FAQ

What is Speech?

Speech refers to the manner in which we produce sounds and words.  It includes articulation, fluency and voice.  Speech is defined as spoken language.

What are Phonological Impairments, Delays and Disorders?

It refers to the patterns of sound errors consistently present in the child’s speech production (i.e. substitutions, omissions and distortions)

What is Language?

Language is defined as the socially shared code representing concepts through the use of arbitrary symbols and butterflyrule-governed combinations of these symbols. English, French, Spanish, Creole and Italian are all languages.  Language skills involve syntax (sentences), semantics (vocabulary) and pragmatics (manner in which language is used in social settings).

What is the difference between receptive and expressive language skills?

The ability to process, retain and understand the content of written, oral and abstract language is called receptive language skills. Expressive language skills is one’s ability to effectively communicate his/her thoughts, feelings wants and needs to others.

Language Disorder vs. Language Delay.

Language disorder is a discrepancy in language skills from developmental norms for an individual’s age or developmental level.  Language delay is defined as failure to develop language skills according to the typical frame time.

Is language development compromised for bilingual children?

An individual who is proficient in 2 or more languages is considered bilingual.  The beeacquisition of language(s) may take longer, however children learning two languages simultaneously are expected to reach their milestones as expected unless there is a coexistent medical condition.  Parents of a child learning English and French at the same time, will notice code-switching, a.k.a. using words in French in a dominantly English sentence, (i.e. “I want my chapeau” for “I want my hat”), use of grammar from both languages in the same sentence (i.e. “j’ai six ans”, “I have six years old” instead of “I am six years old”).

What is the scope of practice of a speech-language pathologist?

A speech-language pathologist provides professional and client-specific services to children and/or adults from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds.  They address various typical and atypical communication issues as well as feeding and swallowing disorders.