Tags: Hearing, Teens, Caregiving, Hearing Loss, toddler, "ears"
If you are having difficulty understanding your child, you might want to consider a speech-language evaluation. An evaluation is a normal step to pursue when parents or caregivers suspect difficulty with communication.
Ask your pediatrician for a referral to a speech-language pathologist (SLP) - a professional who diagnoses speech and language difficulties. An evaluation will include the following:
Tags: Speech, Communication, Voice, toddler, talking
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