Page 65 - The Modul of Psycholinguistics Studies_2

1. Speech Disorders in Children a Psycholinguistic Perspective
The terminology used to describe speech problems is

rooted in classificatory systems derived from different academic
disciplines. In order to understand the rationale behind the

psycholinguistic approach, it is helpful to examine other
approaches and compare how speech problems have been
classified from different perspectives. Three perspectives that

have been particularly influential are the medical, linguistic, and
psycholinguistic perspectives.
In a medical perspective, speech and language problems

are classified according to clinical entity. Commonly used labels
include dyspraxia, dysarthria, and stuttering. Causes of speech

difficulties can be identified (e.g., cleft palate, hearing loss,
neurological impairment) or an associated medical condition is
known (e.g., autism, learning difficulties, Down syndrome).

Viewing speech and language disorders from a medical
perspective can be helpful in various ways. First, through the

medical exercise of constructing a differential diagnosis, a
condition may be defined when symptoms commonly associated
with that condition are identified; two examples are dyspraxia

and dysarthria. Second, for some conditions, medical
management can contribute significantly to the prevention or

remediation of the speech or language difficulty, such as by
insertion of a cochlear implant to remediate hearing loss or by
surgical repair of a cleft palate. Third, the medical perspective

may be helpful when considering the prognosis for a child's
speech and language development, such as when a progressive

neurological condition is present.

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