Educational Neuropsychology

Speech Therapy

🗣️ When we refer to language, we are talking about a complex function whose operation has a significant impact on various areas of human life. Below, we will mention some characteristics associated with language development in childhood (Tenembaum and Grañana, 2022; Maggio, 2020).

🤓 Language is an exclusively human skill, whose learning in childhood is merely incidental, that is, without conscious effort. It is worth clarifying that although there is no conscious effort from the infant to learn linguistic skills, the stimulation that the environment provides definitely has a great influence on the future linguistic development of the individual. We will delve deeper into this later in the article when we discuss the prelinguistic stage and its relevance in the subsequent development of verbal abilities.

  • ✅ Language development allows the infant access to interpersonal relationship skills, general knowledge of the surrounding world, understanding of social rules, and acts as a regulator of emotions and behavior.
  • ✅ Language in the early years facilitates the construction of thought, building thoughts that will be highly relevant in later stages of development to facilitate the individual's adaptation to the surrounding world.
  • ✅ Language development is influenced by two factors: first, it is related to neurobiological functioning, and secondly, it is influenced by environmental factors.

🤔 Based on the above, it would be interesting to ask ourselves the following question: What conditions are necessary for an infant to adequately develop language? (Maggio, 2020).

  • ✅ First, it is necessary for the infant to have a good level of hearing and auditory discrimination. From a neuroscience perspective, the brain learns to model and give meaning to what it hears. In Panama, there is Law No. 4 of January 8, 2007, regarding Neonatal Screening, which today includes the obligation to perform hearing tests, usually conducted at the hospital before discharge or before the infant is one month old, to detect any hearing deficiencies as early as possible and to obtain the necessary treatment and follow-up.
  • ✅ An adequate mechanism of communication with the environment and the world surrounding the infant. Crying, eye contact during feeding, interest in sounds and people, vocalizations, are some examples of receptive and expressive language that a baby between 0 and 3 months of age may exhibit. Stimulating these interactions through songs, stories, responding to sounds and facial gestures; are natural actions that can stimulate communication and language from this stage. Later on, gestures and other actions will manifest that will accompany language development and should be supported by caregivers, parents, and the surrounding world. It is important to observe and stimulate communicative intentions and skills, as well as to model sounds and words through play, feeding, and daily activities.
  • ✅ It is important to mention that neuropsychological functionalities have a significant influence on the development of skills associated with language. For example, attention, sensory perception, and memory are relevant in the development of linguistic skills.
  • ✅ It can be said that we require skills for coordinating orofacial movements, that is, lip, tongue, and palate movements are essential for articulating speech optimally. There are many reasons why a child may present orofacial alterations, whether of organic origin (malformations) or functional (coordination); this has shown over time that it can affect the production of speech sounds at the phonetic level. Sucking and speech use similar oral structures and muscles, so it is possible that early sucking patterns may affect the early development of speech sounds. (Burr et al., 2020). However, there is limited evidence regarding the relationship between oral habits and the development of speech sounds. It is recommended to observe from sucking and gradually include textures according to the child's age, starting at 6 months when complementary feeding begins, following the guidance of professionals such as pediatricians, nutritionists, and complementary feeding guides, covering and respecting the nutritional and developmental needs of the infant. It is important to keep in mind that as we grow, we begin to have more chewing needs than sucking, and that the structures will develop in harmony with the stimuli that adults can provide to the infant.

🧠 From a neuropsychological perspective, neuropsychological evaluation is relevant in cases of suspected language disorders, given the importance of these functions in the subsequent development of linguistic abilities. For example:

  • ✅ Attention: a cognitive process that consists of the ability to attend to relevant stimuli and discard information that is not relevant to the individual (Portellano, 2005). If you want to delve deeper into attentional processes, we recommend reading the following article: Attention and its relevance in learning from neuropsychology.
  • ✅ When listening to any type of verbal information, optimal processing of working auditory memory is required, which allows for the rapid processing of information that will be represented mentally. A characteristic of auditory memory or working memory is that it has a limited processing capacity for information, which is why in cases where there are difficulties with working memory, it is common for the individual to store few fragments of verbal information. Another type of memory is long-term memory, which allows us to store vocabulary, lexicon, semantics, and grammatical rules necessary to use them effectively in our daily lives.
  • ✅ Executive functions enable the achievement of goals and objectives. A valuable characteristic of executive functions is that they oversee activities related to attention, memory, emotional regulation of behavior, and language, allowing the individual to plan what they will say, how they will say it, to whom they will say it, and understanding how those words can influence a specific social context.

🤔 When there are delays or difficulties in language areas, language and speech disorders may arise. Below, we will explain the similarities and differences between the previously mentioned concepts:

  • ✅ Language Disorder: a language disorder is usually categorized into two possible levels: primary language disorder refers to a language alteration, while secondary language disorder occurs when there is the presence of another disorder that is causing an impact on language areas. For example, neurodevelopmental disorders such as intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, hearing problems, low stimulation, and neuromotor disorders are often the most frequent causes of secondary language disorders.
  • ✅ Primary Language Disorders (Kohnert and Ebert, 2010): as mentioned earlier, primary language disorders refer to a specific impairment of language without involving other areas of child development. In this classification are Language Delays, where language difficulties are transitory, as it is common for their linguistic functioning to equalize before the age of 5 (either with specialized intervention or spontaneously). On the other hand, there is Language Development Disorder, where the symptoms tend to be more chronic compared to a Language Delay, and the infant's response to therapeutic programs is usually slower.
  • ✅ It should be mentioned that the presence of a language development disorder may involve the receptive and/or expressive part, and in cases where the child does not yet have an expected repertoire of words for their age, it may also be a case of a late talker. However, the mentioned diagnoses are usually used when around 3 years old, the child has not been able to progress in their linguistic skills.

👉🏼 Language difficulties in early childhood can represent a sign of learning disorders, which may not be diagnosed until school years.

Hoping this article has been useful to you.

  • ✅ Maggio, V. (Ed.). (2020). Communication and language in childhood. The guide for professionals and families (First edition ed.). Autonomous City of Buenos Aires: Paidós.
  • ✅ Kohnert, K., & Ebert, K. D. (2010). Beyond morphosyntax in developing bilinguals and “specific” language impairment. Applied Psycholinguistics, 31(2), 303-310.
  • ✅ Tenembaum, S., & Grañana, N. (Eds.). (2022). Manual of treatment in neurodevelopment and pediatric neurology (Volume 1 ed.). Autonomous City of Buenos Aires: La Crujía.