'Speech' and 'language' are frequently used synonymously in ordinary discourse. But when medical practitioners use those terms, they're actually referring to two distinct concepts. A speech-language pathologist may refer to someone as having a "speech delay" instead of a "language delay," for instance.
This is why.
Speech concerns verbal communication and the characteristics and processes that affect how someone communicates verbally. It concerns how understandable we appear to others when we speak. Speech is created using the highly coordinated architecture of the mouth and respiratory system, including the lungs, vocal cords, lips, and tongue, to produce sounds understandable to those who hear them.
Along with word articulation (or pronunciation), additional factors such as speech rate, pitch, volume, and others also affect speech. It may be challenging for others to understand someone if they talk quickly or softly or if they need help articulating particular letter sounds.
However, a language is any system that conveys meaning. It may also incorporate hand and body motions, written or spoken phrases, and symbols. The sign language used by the deaf community in Australia, for instance, is called Auslan. It's how we communicate, share ideas, and express our wants.
Children's speech and language issues
Disorders related to speech and language differ from one another because of this.
Speech sound mistakes that affect a child's speech clarity are typically evident in children with speech delay or disorder. For instance, individuals might struggle to produce some sounds precisely, fail to say particular sounds in words or substitute some sounds with others. These types of speech impairments can be addressed by paediatric speech therapy.
Young children naturally make "errors" with some sounds when they are beginning to talk. A toddler had probably said things like "lellow" when they meant "yellow" or "look at big twuck!" After a certain age, articulation errors may still happen, which may be a sign of a speech delay in the child.
Click here for speech and language development Australia.
