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10 Most Common Speech-Language Disorders & Impediments

As you get to know more about the field of speech-language pathology you’ll increasingly realize why SLPs are required to earn at least a master’s degree . This stuff is serious – and there’s nothing easy about it.

In 2016 the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders reported that 7.7% of American children have been diagnosed with a speech or swallowing disorder. That comes out to nearly one in 12 children, and gets even bigger if you factor in adults.

Whether rooted in psycho-speech behavioral issues, muscular disorders, or brain damage, nearly all the diagnoses SLPs make fall within just 10 common categories…

Types of Speech Disorders & Impediments

Apraxia of speech (aos).

Apraxia of Speech (AOS) happens when the neural pathway between the brain and a person’s speech function (speech muscles) is lost or obscured. The person knows what they want to say – they can even write what they want to say on paper – however the brain is unable to send the correct messages so that speech muscles can articulate what they want to say, even though the speech muscles themselves work just fine. Many SLPs specialize in the treatment of Apraxia .

There are different levels of severity of AOS, ranging from mostly functional, to speech that is incoherent. And right now we know for certain it can be caused by brain damage, such as in an adult who has a stroke. This is called Acquired AOS.

However the scientific and medical community has been unable to detect brain damage – or even differences – in children who are born with this disorder, making the causes of Childhood AOS somewhat of a mystery. There is often a correlation present, with close family members suffering from learning or communication disorders, suggesting there may be a genetic link.

Mild cases might be harder to diagnose, especially in children where multiple unknown speech disorders may be present. Symptoms of mild forms of AOS are shared by a range of different speech disorders, and include mispronunciation of words and irregularities in tone, rhythm, or emphasis (prosody).

Stuttering – Stammering

Stuttering, also referred to as stammering, is so common that everyone knows what it sounds like and can easily recognize it. Everyone has probably had moments of stuttering at least once in their life. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders estimates that three million Americans stutter, and reports that of the up-to-10-percent of children who do stutter, three-quarters of them will outgrow it. It should not be confused with cluttering.

Most people don’t know that stuttering can also include non-verbal involuntary or semi-voluntary actions like blinking or abdominal tensing (tics). Speech language pathologists are trained to look for all the symptoms of stuttering , especially the non-verbal ones, and that is why an SLP is qualified to make a stuttering diagnosis.

The earliest this fluency disorder can become apparent is when a child is learning to talk. It may also surface later during childhood. Rarely if ever has it developed in adults, although many adults have kept a stutter from childhood.

Stuttering only becomes a problem when it has an impact on daily activities, or when it causes concern to parents or the child suffering from it. In some people, a stutter is triggered by certain events like talking on the phone. When people start to avoid specific activities so as not to trigger their stutter, this is a sure sign that the stutter has reached the level of a speech disorder.

The causes of stuttering are mostly a mystery. There is a correlation with family history indicating a genetic link. Another theory is that a stutter is a form of involuntary or semi-voluntary tic. Most studies of stuttering agree there are many factors involved.

Dysarthria is a symptom of nerve or muscle damage. It manifests itself as slurred speech, slowed speech, limited tongue, jaw, or lip movement, abnormal rhythm and pitch when speaking, changes in voice quality, difficulty articulating, labored speech, and other related symptoms.

It is caused by muscle damage, or nerve damage to the muscles involved in the process of speaking such as the diaphragm, lips, tongue, and vocal chords.

Because it is a symptom of nerve and/or muscle damage it can be caused by a wide range of phenomena that affect people of all ages. This can start during development in the womb or shortly after birth as a result of conditions like muscular dystrophy and cerebral palsy. In adults some of the most common causes of dysarthria are stroke, tumors, and MS.

A lay term, lisping can be recognized by anyone and is very common.

Speech language pathologists provide an extra level of expertise when treating patients with lisping disorders . They can make sure that a lisp is not being confused with another type of disorder such as apraxia, aphasia, impaired development of expressive language, or a speech impediment caused by hearing loss.

SLPs are also important in distinguishing between the five different types of lisps. Most laypersons can usually pick out the most common type, the interdental/dentalised lisp. This is when a speaker makes a “th” sound when trying to make the “s” sound. It is caused by the tongue reaching past or touching the front teeth.

Because lisps are functional speech disorders, SLPs can play a huge role in correcting these with results often being a complete elimination of the lisp. Treatment is particularly effective when implemented early, although adults can also benefit.

Experts recommend professional SLP intervention if a child has reached the age of four and still has an interdental/dentalised lisp. SLP intervention is recommended as soon as possible for all other types of lisps. Treatment includes pronunciation and annunciation coaching, re-teaching how a sound or word is supposed to be pronounced, practice in front of a mirror, and speech-muscle strengthening that can be as simple as drinking out of a straw.

Spasmodic Dysphonia

Spasmodic Dysphonia (SD) is a chronic long-term disorder that affects the voice. It is characterized by a spasming of the vocal chords when a person attempts to speak and results in a voice that can be described as shaky, hoarse, groaning, tight, or jittery. It can cause the emphasis of speech to vary considerably. Many SLPs specialize in the treatment of Spasmodic Dysphonia .

SLPs will most often encounter this disorder in adults, with the first symptoms usually occurring between the ages of 30 and 50. It can be caused by a range of things mostly related to aging, such as nervous system changes and muscle tone disorders.

It’s difficult to isolate vocal chord spasms as being responsible for a shaky or trembly voice, so diagnosing SD is a team effort for SLPs that also involves an ear, nose, and throat doctor (otolaryngologist) and a neurologist.

Have you ever heard people talking about how they are smart but also nervous in large groups of people, and then self-diagnose themselves as having Asperger’s? You might have heard a similar lay diagnosis for cluttering. This is an indication of how common this disorder is as well as how crucial SLPs are in making a proper cluttering diagnosis .

A fluency disorder, cluttering is characterized by a person’s speech being too rapid, too jerky, or both. To qualify as cluttering, the person’s speech must also have excessive amounts of “well,” “um,” “like,” “hmm,” or “so,” (speech disfluencies), an excessive exclusion or collapsing of syllables, or abnormal syllable stresses or rhythms.

The first symptoms of this disorder appear in childhood. Like other fluency disorders, SLPs can have a huge impact on improving or eliminating cluttering. Intervention is most effective early on in life, however adults can also benefit from working with an SLP.

Muteness – Selective Mutism

There are different kinds of mutism, and here we are talking about selective mutism. This used to be called elective mutism to emphasize its difference from disorders that caused mutism through damage to, or irregularities in, the speech process.

Selective mutism is when a person does not speak in some or most situations, however that person is physically capable of speaking. It most often occurs in children, and is commonly exemplified by a child speaking at home but not at school.

Selective mutism is related to psychology. It appears in children who are very shy, who have an anxiety disorder, or who are going through a period of social withdrawal or isolation. These psychological factors have their own origins and should be dealt with through counseling or another type of psychological intervention.

Diagnosing selective mutism involves a team of professionals including SLPs, pediatricians, psychologists, and psychiatrists. SLPs play an important role in this process because there are speech language disorders that can have the same effect as selective muteness – stuttering, aphasia, apraxia of speech, or dysarthria – and it’s important to eliminate these as possibilities.

And just because selective mutism is primarily a psychological phenomenon, that doesn’t mean SLPs can’t do anything. Quite the contrary.

The National Institute on Neurological Disorders and Stroke estimates that one million Americans have some form of aphasia.

Aphasia is a communication disorder caused by damage to the brain’s language capabilities. Aphasia differs from apraxia of speech and dysarthria in that it solely pertains to the brain’s speech and language center.

As such anyone can suffer from aphasia because brain damage can be caused by a number of factors. However SLPs are most likely to encounter aphasia in adults, especially those who have had a stroke. Other common causes of aphasia are brain tumors, traumatic brain injuries, and degenerative brain diseases.

In addition to neurologists, speech language pathologists have an important role in diagnosing aphasia. As an SLP you’ll assess factors such as a person’s reading and writing, functional communication, auditory comprehension, and verbal expression.

Speech Delay – Alalia

A speech delay, known to professionals as alalia, refers to the phenomenon when a child is not making normal attempts to verbally communicate. There can be a number of factors causing this to happen, and that’s why it’s critical for a speech language pathologist to be involved.

The are many potential reasons why a child would not be using age-appropriate communication. These can range anywhere from the child being a “late bloomer” – the child just takes a bit longer than average to speak – to the child having brain damage. It is the role of an SLP to go through a process of elimination, evaluating each possibility that could cause a speech delay, until an explanation is found.

Approaching a child with a speech delay starts by distinguishing among the two main categories an SLP will evaluate: speech and language.

Speech has a lot to do with the organs of speech – the tongue, mouth, and vocal chords – as well as the muscles and nerves that connect them with the brain. Disorders like apraxia of speech and dysarthria are two examples that affect the nerve connections and organs of speech. Other examples in this category could include a cleft palette or even hearing loss.

The other major category SLPs will evaluate is language. This relates more to the brain and can be affected by brain damage or developmental disorders like autism. There are many different types of brain damage that each manifest themselves differently, as well as developmental disorders, and the SLP will make evaluations for everything.

Issues Related to Autism

While the autism spectrum itself isn’t a speech disorder, it makes this list because the two go hand-in-hand more often than not.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that one out of every 68 children in our country have an autism spectrum disorder. And by definition, all children who have autism also have social communication problems.

Speech-language pathologists are often a critical voice on a team of professionals – also including pediatricians, occupational therapists, neurologists, developmental specialists, and physical therapists – who make an autism spectrum diagnosis .

In fact, the American Speech-Language Hearing Association reports that problems with communication are the first detectable signs of autism. That is why language disorders – specifically disordered verbal and nonverbal communication – are one of the primary diagnostic criteria for autism.

So what kinds of SLP disorders are you likely to encounter with someone on the autism spectrum?

A big one is apraxia of speech. A study that came out of Penn State in 2015 found that 64 percent of children who were diagnosed with autism also had childhood apraxia of speech.

This basic primer on the most common speech disorders offers little more than an interesting glimpse into the kind of issues that SLPs work with patients to resolve. But even knowing everything there is to know about communication science and speech disorders doesn’t tell the whole story of what this profession is all about. With every client in every therapy session, the goal is always to have the folks that come to you for help leave with a little more confidence than when they walked in the door that day. As a trusted SLP, you will build on those gains with every session, helping clients experience the joy and freedom that comes with the ability to express themselves freely. At the end of the day, this is what being an SLP is all about.

Ready to make a difference in speech pathology? Learn how to become a Speech-Language Pathologist today

• Emerson College - Master's in Speech-Language Pathology online - Prepare to become an SLP in as few as 20 months. No GRE required. Scholarships available.
• Arizona State University - Online - Online Bachelor of Science in Speech and Hearing Science - Designed to prepare graduates to work in behavioral health settings or transition to graduate programs in speech-language pathology and audiology.
• NYU Steinhardt - NYU Steinhardt's Master of Science in Communicative Sciences and Disorders online - ASHA-accredited. Bachelor's degree required. Graduate prepared to pursue licensure.
• Calvin University - Calvin University's Online Speech and Hearing Foundations Certificate - Helps You Gain a Strong Foundation for Your Speech-Language Pathology Career.

Speech-Language Pathology Glossary

Aphasia An acquired language disorder resulting from central nervous system damage. Learn more .

Aphonia A total lack of voice.

Apraxia This speech disorder affects a child’s ability to correctly pronounce sounds, syllables and words. The child can’t position his tongue, lips and jaw to produce speech sounds and to sequence them into syllables or words. The area of the brain that tells the muscles how to move to make particular sounds is damaged or not fully developed. Learn more .

Articulation (speech) disorder Characterized by difficulty with physical production of individual speech sounds. There may be incorrect placement of the lips, teeth, tongue or even the soft palate during speech, resulting in inaccurate production of certain sounds. 

In children, it is important to compare speech production with other children the same age. Speech sounds develop gradually, but most sounds should be correctly produced by the age of 3, and all sounds should be correctly produced by the age of 6.

When an articulation disorder is identified, speech therapy is needed. Without treatment, social and vocational consequences often result. Learn more .

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) Any approach designed to support, enhance or supplement the communication of individuals who cannot independently communicate in all situations. AAC may include sign language, picture boards and computer-assisted devices.

Autism A lifelong disability that begins before 3 years of age. It is a neurological disorder; the brain doesn’t function normally and communication and socialization are severely impacted. Autism occurs in one in 250 individuals, most commonly in boys. It is found throughout the world in all races.

Babbling Long strings of sounds that children begin to produce at about 4 months of age.

Bilateral vocal cord paralysis (BVCP) A type of vocal cord paralysis in which both vocal cords do not move. Learn more .

Central auditory processing What happens when your brain recognizes and interprets the sounds around you.

Cleft palate Cleft palate is a separation in the roof of the mouth that occurs when it fails to join, or fuse, as a child is developing before birth. Surgery to correct a cleft palate is usually performed between 9 months and 2 years of age, and may require several stages of repair. Possible long-term problems include speech problems, crooked teeth, frequent head colds and frequent ear infections. Learn more .

Cochlear implant Implantation represents one of the greatest advances in the management of children with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss (“nerve deafness”). By implanting a computerized device into the inner ear, functional hearing can be restored to children not benefitting from traditional amplification with hearing aids. Learn more .

Communication disorders Disorders in which young children may not speak at all, or may have a limited vocabulary for their age. Some children have difficulty understanding simple directions or are unable to name objects. Most children with communication disorders are able to speak by the time they enter school, however, they continue to have problems with communication.  School-aged children often have problems understanding and formulating words. Teens may have more difficulty with understanding or expressing abstract ideas. The symptoms may resemble other problems or medical conditions. Learn more .

Compensatory articulation A child may learn to produce sounds in an alternate way by using the air pressure in the throat for speech.

Craniofacial anomalies A diverse group of deformities in the growth of the head and facial bones. “Anomaly” means “irregularity” or “different from normal.” These abnormalities are congenital (present at birth). There are numerous variations − some are mild and some are severe and require surgery.

Cue Some type of aid (visual, auditory, tactile) that promotes a correct response.

Cul de sac resonance Occurs when sound resonates (vibrates) in the throat or nose, and is trapped in that area with no outlet. The speech is perceived as muffled because the sound is stuck in a cavity with no direct means of escape. The cause of cul de sac resonance can vary, but it is usually due to a blockage in the throat or nose.

Disfluency Any breakdown in the natural flow of speech. The intended message may be referred to as disfluency, or stuttering. Learn more .

Drill therapy  A method of treatment in which the therapist leads the child in targeting specific goals. Repetitions are used to increase accuracy. Typically treatment starts with production of sounds in isolation and progresses to syllables, words and sentences.

Dysphagia Feeding or swallowing problems that can occur in infants and children of all ages.

Dysphonia The degree of voice disorder.

Early intervention A key to successful treatment. If a child’s communication skills are significantly behind those of peers, it’s time to seek help. Before age 6, the brain is very flexible for language and speech learning; after 6, it’s much harder and takes longer to correct disorders. Also, habits aren’t as strong earlier, and the child’s ability to learn hasn’t yet been harmed. It’s also important to get speech therapy before a child enters school, because there can be teasing. Therapy can help avoid the emotional effects when a child has difficulty communicating.

Echolalia Immediate, whole or partial vocal imitation of another speaker.

Eosinophilic esophagitis A disease characterized by elevated levels of eosinophils in the esophagus. Learn more .

Expansion An adult’s more mature version of a child utterance that preserves the word order of the original child utterance. For example, when a child says, “Doggie eat,” an adult might reply, “The doggie is eating.”

Expressive language Refers to the ability to choose words and combine the words appropriately to communicate with sentences. Learn more .

Extension An adult’s semantically related comment on a topic established by a child. For example, when a child says, “Doggie eat,” an adult might reply, “Yes, doggie hungry.”

Feeding team Feeding is a complex process involving gross motor, fine motor, oral motor and reflex development, as well as nutritional and behavioral factors. An oral-motor / feeding problem may involve one or more of these factors, and may have an organic or environmental etiology. Physiological abnormalities may interfere with normal development of feeding patterns, and environmental factors may contribute to the evolution or maintenance of such problems. The technological advances used for supplementary means of nutritive support (e.g., nasogastric tube feedings) may also contribute to the problem. Such problems have been estimated as occurring in as much as one-third of the handicapped population, and approximately 21 percent of those with feeding problems have behavioral mismanagement as a primary etiology.

While it is most common for children with feeding problems to be referred to a single discipline (e.g., speech pathology, psychology), an interdisciplinary approach has been advocated and shown to be the most comprehensive treatment of choice.

The Cincinnati Children’s interdisciplinary feeding team provides a mechanism for integrating the knowledge and expertise of these varied disciplines to provide more effective and efficient treatment planning for children with feeding problems.

Fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) A procedure to evaluate the swallowing process in pediatric patients with swallowing disorders due to a variety of etiologies. FEES is a procedure that evaluates the pharyngeal stage of the swallow and helps to assess the airway protection mechanisms during swallowing. Learn more .

Fluency The natural forward flow of speech.

Gesture Movement of any part of the body to express or emphasize an idea, emotion or function.

Grammar Rules that outline the way words can be put together to form meaningful sentences in spoken or written language.

High-Risk Infant Follow-Up Program   High-Risk Infant Follow-Up Program at Cincinnati Children’s was established to care for low-birth-weight infants and evaluate their long-term outcome. Since then, the program has expanded to offer tertiary level outpatient clinical care, consultation services and specialized medical and developmental supervision for high-risk infants.

Home Program Helping parents and children unscramble speech disorders is the work of the speech and language pathologists at Cincinnati Children’s. They help families manage with one-on-one sessions coupled with trained parental help.  They teach parents to be therapists at home.

Hypernasality Occurs when too much sound resonates (vibrates) in the nasal cavity (nose) during speech. This type of resonance makes the patient sound as if he is talking through the nose. This can be due to an abnormal opening between the nose and the mouth during speech due to velopharyngeal dysfunction.

Hyponasality Hyponasality occurs when there is not enough sound resonating (vibrating) in the nasal cavity (nose) during speech. This type of resonance makes the patient sound “stopped up.” This can be due to blockage or congestion in the throat or nose.

Nasal air emission Sounds (including nasal rustle or nasal snort) associated with hypernasality. Nasal air emission refers to the audible release of the air pressure through the nasal cavity and nose during speech.

Nonverbal Without oral speech.

Oral apraxia Affects the ability to voluntarily control nonspeech movements. The child might have difficulty sticking out and wagging his tongue. Or the child may have difficulty sequencing movements for the command, “Show me how you kiss, now smile, now blow.”

Oral-motor Muscular movements of the mouth during speech and feeding.

Oral myofunctional disorders Differences in the position or function of the muscles of the face or mouth, including the lips and tongue. These differences in dental, skeletal and muscular structures may interfere with appropriate swallowing, speech and oral rest postures. At times, these often-subtle differences may negatively impact dental and facial growth patterns.

Phonemes Sounds in a language that distinguish between words.  For example [p] and [b] are English phonemes that distinguish between the words “pea” and “bee.”

Phonation The act of producing sound with the vocal folds.

Phonology The study of speech sounds in a language.

Play therapy Method of treatment in which the child is allowed to play freely with a select group of toys. The clinician follows the child’s lead during the therapy session.

Pragmatics Set of rules governing the use of language in context.  For example, waving your hand from side to side means “hello” or “goodbye.”  Making eye contact allows the listener know you are interested in what she is saying.

Receptive language The ability to understand the speech of others. Learn more .

Resonance The quality of the voice that results from sound vibrations in the pharynx (throat), oral cavity (mouth) and nasal cavity (nose). The relative balance of sound vibration in these cavities determines whether the quality of the speech and voice is perceived as normal or as abnormal due to a type of “nasality.”

Sign language American sign language (ASL). Communication method used by the deaf in which gestures (signs) function as words.

Stuttering A child with stuttering has an abnormal number of repetitions, hesitations or prolongations in the natural flow of speech.  The child is often tense during speech and avoids speaking because of a fear of stuttering. Learn more .

Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) An individual who is qualified to diagnose speech, language and voice disorders and to prescribe and complete therapy programs. An SLP has a degree and certification in speech and language pathology. May also be called a speech therapist, speech clinician or voice therapist. 

Standardized test A test that has standardized procedures for administration and scoring. An individual’s performance can be compared to that of others who are the same age. 

Syllable A unit of speech consisting of a vowel that stands alone or is surrounded by one or more consonants (e.g., “i,” “in,” “me”).

Velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) The inability to separate the nasal cavity from the oral cavity during speech. The result is abnormal resonance and the production of distracting noises during speech. Decreased intelligibility results due to the distortion of consonants and vowel sounds.

Not all velopharyngeal insufficiency requires treatment. In those cases where speech intelligibility is affected, various treatment options are available and need to be tailored to the findings obtained on a nasopharyngoscopy.

Speech therapy may be an option in patients in which articulation errors are the source for the hypernasality. Speech therapy is often necessary to correct compensatory speech problems that develop secondary to velopharyngeal insufficiency. Speech therapy is generally required after surgical intervention so the patient can obtain maximum benefit.

Physical intervention varies from procedures lasting less than 10 minutes to those requiring 1½ hours. The areas where the patient is losing sound energy from the oral cavity into the nasal passages require some form of treatment to obstruct this abnormal escape. Generally, tissues from the back wall of the throat are rotated in such a way that the patient is able to separate the nasal cavity from the oral cavity during speech. Learn more .

Voice The sound generated when air pressure is forced through closed vocal folds, which are two muscles in the larynx, causing them to vibrate.  Voice provides the power and sound to deliver a verbal message.

Voice disorder The vocal folds do not vibrate efficiently or evenly to produce a clear sound. It is characterized by abnormal vocal pitch, loudness, quality or resonance. Learn more .

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How speech-language pathologists work with kids

By Kate Kelly

Expert reviewed by Kelli Johnson, MA

At a glance

Speech-language pathologists help kids with all types of language and communication issues.

They’re often part of the special education team at school.

They may work with kids one-on-one or in small groups, or they may co-teach lessons with the classroom teacher.

When you hear the term speech-language pathologist (SLP), you might think of professionals who help kids with speech difficulties. And that’s not wrong. SLPs work on challenges like stuttering or trouble pronouncing word sounds.

But SLPs also work on challenges that are related to language. That includes problems with communication and reading.

These specialists are trained to work on many types of learning differences, including:

Auditory processing disorder

Language disorders

Social communication disorder

SLPs (also known as speech-language therapists or speech therapists) often work with kids at school, where therapy is free. But some SLPs work in private practices. 

Speech therapy is tailored to meet a child’s needs. So, SLPs address specific skills. For example, they might help a child who has trouble with social skills make appropriate conversation. Or help a struggling reader connect letters to sounds.

SLPs don’t only help kids. Speech-language therapists who work privately may also treat adults with some language challenges. But it’s less common.

Dive deeper

How slps help with language challenges.

In addition to working on speech skills, SLPs at school may work with kids on language, speaking, listening, and reading skills. They design activities based on individual needs. Here are some things they might focus on:

Boosting phonological awareness skills. These skills allow kids to recognize and work with sounds in words. SLPs might start by focusing on rhyming and identifying the beginning sounds in words.

Expressing more complex ideas. SLPs may teach kids to speak in longer sentences and to share more details. They might focus on using “joining words” like and , but , or because .

Understanding inferences. These are ideas that aren’t directly stated in text. SLPs can help kids understand the meaning of what they read.

Building vocabulary. Knowing more words can help kids with speaking, reading, and listening. To help kids remember new words, SLPs might act them out, use them to retell stories, or play vocabulary games.

Improving reading comprehension. SLPs may start by helping kids recall what they know about a topic before they read. SLPs may also teach kids how to look for key elements in stories.

Improving social communication skills. Kids may get help with the back-and-forth of conversation. This can involve learning to pay attention to the other person’s tone of voice, body language, and emotions.

Learn more about what happens in speech therapy .

SLPs in public schools

SLPs are part of the special education team in public schools. They’re involved in the intervention and evaluation process. They work with kids who get related services through an IEP. (They may also work with kids who get services through a 504 plan.)

As part of the therapy, SLPs may work with classroom resources, such as the books a child is reading. Or they may choose other materials that are at a child’s reading level.

SLPs work with kids both one-on-one and in small groups. They may coordinate with a special education teacher to support a child. They may also come into the classroom to work with kids in a reading or language center or to co-teach a lesson with the teacher.

SLPs play another important role in public schools. They assess kids who struggle with language and communication. The results help them spot kids who can benefit from speech and language services. SLPs can also help kids as part of the school’s intervention system.

Find out about IEPs and related services at school.

SLPs in private practice

Not all SLPs work in schools. Some work in a medical setting, like a children’s hospital. Others may also have a private practice.

People hire an SLP in private practice for different reasons. One is that they’re not happy with their child’s progress at school. Another is that they want more sessions with an SLP than their child is receiving through the IEP.

But paying for an SLP can be expensive. Some may offer a sliding scale payment. That means you pay a fee that’s based on your income. Some SLPs oversee services at university clinics, which can be low-cost or free.

Here are some things to ask about before hiring an SLP:

Does the SLP have training and experience in the types of challenges the child has?

Does the SLP have an advanced degree (usually a master’s degree in communication disorders and science) and a license to practice in the state?

Does the SLP specialize in treating a certain age group?

What is the SLP’s approach, and is it a good fit for the child? Is the SLP willing to use the child’s school materials or similar resources in the sessions?

Discover resources for finding local specialists .

To get speech therapy at school, kids need to be evaluated for special education services. SLPs can assess a child’s challenges as part of the full evaluation process. Schools do these evaluations for free.

Parents and caregivers can also talk with their child’s pediatrician or other health care professional. They can be good resources when it comes to language challenges and learning differences.

For parents: Learn about the evaluation process at school . 

For educators: Find out about different language disorders .

Explore related topics

Speech Therapy Terms Dictionary

 21 min read

A glossary of definitions for adult speech-language pathology & technology

Quick links: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z.

Acquired Brain Injury (ABI)  – Any brain damage that occurs after birth, in contrast to genetic brain disorders or damage to the brain in the womb or during birth. Typically refers to head injury, stroke, brain tumors, and lack of oxygen to the brain, but excludes degenerative brain conditions, such as dementia. Find out  more about brain injury  on our  Brain Injury Resources page.

Acquired Communication Disorder  – A problem with speech, language, voice, pragmatics, or fluency that develops after a person has developed language. Contrasted with a  developmental  communication disorder. Typically refers to aphasia, dysarthria, apraxia of speech, cognitive-communication disorders that occur after an acquired brain injury.  Learn the difference  between these types of communication disorders.

Alphabet Supplementation  – A technique of pointing to the first letter of each word as it is said. Use the letter board in  AlphaTopics AAC  to practice alphabet (and topic) supplementation to improve speech intelligibility for people with dysarthria. Learn  10 ways alphabet supplementation can help .

Alveolar  – A class of sounds made when the tongue touches or is close to the bumpy front part of the roof of the mouth, called the alveolar ridge. English alveolar consonants include /n, t, d, s, z, ch, l, r/.

Alzheimer’s Disease  – The most common type of dementia, often recognized by declining short-term memory in the early stages. Like all dementias, people with Alzheimer’s get worse over time as it is a degenerative condition.  Spaced Retrieval Therapy  is an app designed to be used during therapy with people with Alzheimer’s Disease to help with memory of specific facts and procedures.

Android  – A mobile operating system developed by Google, run by several brands of smartphones and tablet computers such as Nexus, Samsung, Kindle, LG, Sony, and Motorola. Apps are sold on the  Google Play store . Apps for Android devices are not compatible with Apple devices (iPad, iPhone) running iOS. Most of Tactus Therapy’s most popular apps are now available for Android on Google Play.

Anomia  – An expressive language impairment that makes it difficult to recall words and names. Anomia is a common and frustrating part of most types of aphasia. Anomic aphasia is a specific subtype of aphasia with anomia as the primary symptom.  Naming Therapy  and  Advanced Naming Therapy  are apps designed to work on improving word retrieval for people with anomia.

Aphasia  – An acquired language disorder caused by damage to the language centers of the brain. Aphasia can impact auditory comprehension, verbal expression, reading, writing, and use of symbols. It does not affect intelligence. Read  “What is Aphasia?”  for more information.

App  – Short for “software application.” An app requires an operating system to run on. In mobile devices, an app can be downloaded from an app store and launched by touching the icon. See all the Tactus Therapy apps on this  list .

App Store  – An online store that sells apps for Apple devices running iOS. The App Store is part of iTunes on a computer, or can be found as an app pre-installed on an iPad or iPhone. All Tactus Therapy apps for Apple devices are purchased directly through the  App Store , not through our website.

Apraxia of Speech (AOS)  – An acquired motor speech disorder that impairs the ability to form and execute the motor plans for speech. Read  “What is Apraxia?”  for more information.  Speech FlipBook  is an app designed to help with apraxia of speech by presenting sounds in a hierarchy of complexity.  Apraxia Therapy  is an app to help people with AOS speak in time with a video.

Articulation  – The movement of the tongue, lips, and jaw to make speech sounds. Articulation is one part of the whole speech process that includes respiration, phonation, articulation, resonance, and prosody. Articulation problems are common after a stroke or brain injury as part of dysarthria.  Speech FilpBook  is our app for articulation.

ASHA  – The  American Speech-Language-Hearing Association  is the organization that certifies Speech-Language Pathologists in the United States. The annual ASHA convention is held every year in November in various locations around the country, featuring continuing education and an exhibit hall  for 10,000-14,000 attending speech pathologists, audiologists, and students.

Assessment  – The evaluation phase of therapy in which a speech therapist determines whether an impairment exists, the degree and nature of the impairment, and sets the direction for therapy, usually with a written report summarizing the findings. Assessments may include formal or standardized tests or may be informal, consisting of an interview or a variety of non-standardized tasks. Many assessments include a combination of formal and informal measures.

Attention  – A cognitive process of allocating processing resources to certain information. Attention is addressed in a hierarchy of focused, sustained, selective, and alternating. Attention is required for memory, and is frequently impaired after brain injury.  Visual Attention Therapy  is an app designed to work on attention to both sides of personal space.

Auditory Comprehension  – Understanding words through listening. Auditory comprehension is often impaired in aphasia. It can be relatively in-tact for single words or simple sentences, but impaired for complex sentences, grammatical words, or when there are background distractions.  Comprehension Therapy  is an app that addresses auditory comprehension of single words, and Advanced Comprehension Therapy addresses auditory comprehension of sentences and directions.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)  – Communication methods used by a person with a communication disorder. to enhance or replace spoken or written communication. AAC can be  unaided  or  aided  by a device or communication tool, and can be  low-tech  (paper or equivalent) or  high-tech  (computer, smartphone, or dedicated device).  AlphaTopics  is an AAC app for dysarthria and aphasia.

Autism (ASD)  – A neurodevelopmental disorder that often involves impaired social interaction, decreased communication skills, and repetitive behaviors. Read why Tactus Therapy apps work well for  children with autism .

Bilabial  – A class of sounds made with both lips. In English, the bilabial consonant sounds are /m, b, p/.

Brain Injury  – See also  Acquired Brain Injury  or  Traumatic Brain Injury . Learn more about the types of brain injuries and what to expect in “ What is Brain Injury? ”

Broca’s Aphasia  – See also  Expressive Aphasia .  Language Therapy  is an app developed for people with Broca’s aphasia to improve naming, listening, reading, and writing skills.  See a video of a man with Broca’s aphasia here.

Bundle  – An app bundle is a set of paid apps that can be purchased together on the App Store at a discount over buying each app separately. Tactus Therapy offers three  app bundles  to save you money: Tactus Aphasia Essentials, Tactus Aphasia Elements, & Tactus Clinical Tools.  Learn more  about how you can save when you stock up on great apps for therapy.

Caregiver  – A person who provides care for a person with a disability. A caregiver can be a spouse, sibling, parent, or friend as well as a paid caregiver hired to care for a person. Also called a carer or care partner.

Category  – A class of things sharing a similar attribute. Read more about the  Importance of Categories  in speech therapy.  Category Therapy  is an app designed to work on understanding and organizing categories.

Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA)  – The medical term for a stroke. A stroke occurs when the blood supply to the brain is blocked (ischemic stroke) or ruptures (hemorrhagic). Read  What is a Stroke?  for more information or find  resources for stroke .

Circumlocution  – Literally talking around a word, a method of describing a concept. Circumlocution is a  strategy  used by people with anomia, as well as a common characteristic of aphasic speech.  This approach is used in  Naming Therapy  in the  Describe  activity. See also Semantic Feature Analysis.

Cognition  – The mental processes related to knowledge, including awareness, attention, perception, reasoning, memory, language, and judgement.

Cognitive-Communication  – Cognition as it relates to communication. Disorders of cognition often have a negative effect on communication. Read more about  cognitive-communication disorders  and see how  apps can help treat cognitive-communication .

Communication  – The transmission of  a message from a sender to a recipient through a medium (e.g. verbal, non-verbal, written).

Communication Disorder  – Any disorder that impairs communication. Communication disorders may affect speech (speech-sound disorder, articulation disorder, motor speech disorder, apraxia of speech), language (aphasia, expressive language disorder), pragmatics (autism, frontal head injury), fluency (stuttering), literacy (dyslexia, agraphia, alexia), cognition (dyscalculia, dementia),  or voice. Learn more about  communication disorders acquired after stroke .

Compensatory Strategy  – A method of carrying out a task when the easiest or most direct method of achieving the goal is impaired. Example: Describing a word is a compensatory  word-finding strategy  that can be used when a person cannot think of the exact word; using this strategy may result in the listener guessing the word, thereby compensating for the word finding deficit. A person must remember to use the strategy for it to work. Compensatory strategies used for cognition, language, speech, and swallowing and are frequently taught in speech therapy.

Comprehension  – Understanding. Auditory comprehension is understanding through listening. Reading comprehension is understanding written words.  Comprehension Therapy  is an app designed to work on auditory and reading comprehension of single words.  Reading Therapy  is an app meant to be used for reading comprehension at the phrase and sentence levels. Advanced Language Therapy contains both Advanced Comprehension Therapy for working on understanding sentences, and Advanced Reading Therapy for working on understanding paragraphs.

Confrontation Naming  – Saying the name of an object that is presented. Objects may be real or pictured. This ability is frequently impaired in aphasia and dementia.  Naming Therapy  is an app designed to practice confrontation naming.

Consonant  – A speech sound in which the air is partially obstructed. Consonants combine with vowels to make syllables or with other consonants to form clusters. All of the consonants and most clusters in English are featured in  Speech FlipBook .

Convergent Naming  – Stating the category that certain words have in common. Given “apple, banana, pomegranate,” the category is “fruit.” Categories may be concrete or abstract.  Category Therapy  is an app that works on convergent naming of categories in the  Classify  and  Add One  activities.

Conversation  – The exchange of ideas through language. The end goal of speech therapy in many cases.  Conversation Therapy  is an app designed to encourage conversation in therapy.

Cue  – An auditory, visual, or tactile message that prompts a person to say or do something. Cues are given in speech therapy to help a person find a word, produce a sound, remember something, or use a compensatory strategy. Also referred to as a hint or prompt, and included in  Language  Therapy and Number Therapy .

Cueing Hierarchy  – A set of cues arranged in an order from most helpful to least helpful. The cues in  Naming Therapy  in the  Practice  mode and  Number Therapy  in the  Speak  activity form a cueing hierarchy for word retrieval. Learn more about  how to use a cueing hierarchy .

Customization  – Adapting something to personal preference or needs. In apps, this can be achieved by changing settings to make the app work in a custom way, or through adding your own words, pictures, or exercises to make the app personally relevant.  Language Therapy and  AlphaTopics  are highly customizable apps, allowing you to add own words, questions, and pictures.

Degenerative Disease  – A medical condition that gets worse, or progresses, over time. Often speech therapy for people with degenerative disorders will focus on teaching strategies that can be used by the person or family as skills deteriorate. Dementia, Parkinson’s, ALS, cancer, and PPA are  progressive conditions  that can affect communication.

Deglutition  – A scientific word for swallowing, or passing something from the mouth into the stomach via the throat and esophagus. Disorders of deglutition are called  dysphagia . Treatment for dysphagia can be found in our  Dysphagia Therapy app .

Dementia  – An umbrella term for a set of degenerative brain disorders that often affect memory and thinking skills first, before impacting language, emotions, and motivation. Alzheimer’s, Lewy body, frontotemporal, and primary progressive aphasia are all types of dementia. See also  Alzheimer’s .

Divergent Naming  – Listing items in a given category. For example, “name 5 types of fruit” is a task for divergent naming. Often clients in speech therapy are asked to name items within a semantic category or that start with a common sound or letter. These exercises can test and strengthen networks in the brain and highlight organizational difficulties. Find over 200 divergent naming tasks in  Advanced Naming Therapy .

Dysarthria  –  A motor-speech disorder that results in unclear speech, often due to stroke, TBI, Parkinson’s, ALS, or cerebral palsy. This inability to speak clearly is because of weakness, slowness, or lack of coordination in the muscles of the mouth, voice, and lungs. There are several different types of dysarthria. Read “ What is dysarthria? “, then learn how using an app like  AlphaTopics AAC  can help  improve speech intelligibility .

Dysphagia  – Impaired swallowing. Dysphagia is common after a stroke, but also occurs from other neurological conditions or physical damage to the mouth, throat, or esophagus. Speech-language pathologists are experts in the diagnosis and treatment of oral and pharyngeal dysphagia. Exercises, modified diets, and strategies may be recommended after a clinical/bedside or instrumental assessment. Find out more by reading “ What is Dysphagia? “. Clinicians can find information about dysphagia assessment and treatment in the  Dysphagia Therapy app .

Evidence-Based Practice (EBP)  – An approach to clinical practice that values research and evidence of efficacy above tradition when making treatment decisions. Evidence exists along a hierarchy of strength, from clinical expertise and case studies to randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses. Read “ Is this app evidence-based? ” for more information, or find out  the evidence for using Language Therapy .

Executive Functioning  – The term for the overall management of tasks, including planning, reasoning, monitoring, adjusting, problem solving, and evaluating. This is the highest level of cognitive functioning and often impaired in brain injury survivors.

Expressive Aphasia  – A type of aphasia characterized by effortful, non-fluent (fewer than 5 words per utterance), and agrammatic (omitting function words) speech with relatively good auditory comprehension. Syntax and grammar are often impaired for both verbal expression and auditory comprehension. Writing is frequently more impacted than reading, though both are likely to be decreased from previous abilities.  Read more about this type of aphasia, also known as  Broca’s Aphasia .

Fluent Aphasia  –  A type of aphasia in which words, or non-words/jargon, are produced largely without effort in longer bursts. Comprehension is often impaired. Wernicke’s aphasia is a type of fluent aphasia. See a  video of a person with fluent aphasia  to learn more about it.

Frontal Lobe  – One of the four lobes of the brain, located at the front of the skull behind the forehead. The frontal lobe is associated with executive functioning, decision making, self control, and problem solving. It is frequently damaged in brain injuries caused by motor vehicle collisions.

Generalization  – The process of a skill learned in therapy being used in a broader context. Also known as  carry-over  or  transfer .

Hierarchy  – An order of cues, tasks, or stimuli ranked according to difficulty or helpfulness. The cues presented in the  Naming Practice  portion of  Naming Therapy  are arranged in a hierarchy of helpfulness. The levels in  Visual Attention Therapy  are arranged in a hierarchy of difficulty.  Apraxia Therapy  takes users through a hierarchy of repetitions from the most support to the most independence. See also  cueing hierarchy .

In-App Purchase  – An app feature that can be purchased from within the app, after the app is downloaded. This can be a consumable or non-consumable purchase.

Intensive Therapy  – A schedule of delivering speech therapy, usually for aphasia or stuttering, that provides many hours of therapy in a short period of time with the aim of seeing faster and better results. Using apps as part of a home program can help to give people with aphasia more practice to intensify the therapy experience.

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)  – The set of symbols to represent all the sounds in the world’s languages. 

Intonation  – The rise and fall of pitch in the voice during speech. A component of  prosody .

iOS  – The operating system of Apple’s mobile touch-screen devices: iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.

iPad  – A touch-screen tablet made by Apple. All  Tactus Therapy apps  can run on an iPad.

Jargon  – Non-words produced by a person with aphasia, usually fluent aphasia, that sound like real words and are produced with appropriate intonation. Also, terminology specific to a profession, like most words on this list.

Language  – A system for communicating. The words and rules for combining them understood by a community; can be spoken or written. English, Spanish, and American Sign Language are three examples of languages.  Language Therapy  is an app that covers the 4 basic domains of language: verbal expression, auditory comprehension, written expression, and reading comprehension. Advanced Language Therapy covers these skills at the sentence and paragraph levels.

Left Neglect  – see  Neglect

Letter Supplementation  – A method of pointing at the first letter of each word spoken to give the listener a clue to the word being said and slow down the speaker.  Read how  this strategy can help speakers with unclear speech.

Life Participation Approach to Aphasia (LPAA)  – A philosophy or model of service delivery for aphasia therapy that expands the focus from only addressing the language impairment to also include the person, their environment, and their participation in activities to more fully impact quality of life. Find out  5 things often misunderstood about LPAA .

Memory  – The cognitive process of storing (or encoding) and recalling (or retrieving) information in the brain. There are many types of memory: short-term, long-term, procedural, declarative, semantic, and episodic. Memory can be impaired through an acquired or degenerative brain condition, such as a TBI or dementia.  Spaced Retrieval Therapy  is an app that uses an evidence-based approach to help people remember facts, procedures, or names when memory is impaired.

Motor Speech Disorder  – A problem producing speech, typically a type of  dysarthria  or  apraxia . Results from neurological, neuromuscular, or musculoskeletal problems with respiration, phonation, articulation, resonance, or prosody.

Naming  – The process of saying what you see. The ability to name objects or actions is frequently impaired in people with aphasia and dementia. The  Naming Therapy  app can help practice the ability to name using a cueing hierarchy, semantic feature analysis, phonological component analysis, and picture description – all  evidence-based naming treatments . The Advanced Naming Therapy app uses more complex exercises to improve generative naming and word finding.

Neglect  – A neurological condition that results in a person being unaware of things that appear on one side of their visual field, even though their eyes are fine. Left neglect is more common than right neglect, though both are possible. Read more  about neglect and how to treat it .

Neurologist  – A medical doctor specialized in disorders of the nervous system (brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves).

Neuroplasticity  – The principle that the brain can change, even in adulthood, based on experience. Discover the  10 principles of neuroplasticity  to know which types of treatment are likely to help.

Neuropsychologist  – A psychologist specialized in behaviour as it relates to disorders of the brain. In a stroke or brain injury rehabilitation team, the neuropsychologist will often administer tests of cognitive function.

Numbers  – A special type of language that communicates quantity. The  communication of numbers  is frequently impaired in people with aphasia.  Number Therapy  is an app that works on the transcoding of numbers in speech, listening, and typing activities.

Occupational Therapy (OT)  – A field of therapy that rehabilitates people with physical or mental illness through the performance of everyday tasks. Occupational Therapists often focus on the upper extremity (arm and hand), wheelchair mobility, activities of daily living, and visual-spatial skills in the rehab setting.

Operating System (OS)  – The software that runs the basic functions of a computer, tablet, or smartphone that allows it to launch other software applications. Windows, OS X, Linux, iOS, and Android are some common operating systems. When purchasing apps or software, it is important to ensure they are compatible with the OS of your computer, tablet, or smartphone. For example, an app designed for iOS will not work on your Windows computer or Android tablet.

Parkinson’s Disease  – A progressive or degenerative medical condition that affects movement by impacting the dopamine systems in the brain.  People with Parkinson’s Disease, or Parkinsonian symptoms, can have speech and swallowing problems that can be helped by speech therapy.

Phonation  – Sound made when air vibrates the vocal folds in the larynx to produce speech. In some motor speech disorders, phonation is absent, impaired, or mis-timed.

Phonemes  – The sounds that are distinct in a language. The word “cat” has 3 phonemes: k + æ + t. Phonemes can be written using the International Phonetic Alphabet, or IPA. The  Speech FlipBook  app allows you to create words with specific sets of phonemes.

Phonological Awareness  – A set of skills that allow a person to hear and manipulate the sounds in words regardless of the meaning. Rhyming, alliteration, segmenting, and blending are all phonological awareness skills.

Phonological Components Analysis (PCA)  – An evidence-based therapy technique for aphasia focusing on phonological awareness skills, such as identifying the first and last sounds in a word, generating rhymes of a given word, and counting the syllables in a word.  Naming Therapy  incorporates PCA into the  Describe  activity when the  Sound  cues are turned on in the  Settings . Learn more about  how to do PCA .

Physical Therapy (PT)  – A field of therapy that rehabilitates people with physical impairments through exercise, massage, heat, or other treatments that are not surgery or medication. Physical Therapists often focus on transfer skills (e.g. moving from bed to chair), walking, and climbing stairs in a rehabilitation setting.

Pragmatics  – The social use of language, including tone of voice, taking turns in a  conversation , providing context to a story, and using words appropriate to the audience or situation. Pragmatic skills are often impaired after a brain injury or a stroke on the right side of the brain.

Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA)  – A rare type of frontotemporal dementia that starts with a gradual loss of language. Speech therapy can help to provide strategies for communication or exercises to strengthen language skills to slow the decline. Read “ What is PPA? ” for more information.

Privacy  – Tactus Therapy values your privacy. We never collect any names, personal data, or email addresses through our apps. Healthcare providers can easily keep patient data private using Tactus Therapy apps. See our  privacy policy  for more information.

Prosody  – The melody of speech, including suprasegmental features such as rate, rhythm, intonation, volume, stress, and pitch. Prosody can convey emotion, sarcasm, a question vs a statement, and energy. Damage to the brain can impair a person’s ability to produce or understand prosody. People with Broca’s aphasia or apraxia are often dysprosodic. Those with right-hemisphere damage may not understand the intent of the speaker if sarcasm is used, called sensory or receptive aprosodia.

Question  – A sentence meant to elicit information from someone. A query or interrogative. 

Receptive Aphasia  – Another name for  fluent aphasia  or  Wernicke’s aphasia , used because of the marked difficulty with comprehension.  Read more and see a video  of this type of aphasia.

Recovery  – The process of restoring function after a loss. Recovery from a brain injury or stroke can take years, and may never be a full recovery to previous levels of functioning. However, recovery is always possible to some extent. Read  5 factors you can control in stroke recovery .

Remediation  – Improving the problem. One of 4 approaches used in speech-language therapy. Read  more about remediation  and the other 3 approaches.

Resonance  – The flow of air through the nose or mouth during speech. The velum prevents air from going through the nose in all but the nasal sounds (m, n, ng) in normal speech. Cleft palate, stroke, and progressive diseases can cause disorders in resonance in speech.

Respiration  – Breathing, and the first component of speech production.

Responsive Naming  – Generating the name of an object or idea when given attributes about it. For example, “what do you use to tell time?” could be a question meant to elicit the names “clock” or “watch.” To practice responsive naming, use the  Naming Practice  part of the  Naming Therapy  app and listen to the first definition cue without looking at the picture.

Semantic Feature Analysis (SFA)  – An evidence-based method of naming therapy that entails describing something in a systematic way. Detailing the color, size, shape, function, category, smell, taste, feeling, etc of an object or action is a communication strategy, a prompt to retrieve the word, and a restorative exercise.  Naming Therapy  uses SFA in the Describe activity. Read more about  how to do SFA .

Semantics  -The meaning of language.

Smartphone  – A touch-screen phone that serves as a phone and a mini-computer. It can run apps, browse the web, send text messages, take photos, and handle e-mail. The iPhone is Apple’s smartphone.

Spaced Retrieval  – A scientifically proven method to help people with dementia or other memory impairments actively train to recall important information. Recalling an answer over multiplying intervals of time helps to cement the information in memory.  Spaced Retrieval Therapy  is an enhanced interval timer app with independent data tracking and prompts. Read more about how to do it in our  How To: SRT  guide.

Speech  – The expression of language through articulated sounds. Speech consists of respiration, phonation, articulation, resonance, and prosody. Disorders of speech may include problems with any of these areas, including fluency (stuttering or stammering) and voice.

Speech and Language Therapist (SLT or SALT)  – The same as a Speech-Language Pathologist. This title is used for professionals who are trained to evaluate and treat communication and swallowing disorders in many countries such as the UK.

Speech Therapy  – The treatment of communication and swallowing disorders.

Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP)  – The official title given to professionals who are trained to evaluate and treat communication and swallowing disorders.  The term ‘Speech-Language Pathologist’ is meant to better reflect the scope of practice of professionals commonly referred to as ‘speech therapists.’ In the US and Canada, entry-level education to qualify to be a SLP is a Master’s degree.

Strategy  – A plan for achieving a goal. People with communication and swallowing disorders may benefit from using strategies to do the tasks that have become difficult for them. See also  Compensatory Strategy .

Stroke  – An event inside the brain in which there is a sudden loss of function, also known as a  brain attack  or  cerebrovascular attack (CVA) . A stroke occurs when a part of the brain is deprived of the oxygen it needs to function properly. Learn more by reading  What is a Stroke?  and watching the helpful video.

Subscription  – An ongoing monthly or annual expense to use an app or service. When you stop paying for your subscription, you have no access to the app or service anymore. At Tactus Therapy, we don’t believe in charging you for a subscription. When you purchase our apps, you own them for good. We even give you free updates. Don’t worry about our servers going down or using our apps when you don’t have WiFi. They’ll always work.

Syntax  – The rules for combining words in a language. Syntax is often impaired in non-fluent aphasia.

Tablet  – The generic name for a touch-screen computer or device roughly the size of a pad of paper. The iPad and iPad mini are tablets made by Apple. There are also tablets that run on the Android and Windows operating systems.

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)  –  A jolt or blow to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the normal functioning of the brain. Learn more about  brain injury in this post .

Velar  – A class of sounds produced at the back of the mouth by approximating the base of the tongue to the velum, or soft palate. /k/, /g/, and /ng/ are velar consonant sounds in English.

Visual Scanning  – A treatment for visual attention deficits, or neglect, that can be done with our  Visual Attention Therapy  app. Learn more about how visual scanning works as a treatment in this  How To: Visual Scanning  post.

VNeST  – Verb Network Strengthening Treatment. Learn more about this effective therapy protocol for improving word finding in aphasia in our step-by-step guide on  How To Do VNeST .

Vowel  – Sounds made with an open vocal tract that form the nucleus of a syllable. You can create words lists with any English vowel in  Speech FlipBook .

Wernicke’s Aphasia  – A type of fluent aphasia with poor auditory comprehension and jargon speech. See  Fluent Aphasia  for more or read  this story  about a couple dealing with Wernicke’s aphasia.

Wh Question  – A type of question that starts with one of these words that starts with “wh”: who, what, where, when, why, which, whose. “How” is also often considered a wh question. 

Yes/No Question  – A type of question that can be answered with “yes” or “no.”

Want to learn more about speech and language disorders in adults? Visit our Learn pages to discover other helpful resources. We also have a wide variety of  apps for speech therapy  you can download to get started on improving communication today.  

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Megan S. Sutton , MS, CCC-SLP is a speech-language pathologist and co-founder of Tactus Therapy. She is an international speaker, writer, and educator on the use of technology in adult medical speech therapy. Megan believes that technology plays a critical role in improving aphasia outcomes and humanizing clinical services.

A Glossary Of Speech Therapy Terms: S-Z

Have you ever been sitting at your speech therapist’s office, confused at the terminology they’re using, but feeling too embarrassed to ask for clarification?

Well, you’ve come to the right place.

We’re District Speech, a Washington DC speech therapist with a passion for patient education.

We know how intimidating starting speech therapy can be, especially if you’re struggling to understand the terminology being used by your speech therapist.

That’s why we’ve put together this series of articles to define commonly used speech therapy terms.

Previously, we covered:

• A Glossary Of Speech Therapy Terms: A to E
• A Glossary Of Speech Therapy Terms: F to M
• A Glossary Of Speech Therapy Terms: N to O
• A Glossary Of Speech Therapy Terms: P to R

Today, we’re finishing the series with S to Z.

Keep reading to find out more.

Rather than language as a whole, the study of semantics looks at the meaning behind language.

It explores the relationship between your language, thoughts, and behavior.

For example, the same word can convey different meanings depending on the way you say it.

Think of the terms “goodbye” and “see you later”.

Both technically mean the same thing; however, they can convey different meanings depending on the context.

For instance, “see you later” implies an expected reunion at some point in the future whereas “goodbye” may signify a more permanent separation, depending on the context.

Semantics can apply to both single words as well as full sentences.

Speech Disorder

Speech disorders are clinical diagnoses given to individuals with atypical speech and language skills.

To be diagnosed with a speech disorder, your voice must be significantly impacted in one of the following ways:

• Vocal weakness (low volume, not easily heard)
• Not easily understood
• Vocally or visually unpleasant
• Sound production deviations
• Lack of conventional rhythm or stress

Speech disorders may be caused by both physical and psychological factors.

Common speech disorders include:

• Social communication disorder
• Hypernasality
• Velopharyngeal insufficiency
• Orofacial myofunctional disorder (tongue thrust)
• Selective mutism
• Childhood apraxia of speech
• Ankyloglossia (tongue tie)
• And many more

Speech Mechanism

Your speech mechanisms are the various parts of your body involved in speech production.

Examples of speech mechanisms include:

• Your articulators, such as lips, tongue , and lower jaw (mandible)
• Your larynx
• Your resonators, such as oral and nasal cavities
• Your respiratory system

Speech disorders may affect one or multiple speech mechanisms.

Stuttering is a type of speech disorder which interferes with your voice’s fluency and time patterning.

For instance, people who stutter often repeat the first syllable of certain words or have difficulty starting speech.

Stuttering involves both primary characteristics, such as sound and syllable repetition, as well as secondary characteristics, such as eye blinking.

We’re currently not sure what causes stuttering in adults or kids.

RELATED: Famous People Who’ve Stuttered

Syntax refers to the ways words are strung together in a sentence to convey meaning.

You can think of it as a set of rules that surround your everyday language.

For instance, if a sentence has a verb, subject, and direct object, syntax tells us that proper sentence structure would be subject, verb, direct object.

Tongue Thrust

Tongue thrusting is the tendency to place your tongue in the wrong position, typically pressing forward towards the teeth.

Tongue thrust is a common childhood condition that, left untreated, could result in dental issues, such as an open bite.

It can be caused by multiple factors, such as a feeding and swallowing disorder , allergies, and tongue tie.

Utterance is a broad term used to describe any unit of speech characterized by breaths and pauses.

“Utter” means simply “to say”.

Therefore, mostly everything you say may be considered an utterance.

It includes simple phrases, such as “ew!” to bigger words as well as full sentences.

Even large units of language, such as a graduation speech, are considered utterances.

Velum is another word to describe your soft palate.

It includes your uvula as well as the arches in your mouth known as the palatoglossal and palatopharyngeal arches.

Your velum is responsible for closing your nasopharynx, a cavity in the upper part of your pharynx, during swallowing and speaking.

Certain medical conditions, such as cleft lip and cleft palate , can interfere with your velum’s functioning.

Book Your Appointment With District Speech Today

And now we’ve come to an end to our speech therapy terminology journal.

We hope these series of articles have helped you gained a better understanding of the terms being used in your speech therapy sessions.

If you’re looking to hear more about speech therapy, or have questions regarding speech therapy terminology, we’re just a phone call away.

Book your appointment with District Speech today to get started on your vocal transformation.

District Speech and Language Therapy specializes in speech therapy, physical therapy, and occupational therapy solutions, for both children and adults, in the Washington D.C and the Arlington Virginia areas.

Related Words

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Words Related to speech and language pathology

Below is a list of words related to speech and language pathology . You can click words for definitions. Sorry if there's a few unusual suggestions! The algorithm isn't perfect, but it does a pretty good job for common-ish words. Here's the list of words that are related to speech and language pathology :

• rehabilitation psychology
• pediatrician
• psychologist
• allied health profession
• occupational therapy
• respiration
• physical therapy
• behavior analysis
• communication disorders
• speech disorder
• aeromechanics
• language disorder
• voice disorders
• autism spectrum disorder
• speech communication
• human voice
• audiologist
• receptive language
• expressive language disorder
• speech sound disorder
• apraxia of speech
• language-based learning disability
• feeding disorder
• nurse practitioner
• occupational therapist
• applied behavior analysis
• cleft lip and palate
• auditory processing disorder
• youth detention center
• professional degree
• regional accreditation
• american speech-language-hearing association
• college of education
• comprehensive exams
• australian dollar
• speech and language pathology in school settings
• children's commissioner for england

Popular Searches

As you've probably noticed, words related to " speech and language pathology " are listed above. Hopefully the generated list of term related words above suit your needs.

P.S. There are some problems that I'm aware of, but can't currently fix (because they are out of the scope of this project). The main one is that individual words can have many different senses (meanings), so when you search for a word like mean , the engine doesn't know which definition you're referring to ("bullies are mean " vs. "what do you mean ?", etc.), so consider that your search query for words like term may be a bit ambiguous to the engine in that sense, and the related terms that are returned may reflect this. You might also be wondering: What type of word is ~term~ ?

Also check out speech and language pathology words on relatedwords.io for another source of associations.

Related Words runs on several different algorithms which compete to get their results higher in the list. One such algorithm uses word embedding to convert words into many dimensional vectors which represent their meanings. The vectors of the words in your query are compared to a huge database of of pre-computed vectors to find similar words. Another algorithm crawls through Concept Net to find words which have some meaningful relationship with your query. These algorithms, and several more, are what allows Related Words to give you... related words - rather than just direct synonyms.

As well as finding words related to other words, you can enter phrases and it should give you related words and phrases, so long as the phrase/sentence you entered isn't too long. You will probably get some weird results every now and then - that's just the nature of the engine in its current state.

Special thanks to the contributors of the open-source code that was used to bring you this list of speech and language pathology themed words: @Planeshifter , @HubSpot , Concept Net , WordNet , and @mongodb .

There is still lots of work to be done to get this to give consistently good results, but I think it's at the stage where it could be useful to people, which is why I released it.

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Reading Comprehension and the SLP: Contributions of Language

Angie neal, ms, ccc-slp.

• Language Disorder(s)
• Literacy and Phonological Awareness
• School Intervention and Collaboration in Schools

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Editor's Note: This text is a transcript of the course Reading Comprehension and the SLP: Contributions of Language, presented by Angie Neal, MS, CCC-SLP.

Learning Outcomes

After this course, participants will be able to: 

• State the overlap of vocabulary with phonology and morphology
• Explain the impact of morphosyntax on reading comprehension
• Discuss how impaired social communication can negatively impact reading comprehension

Introduction and Review

This course, compared to Part 1 ( Course 10886 ), will take a deep dive into the specific areas of language to illustrate the connections between semantics, background knowledge, phonology, morphology, and syntax, as well as other areas of language that are critical to comprehension. Those critical areas are narrative and pragmatics.

As a quick review, in Part 1, I discussed the SLP's role in reading comprehension.  I discussed the National Reading Panel and the federal law that guides comprehensive literacy instruction in general education.  I also provided a few assessment considerations, including running records and benchmark assessments that may be equated with alphabetic reading levels such as "level A," "level Z," etc. 

I also talked about our current understanding of language, that it's no longer "receptive expressive." Rather, it is the sound of words and its discourse level with contributions of memory. I discussed the importance of considering, when working with school psychologists, they may be working from an outdated model of language, specifically the reference to oral expression and listening comprehension. I also reviewed comprehension processes versus comprehension products, as well as some of the important considerations related to reading comprehension that aren't language. That includes comprehension monitoring, fluency, reading fluency, motivation, visual-spatial-perceptual situational model, and mental imagery. Again, we talked about how it's referred to in many different ways, but it's really that visual imagery in your mind's eye. And most importantly, the impact of executive function.

It’s Not About A Test or THE Test

I want to start by saying it's never about a test or THE test.  We need to think about what we're looking for, which would include word-level reading, vocabulary, syntax, morphology, considerations for background knowledge, and executive function, as I've mentioned. We also have to consider data from what's going on in school, data specific to motivation, data specific to the student's previous instruction, and then any other outside-of-school factors.

Assessment Considerations

That being said, here are some assessments. These are not exclusive. It's not an all-encompassing list, it is just a brief look at some of the assessments. The list does not include the test's psychometric properties., so you will need to refer to the manual to determine if it's a valid, reliable assessment with appropriate sensitivity and specificity.

• GORT-5: Gray Oral Reading Test Fifth Edition (WR)
• GSRT: Gray Silent Reading Test
• TORC-5: Test of Reading Comprehension Fifth Edition
• TILLS: Test of Integrated Language and Literacy Skills
• TNL: Test of Narrative Language
• EasyCBM (often administered as part of general education)

Some of the test items may be typically administered by a school psychologist or a special education teacher, but it could be a test that you add to your own battery as well. That said, here are some other tests that are part of the school psychologist's battery.

• WIAT-4: Wechsler Individual Achievement Test Fourth Edition
• WJ-IV ACH: Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement Fourth Edition
• PIAT-R/NU: Peabody Individual Achievement Test (WR)
• WRAT-4: Wide Range Achievement Test-Fourth Edition (WR)
• WRMT R/NU: Woodcock Reading Mastery Test (WR)
• KTEA-3: Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement

When you're considering reading comprehension and looking at the school psychologist's assessment results, these are some of the areas that you want to look at. 

Also, consider the type of task the student is expected to complete on the reading comprehension test. There might be comprehension tasks of only one or two sentences, which are actually aligned more with word reading and not comprehension.  This can actually underestimate the reading comprehension ability of a student who is dyslexic or a compensator.  Alternatively, this type of task might overestimate skills for a student who is hyperlexic or from a culturally and linguistically diverse background. 

A question-and-answer type task and a story-retell task align more closely with language skills. 

When looking at a comprehension assessment, look at the types of responses that are being asked of the student or how they are asking them to read and respond. First, consider the difference between reading aloud versus silent reading and how each of those may or may not impact comprehension.  Also, consider the difference between giving a verbal response, a written response, answering a short answer question, or providing a one-word answer versus a closed-type task or multiple choice answer.  All of these tasks are assessing different skills in different ways. 

Other task considerations include, does the student have the passage available to refer back to when answering the questions versus the passage being removed. What is the impact of reading the passage digitally versus on paper?

So, how the test is constructed and the expectations for how the student responds determine which skills are specifically assessed or targeted.  Keep in mind those TEXT factors and task-related factors, and what they may or may not reveal.    

Oral passage reading and verbal responses are more likely influenced by listening comprehension than word reading.  Multiple choice or sentence completion tasks are more influenced by word reading than listening comprehension. Silent reading and question answering with the text present are more influenced by word reading as well.  Oral passage reading with responses without the text is influenced by language. Oral passage reading with responses with the text present is also influenced by language.

SLPs and Reading Comprehension

Let's begin by discussing the SLP's role in reading comprehension, particularly within the framework of IDEA, especially relevant for our school-based clinicians. The fundamental aim of specially designed instruction, as defined under IDEA, entails instruction provided by an expert in language through an IEP, ensuring it is delivered in the least restrictive environment, ideally within the general education setting. The primary goal here is to cater to the individualized needs of students—not generic needs, but those specific to the student due to their disability and the requirements stemming from the disability that hinder access to the general education curriculum. Again, this instruction is delivered within the regular education classroom, with a key focus on meeting educational standards, particularly ELA standards applicable to all students, without exception.

It's important to know the ELA standards of your state because most state standards reference phonological awareness, morphology, syntax, vocabulary, and comprehension. All of those have a foundation of language. 

I want to continue by highlighting that what I'm about to share with you is something I've previously discussed with teachers. The reason for this is that teachers have found this information immensely valuable and pertinent, not just in elementary settings, but across all grade levels, from kindergarten to twelfth grade. They've emphasized to me the importance of all grade levels being exposed to this information. Now, I'm passing it on to you as a means of fostering collaboration, serving as a critical bridge. Additionally, it's essential to recognize that teachers may not have received comprehensive training in language and the foundational aspects of reading during their teacher preparation programs. 

What Does It Mean to Know a Word?

When we discuss knowing a word, it's crucial to understand that pronunciation plays a significant role. Essentially, in order to comprehend a word, one must be capable of pronouncing it. This aspect is often overlooked, but when we encounter unfamiliar words while reading, our ability to decode and pronounce them directly influences our understanding of their meaning.

Moving forward, it's important to recognize how words can be appropriately used and, conversely, how they cannot. This awareness is highlighted by humorous yet embarrassing examples known as malapropisms. For instance, former Vice President Dan Quayle once stated, "Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child," mistakenly substituting "bondage" for "bond." Similarly, a basketball player once quipped, "I can dribble and shoot with both hands. I must be amphibious," confusing "amphibious" with "ambidextrous." These instances are great illustrations of the concept.

It's essential to possess the ability to spell words and phrases correctly. For instance, distinguishing between "for all intensive purposes" and "for all intents and purposes" highlights the importance of spelling accuracy. Similarly, encountering various spellings of "there," "their," and "they're" underscores the significance of understanding their distinct meanings.

Comprehension of a word involves identifying its part of speech. While it's not always necessary to label words strictly as adjectives, pronouns, or prepositions, it's more beneficial to comprehend how words function within a sentence, similar to assembling a puzzle. For example, in English, adjectives typically precede nouns, whereas in Spanish, they follow them. The understanding of parts of speech and how words interact within a sentence is also critical.

Furthermore, it's important to recognize how the addition of morphemes to a root word alters both its meaning and its part of speech. Additionally, applying words in various contexts contributes to the richness and complexity of vocabulary. The diversity of definitions for a single word, such as "set," exemplifies this phenomenon. With approximately 67 different definitions, depending on its usage as a transitive verb, intransitive verb, noun, or adjective, "set" serves as a prime example of understanding different parts of speech.

Understanding how the meaning of a word changes when combined with another word is essential. Consider "set" as an example: "set apart," "set aside," "set foot in," "set sail," and "set upon" each conveys distinct meanings. These nuances significantly impact comprehension. Additionally, we must be familiar with synonyms and antonyms.

The National Reading Panel and Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) (20 U.S.C. § 6301, 2015))

When discussing vocabulary, it's essential to understand the requirements set forth by federal law regarding general education instruction. As mentioned in Part 1, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is the federal legislation that outlines comprehensive literacy instruction for general education. ESSA mandates age-appropriate, explicit, systematic, and intentional instruction in various aspects of literacy, with a particular emphasis on vocabulary development.

In our state of South Carolina, the new ELA standards effectively outline what students are expected to learn and what teachers are expected to teach. However, it's equally important to address the "how" of instruction. This entails delivering developmentally appropriate, contextually explicit, and systematic instruction. Explicit instruction emphasizes direct communication from the teacher to the student, avoiding merely distributing word lists with instructions to look them up in a dictionary. Instead, systematic instruction involves building from simple to complex concepts. For instance, we shouldn't introduce complex terms like "oviparous" in kindergarten. Research literature suggests that in the primary grades, explicit and systematic instruction should focus on three to five words per reading selection, or approximately 10 to 12 words per week. These words should primarily be tier two and tier three words, which I will explain shortly. Additionally, it's recommended to read texts multiple times, selecting different sets of 3-5 words for each reading. I'll provide guidance on selecting these words shortly, as the manner in which instruction is delivered plays a critical role.

Words should be taught as they relate to the content being studied rather than presenting them as isolated lists. Distributing word lists without any context can lead to difficulties in understanding the intended meaning, particularly for words like "set" with multiple definitions. The research underscores the ineffectiveness of instruction without context, highlighting the importance of integrating vocabulary instruction within meaningful content.

Understanding a word involves recognizing that words and vocabulary do not exist in a vacuum. It is interconnected with various linguistic aspects. By incorporating phonological awareness, morphology, syntax, and phonics into vocabulary instruction, we improve our comprehension and maximize the effectiveness of our instruction, both as SLPs and classroom teachers.

Additionally, it's important to acknowledge that ESSA requires systematic and explicit instruction not only in vocabulary but also in phonemic awareness, phonics, language structure, fluency, and comprehension. This emphasis is grounded in extensive educational research demonstrating the strong correlation between reading comprehension and vocabulary development.

To illustrate this point, consider the example of a speech-language pathologist, like myself, and an engineer, like my husband, receiving professional magazines. While I could technically read the engineering magazine, the reality is that I likely wouldn't understand 90 to 95% of the words on the page. This lack of comprehension can significantly impact motivation to engage with the material. I often use this example to emphasize to teachers and adults the challenge of reading material when a large percentage of the vocabulary is unfamiliar. While context may help infer the meaning of some words, this isn't always the case, especially with technical subjects like science, social studies, and math.

This point is particularly fascinating: individual word knowledge, simply knowing the meaning of individual words, accounts for 50 to 60% of the variance in reading comprehension. Let's take a moment to reflect on that—individual words alone comprise half or more, 50 to 60%, of reading comprehension.

Consider this alongside the data suggesting that knowing 90 to 95% of the words in a text is crucial for comprehension. What this tells us is that understanding individual words is foundational, but it's not solely about knowing isolated words. As I mentioned earlier, when words are combined or when morphemes are applied, the meaning of individual words can change significantly.

This brings us to a common question: what should we teach? Many seek a definitive list of words to teach, but I've conducted extensive research, and the truth is, there isn't a one-size-fits-all list of words that children need to know at a specific age or grade level. And there's a very good reason for this. Every student, every school, every class, every grade level, and every year brings with them a unique set of vocabulary and varying levels of background knowledge.

Another critical aspect to acknowledge is that the pathway to learning something new begins with knowing something already. Some students may require explicit instruction in order to grasp more complex words or concepts. This underscores the importance of systematically building students' vocabulary from a foundation of existing knowledge.

Background Knowledge

Now, let's look at the concept of background knowledge. Having a wealth of background knowledge and real-world experience equips individuals with access to a broader vocabulary.  These are words that are outside of the here-and-now or everyday routines.  The vocabulary children are exposed to at a young age directly impacts their reading comprehension, extending into the third grade. As mentioned earlier, "You have to know something to learn something."

Have you ever wondered why reading to children at a young age is so incredibly important? Let's use the example of the hungry caterpillar. Consider the sentence, "In the light of the moon, a little egg lay on the leaf." The structure in books differs from everyday conversation. For that sentence, we'd most likely say, "There was a little egg on the leaf, and I saw it at night." We wouldn't say, "In the light of the moon, a little egg lay on the leaf."

When reading aloud to children, we expose them to that secret language of a story, that unique story syntax. The more exposure to it, the more familiar they become. Then when reading books themselves, they can better comprehend it.

Thinking about the vocabulary, too - it differs from everyday conversation. Again with The Very Hungry Caterpillar, words like "tiny" versus "little," "nibbled" instead of "chew" or "eat", and "cocoon" are unfamiliar to most kids. Appreciate that picture books have around 70% more unique words than daily conversation. And they provide a simulated experience with simulated background knowledge. For example, though my children are now 20 and 22 years old, they have never visited a jungle, but from books like "Giraffes Can't Dance," they know a bit about jungles.

I'm from South Carolina, and as you probably can tell, we don't get much snow. But reading "A Snowy Day" introduces that background knowledge - about snowy days, snowsuits, and things we don't have experience with here. That's something else to consider with picture books. They provide that simulated knowledge of unfamiliar contexts through the story and illustrations.

However the 1995 Hart & Risley study found children from low socioeconomic status homes heard 30 million fewer words prior to school entry than kids from middle and high SES. However, this isn't always consistent. You can now find low SES children who have a grandparent, uncle, or sibling constantly reading to them, talking to them, taking them exploring nature, and discussing everything they see - essentially providing a very language-rich environment despite low SES.

On the flip side, you can have middle or high-SES children in a language-poor environment. What do I mean by that? There is very little conversation happening at home for various reasons. When I ask teachers about car duty, the number one answer is kids get on their tablets as soon as they get in. That's not a language-rich setting. It's the back-and-forth conversation that makes the real difference.

Conversations between children and parents are the most influential contributors to vocabulary before starting school. Conversation is that language-rich environment, while play is the language-rich experience where we apply and practice with the words we're gaining.

Children who engage in at least 40 conversational turns before age two (i.e., between 18-24 months), even when they don't have much language yet, have IQ scores roughly 35% higher than those who didn't engage in that many conversational turns ten years later.  Again, we're talking about building that critical foundation of background knowledge and vocabulary.

The Matthew Effect

And this leads us to the Matthew effect - the idea that the rich get richer, essentially. So, students who start out with large vocabularies get more exposure to new vocabulary through conversation and reading experiences. Because with that strong initial vocabulary base, they're able to quickly pick up and continue growing their vocabulary.

You see this play out where young children at the end of Pre-K who start with bigger vocabularies gain 2.4 new root words per day. But those who started Pre-K with impoverished vocabularies only gain 1.6 root words per day. That's already a 1,000-word gap by the end of Pre-K. Then by the end of 2nd grade, it's a 2,000-word difference. And it just continues compounding from there. What does this vocabulary gap likely look like by middle and high school if they don't get that systematic, explicit vocabulary instruction? Not any better - the divide keeps widening unless directly addressed through intentional teaching of vocabulary.

How Many Words? Which Words?

Let's talk about which words. Again, I mentioned there's no set list of vocabulary words, not by age or grade. We have to appreciate that each student comes to any text with highly varied vocabulary knowledge. There's no agreed-upon master list.

Instead, we need to focus on the tiers of vocabulary. Tier one is the biggest tier. These are words we all use in everyday conversation. Dog, car, train, milk, chicken nuggets, book, people, hair.

Tier two words are the sweet spot. These are words frequently found in texts but not used much in conversation. We wouldn't often say in conversation, "I'm going to devour my dinner" or "I detest car duty." Authors use tier-two words to create a clearer, richer picture in the reader's mind. Like using "devour" instead of just "eat" to vividly convey wolfing food down. Tier two is really where you want the focus. However, children with developmental language disorders may also need support on tier-one basic words. Remember, you have to know something to learn something new.

Then tier three words are the very content-specific ones we typically think of for "vocabulary" - like isthmus, isosceles, and hemisphere. Words tied to a particular subject area.

As for tier-two vocabulary specifically, it was long thought teachers needed to simplify and water down language. But that's no longer the case. Current research, even as of 2023, tells us that when teachers use tier two vocabulary words, it results in a 15 standard score point difference in vocabulary achievement for their students. 15 standard score points - that's enough to move a student from below average to average or from average to above average vocabulary levels.

So this is one of the big takeaways - when we use these "fancy Nancy" tier two words consistently, it has a huge impact. Instead of saying, "I think we'll probably have indoor recess today because it's going to rain," flip it to, "I anticipate we'll have indoor recess because it's probably going to precipitate." Rather than "write your name on your paper," say, "inscribe your name." Instead of "Your pencil is sharp enough," say, "Your pencil is tapered enough." Exposing them to this rich tier-two vocabulary and using it naturally in instruction is so important for their vocabulary development.

Vocabulary and Phonology

The reason it's so important for students to hear these tier-two words is that we put written words into our long-term memory by anchoring them to their sound first, not their meaning. Here's what I mean:

Look at the word 'suspicious'. The student likely goes to pronounce it like this - because when decoding, you're actually sounding it out. It might go "sus-pect, oh yes, sus-pic-us, sus-pic-us...oh, suspicious! Suspicious - I've heard that word before." Now it kicks over to accessing the meaning. Like "My mom says I look suspicious when I'm by the pantry before dinner." They recognize the familiar sound first and then connect it to the meaning. So having teachers use these tier-two words helps anchor both the decoding and the comprehension of the words.

Four Stages of Word Knowledge

Here's something else I do. There's an ideal way for teachers and SLPs to figure out which words to explicitly teach. With whatever text you're using, make an estimation of words you think students may not know. But then give them a list or go through words having them rate on a scale of 1 to 4.

1 - I've never seen or heard this word before 2 - I think I've heard it, but I'm not really sure what it means 3 - I think it has something to do with 'X' 4 - I know this word

Then pre-teach those words at levels 1 and 2. Pre-teaching is often seen as an accommodation, but it doesn't have to be. Everyone benefits from pre-teaching vocabulary before reading it. I'll say it again - pre-teaching vocabulary is good instructional practice, not just an accommodation.

When we pre-teach words and when they've heard them already, it clears up working memory. So they've heard it before and can think about the overall meaning of the passage without getting bogged down by unfamiliar words. Consider, too, that we need to move them from levels 1 and 2 to levels 3 and 4 - because that's when comprehension is positively impacted by vocabulary knowledge.

Vocabulary and Phonology Examples

I want you to think about the differences in the sound of these words, not the meaning. SLPs are awesome at focusing on sounds. First, 'habit' versus 'habitat.' What's the sound difference? It's the syllables. I instruct teachers: "Say 'habit' after me. Habit." Then "Let's break it by syllables - ha-bit." They repeat, "ha-bit." Then I will say, "Now say habitat. Ha-bi-tat." They say: "Ha-bi-tat." And it's important to note that I use my fingers to track the syllables, not clapping for syllables. Why? Because in every class, there's that one student whose clapping is off because they have no idea about syllables, and it interrupts the sound for everyone else. Segmenting with fingers avoids adding the cognitive load of having to remember how many times I clapped. I can just look at how many fingers I have up. 

Next is 'people' versus 'pupa.' Both are CVCV words, and the consonants are the same, but what's different? The vowels. This matters because 'people' is tier one, but for a butterfly unit, they may not know 'pupa.' If they miss the vowel sound difference, they'll struggle with the meaning difference.

Now 'specific' versus 'pacific' is easier, right? We hear the initial consonant blend differs. I include this example because many languages/dialects don't have consonant clusters. Like the fourth grader studying the gold rush - he heard "goal rush" being a Spanish speaker whose phonology lacks final clusters, impacting comprehension.

What about advice versus advise? Many say it's the consonants differing, and they do. But the key is appreciating one has a voiced, one an unvoiced consonant - that's the sound awareness needed. 

Finally, affect and effect. The vowels look different but could be pronounced the same using the schwa. With affect/effect, it's the syllable stress that is differing.

So that's why that phonological awareness is so crucially important. Without an awareness of how words sound different, they're going to really struggle to grasp the differences in meaning. Phonological awareness has a direct impact on vocabulary acquisition because it allows us to compare the sounds of known words to unknown words.

Vocabulary Instructional Routine

A tremendous tip for vocabulary instruction is to pronounce the word and have students repeat it after you. Even better, write it out on the board so they can see it and really anchor it. Here's a basic vocabulary instructional routine:

• You say the word and have them repeat it after you.
• Segment the syllables (do NOT clap)
• Identify specific parts (first sound, last syllable)
• Discuss the meaning
• Give an example of how it can be used
• Teach the meaningful units (and spelling)
• Talk about how the word can and cannot be used

Let's take the word pareidolia.  I'll say it, you repeat: pareidolia. Now let me break it down by syllables: par-ei-do-lia, your turn. How many syllables was that? What was the first sound in pareidolia? What was the last syllable?

What is pareidolia? It's that phenomenon where you perceive images or patterns where they don't actually exist. Like seeing a face in the clouds or bunnies in a cloud formation - those kinds of things. I might use it in a sentence like: "Alex was sure he saw a rabbit in the clouds, but it was just pareidolia."

Let's break it apart into meaningful word parts. This word is full of Greek roots. "Para" means alongside, "eidolon" means image, and the "-ia" suffix refers to conditions or experiences.  So can I cook a pareidolia? No. Is pareidolia a fear, like arachnophobia? No. Is pareidolia when I think I see something in clouds or sand or flocks of birds, but it's really not actually there? Yes!

You most likely won't forget pareidolia and its meaning now because we've made those deep connections with the phonology, the phonological encoding into long-term memory, and solidified the meaning - all through those simple analysis steps.

Vocabulary and Morphology

Let's delve deeper into morphology and its implications for vocabulary and comprehension. English, as we know, is a morphophonemic language. While this might be common knowledge for us, it may not be for teachers. Essentially, this means that English is structured based on both units of meaning and units of sound. For instance, take the word "frog," which consists of four sounds: f-r-o-g. When blended together, these sounds create the word "frog," which holds a single meaning. However, by adding the plural -s or the suffix -y, we transform the word into the plural noun "frogs" or the adjective "froggy." 

Now, let's contrast this with sign language and Chinese, which are represented primarily by syllables rather than individual sounds. In sign language, unless fingerspelling is utilized.  

Morphology and Reading Comprehension

Morphological awareness has been shown to have a direct influence on reading ability. It's definitely an underlying cause of reading difficulties when morphological awareness is lacking. It's widely understood that word recognition and language comprehension create overall reading comprehension.

Morphological awareness counters the notion that we can develop reading comprehension simply by working on word decoding skills or even just oral language. Because we must be aware of the morphology within the written texts themselves.

Here's a good example: Morphological awareness is what allows a reader to understand that the words "magic" and "magician" are meaningfully related, despite differences in their pronunciations. Now, is morphological awareness explicitly listed as a component in the Simple View of Reading model? Not yet. However research does provide substantial support for morphological awareness having a direct impact on reading.

Inflectional and Derivational Morphemes

Let's consider inflectional and derivational morphemes. Inflectional relates to inflect, meaning to vary the form of a word. So inflectional suffixes change the word's form, but not its part of speech.

Whereas a derivational morpheme, from the word derive meaning to descend from, creates an entirely new word. Derivational suffixes are related to the root word, but adding that morpheme does change the part of speech - like from a verb to a noun. For example, encourage becomes encouragement when adding the derivational -ment suffix.  Some other examples include: select becomes selective when adding -ive (verb to adjective), general becomes generalize with -ize (noun to verb), and beautiful becomes beautifully with -ly (adjective to adverb). Adding those various derivational suffixes changes the part of speech.

Greek and Latin Roots

Let's look at Greek and Latin roots. You might not have considered teaching these before, but incorporating Greek and Latin roots into instruction serves as a powerful tool for teaching meaning and comprehension and introducing students to unfamiliar words. Greek and Latin roots enable students to make connections between new and unfamiliar words and those they already know and understand.

Consider the Greek root "mal," spelled M-A-L, which means "bad." How many words can you think of that incorporate "mal"? Take a moment to ponder. Knowing that "mal" signifies "bad" helps to figure out the meaning of words like "malformed," "maltreatment," "malice," "malfunction," "malnourished," "malignant," "Maleficent," "Malfoy," "dismal," "malaria," and "malpractice.

When we teach the origins of words, we're essentially teaching the stories behind them. This aids in understanding their meaning and spelling. Consider this interesting example: why does the letter combination "ch" sometimes sound like "sh" instead of "ch"? Take a moment to reflect on how many words you can think of where "ch" makes the "sh" sound. 

Here are a few examples: "chef," "chardonnay," "champagne," "Charlotte," "charcuterie," "quiche," "machine," "parachute," "chandelier," "chalet," "mustache," and "charades." Now, consider the origins of these words. Take "chardonnay," for instance. All these words share a French derivation, which explains why the letter combination "ch" makes a different sound.

Vocabulary, Syntax, and Mental Imagery

Vocabulary extends beyond mere knowledge of individual words; it encompasses understanding the relationships between words and how they combine to evoke mental images. In fact, beyond word knowledge, syntactical understanding stands as one of the most significant factors influencing listening and reading comprehension. Syntax isn't merely about putting words in order; it's about how certain phrases create imagery.

Consider the following examples: "green" denotes a color, but "green thumb" implies expertise in gardening, not the literal color of the thumb. Similarly, while "raining" signifies precipitation, "raining cats and dogs" indicates heavy rainfall. "Weather" pertains to atmospheric conditions, yet "under the weather" signifies feeling unwell. "Skeleton" refers to the structure of bones, whereas "skeleton in the closet" implies hiding a secret.

Each of these phrases has a story behind it that adds depth to its meaning. For instance, "under the weather" originated as a sailing term, referring to sailors going below deck when sick. As for "skeleton in the closet," it traces back to a time when studying the human body was illegal, prompting grave robbers to hide stolen bodies in closets for medical study. Understanding the origins of such phrases helps explain their meanings and provides context for their usage.

Another aspect to consider is visual imagery. When we read, we shouldn't be processing each word individually; rather, we should be reading in meaningful units and phrases. These phrases should create mental images similar to creating a movie in our minds.

Consider the following example from a well-known book featuring a main character named Fern: "Fern pushed the chair out of the way." Initially, this might conjure a simple image of moving a chair. However, when we scoop and add the following phrase, "and ran outdoors," the image transforms to Fern forcefully pushing the chair aside as she rushes outside. This excerpt, of course, is from "Charlotte's Web."

Additionally, reflecting on the phrase "and ran outdoors" prompts us to envision various types of doors: a standard door, a school door, a front door, or even a screen door. Each detail contributes to the development of visual imagery, which plays a vital role in comprehension.

Narratives and Reading Comprehension

Oral narratives serve as the link between spoken and written language, so it's essential to bear that in mind. Narrative skills, such as story grammar, rely on various language abilities vital for reading comprehension. Therefore, it's critical to focus on teaching and highlighting story elements like characters, settings, and kickoff events. 

While typically developing children may not require explicit instruction in these areas, it's invaluable for our students with developmental language disorders. A longitudinal study involving young children around three years old revealed that both language comprehension and narrative skills directly influenced reading comprehension at ages eight and nine.

This groundbreaking study revealed evidence demonstrating the long-term impact of narrative skills. Remarkably, narrative skills at age five were found to independently contribute to comprehension a decade later, as well as academic achievement at age 14. This influence was significant even after accounting for factors such as linguistic and listening comprehension, cognitive ability, verbal memory, and maternal education level. These findings underscore the critical importance of focusing on and addressing narrative skills to enhance reading comprehension effectively.

Pragmatics and Reading Comprehension

Let's discuss Theory of Mind. This concept revolves around social reasoning, specifically the ability to understand and consider other people's mental states, including their thoughts, feelings, and intentions. This skill is crucial for making inferences about text because not every detail is explicitly stated.

Theory of Mind develops throughout childhood and underpins the ability to make inferences about others' actions in everyday life. For instance, children grasp that when their mother searches under the couch for missing keys, she believes they're there, even if the child knows they're on the table. This ability to make social inferences based on Theory of Mind directly contributes to reading comprehension.

It's imperative to ensure that Theory of Mind is taught and emphasized in instruction, as it significantly enhances reading comprehension. Despite its importance, Theory of Mind is often overlooked because it's not explicitly included in models like the Simple View of Reading or Scarborough's Reading Rope. Therefore, it's crucial to recognize its significance and integrate it into literacy instruction effectively.

Putting It All Together

Let's synthesize all the elements we've discussed. Consider a fourth-grade social studies standard in South Carolina, which entails examining the economic and political motivations prompting colonists to declare independence from Great Britain. To understand this, students must engage with primary sources like the Declaration of Independence. Take, for instance, a pivotal sentence from the Declaration: "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty to throw off such Government and to provide new guards for their future security."

Let's analyze the vocabulary within this sentence more closely. First, let's identify which words could be considered tier-two vocabulary. These are words that the authors use to create a vivid and precise picture but might not be commonly used in everyday language. Some examples of tier-two words in this sentence could include:

• Pursuing: Instead of saying "go after," the author chooses "pursuing" to convey a sense of purposeful action.
• Evinces: Rather than "shows," the author uses "evinces" to indicate a clear demonstration of something.
• Design: This word is used to denote a plan or intention in a specific context.
• Invariably: Instead of "always" or "constantly," the author employs "invariably" to emphasize consistency.
• Reduce: This word is used figuratively to convey the idea of diminishing or subjecting to a lower status.
• Absolute: The term "absolute" is employed to convey the idea of complete or total.

Which words might be classified as tier-three vocabulary? These are words that are highly specific to the context of the subject matter and may not be commonly encountered outside of this context. In this sentence, examples of tier-three vocabulary could include:

• Long train of abuses: This phrase refers to the series of unjust actions perpetrated by the British government, leading to the American Revolution.
• Usurpations: This term refers to the unauthorized seizure or exercise of power, particularly in the context of violating citizens' rights.
• Despotism: This word denotes the abuse of power by a ruler, specifically referring to King George's oppressive rule in this historical context.

Now, let's consider the background knowledge required to fully comprehend this passage. To grasp the syntactically complex sentence with its impressive vocabulary, students would need prior knowledge about historical events such as Christopher Columbus's voyages and the motivations behind European colonization. Understanding why people left England in the first place, as well as the circumstances leading up to significant events like the Boston Tea Party, would also be critical.

How does understanding the perspective of the writer enhance comprehension? By employing Theory of Mind, students can better grasp the context in which the Declaration of Independence was written. Despite knowing that the Revolutionary War began in 1775, they might not realize that the Declaration of Independence was written in 1776 and the war didn't conclude until 1783.

Reflecting on this timeline provides valuable insight into the context surrounding the Declaration of Independence. While the Revolutionary War started in 1775 and concluded in 1783, the Declaration was written and adopted in 1776, just one year into a conflict that spanned seven years—a detail often overlooked.  Understanding this historical backdrop allows students to appreciate the perspective of the colonists. It suggests that they had reached a breaking point, weary of enduring King George's oppressive actions outlined in the Declaration. By declaring independence, they signaled their resolve to forge their own destiny with support from allies like the French.

Understanding the narrative of the American Revolution requires proficiency in story narrative skills. Students need to comprehend the characters, settings, and events that unfolded during this pivotal period in history.

Moving on, let's dissect parts of the passage. Why might a "long train of abuses" be difficult to understand? Primarily, it is figurative language. When students encounter a "long train," they might visualize a literal train with numerous cars, which is not the intended meaning. Figurative language involves words conveying meanings beyond their literal interpretation.

Next, consider "usurpations." Why might this word be challenging to pronounce? Firstly, it consists of four syllables, which increases the difficulty. Additionally, if students attempt to break the word into familiar parts, they might mispronounce it as "us-par-ations," deviating from the correct pronunciation, "yoo-ser-pey-shuhns." Thus, auditory exposure is critical to ensure accurate pronunciation. Furthermore, for students struggling with the letter "r," additional challenges may arise, complicating their pronunciation attempts.

Let's examine "invariably." What makes this word challenging? Let's break it down into its individual units of meaning. Firstly, we have "in," which signifies "not." Then, we have "vary," meaning "differing." Next, we encounter "able," indicating "able to" or "can." Finally, we have "ly," denoting "having qualities of." So, in total, "invariably" comprises four morphemes.

Essentially, it signifies "having qualities of not being able to differ." When students grasp this breakdown, they're not only understanding the meaning of "invariably" but also understanding any word containing these morphemes.

Looking at "evinces," why might students confuse it with "convinces"? Both words share similarities—they're both three syllables, and the middle and end syllables align. However, the critical distinction is the initial syllable.

Now, consider "despotism." How might visual imagery aid understanding? Picture a despot as a king, reminiscent of scenes from "Hamilton." Recall the song, ♪ You'll be back. ♪ This visual connection helps solidify the concept of a despot. Visual imagery enhances comprehension by providing mental pictures that reinforce understanding.

Next, let's look at how we can scoop these phrases into meaningful units and foster visual imagery. Take the phrase, "But when a long train of abuses..." Encourage students to scoop this into smaller, digestible chunks. Then, prompt them to visualize the various forms of ongoing mistreatment endured by the Colonists. That is the first scoop. 

The next scoop is "usurpations." Encourage students to envision what a usurpation or abuse of power might look like. Encourage them to think of images of unjust acts or infringements upon rights.

Next is "pursuing invariably." What does this mean? It suggests a relentless pursuit without deviation. Prompt students to envision this pursuit, emphasizing the unwavering determination. They're pursuing a singular Object (notice "Object" is capitalized for a reason)—freedom, independence, et cetera.

This example illustrates how scooping phrases, deciphering vocabulary, and understanding syntax fit together. Whether assessing or teaching reading comprehension, these elements are integral. Remember, whether spoken or written, it's still all language.

Questions and Answers

Is there evidence that a lisp significantly impacts learning vocabulary?

I can't say a lisp in particular, but there is a lot of research supporting the impact of speech sound production on reading and reading comprehension, and phonological awareness. There are a lot of references to those areas. 

I really like your steps in vocabulary instruction, could you please give an IEP example goal for elementary tracking progress while using these strategies?

When I'm thinking about teaching the vocabulary, I'm not thinking about the words as much as I'm thinking about what I'm trying to get out of them related to words. So, I might have a goal related to categories and functions so that they'll be able to state the category and function of whatever the vocabulary is related to the context. Because again, if you are a school-based SLP, you really need a copy of whatever the social studies curriculum is, or so science curriculum, or their ELA books. You want to make sure you match the vocabulary they need to know in class. This is why I always ask for a copy of the social study curriculum for every single grade level.

So I might have a goal that targets category and function. I might have a goal maybe later on that talks about describing words based on size, shape, color, or even visual characteristics. Because, again, what I'm trying to get is that mental imagery. Most of the students with a developmental language disorder, in my experience, struggle with this piece. They are not creating those mental images. I can show them a document that's got pictures of all kinds of things on it. And I can say, "Show me a dog, show me a giraffe, show me a statue."  But then, when I ask them, "What does the dog look like that lives in your house, that you pet and play with every single day? Nothing. So that, again, is a huge part of what we can do to really help contribute to comprehension. 

References: See handout for a complete list. 

Neal, A. (2024). Reading comprehension and the SLP: contributions of language.  SpeechPathology.com . Article 20654. Available at www.speechpathology.com

Angie Neal, MS , CCC-SLP

Angie Neal is the SLP Contact and Program Analyst for Academics at the South Carolina State Department of Education, Office of Special Education Services. She stays busy as LETRS Facilitator, a board member with the State Education Agency Communication Disability Council, and a member of the ASHA School Issues Advisory Board. Angie is the recipient of the Rolland Van Hattum Award for contributions to schools and the Nancy McKinley Award for leadership in Speech-Language Pathology. She is a published author of two books and presents on a wide variety of topics all across the United States using her animated presentation style to keep audiences engaged and leaving with information that they can apply the next day!

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Reading comprehension and the slp: foundational understanding, course: #10763 level: intermediate 1 hour, course: #10764 level: intermediate 1 hour, supporting children of poverty: special considerations for the school-based slp, course: #8735 level: introductory 1 hour, phast phonemic awareness phun, course: #10101 level: intermediate 0.5 hours, language and literacy: a collaborative approach, part 1, course: #9342 level: intermediate 1.5 hours.

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Speech And Language Pathology Words

Words related to speech and language pathology.

Below is a list of speech and language pathology words - that is, words related to speech and language pathology. The top 4 are: rehabilitation psychology , dysphagia , clinician and optometry . You can get the definition(s) of a word in the list below by tapping the question-mark icon next to it. The words at the top of the list are the ones most associated with speech and language pathology, and as you go down the relatedness becomes more slight. By default, the words are sorted by relevance/relatedness, but you can also get the most common speech and language pathology terms by using the menu below, and there's also the option to sort the words alphabetically so you can get speech and language pathology words starting with a particular letter. You can also filter the word list so it only shows words that are also related to another word of your choosing. So for example, you could enter "rehabilitation psychology" and click "filter", and it'd give you words that are related to speech and language pathology and rehabilitation psychology.

You can highlight the terms by the frequency with which they occur in the written English language using the menu below. The frequency data is extracted from the English Wikipedia corpus, and updated regularly. If you just care about the words' direct semantic similarity to speech and language pathology, then there's probably no need for this.

There are already a bunch of websites on the net that help you find synonyms for various words, but only a handful that help you find related , or even loosely associated words. So although you might see some synonyms of speech and language pathology in the list below, many of the words below will have other relationships with speech and language pathology - you could see a word with the exact opposite meaning in the word list, for example. So it's the sort of list that would be useful for helping you build a speech and language pathology vocabulary list, or just a general speech and language pathology word list for whatever purpose, but it's not necessarily going to be useful if you're looking for words that mean the same thing as speech and language pathology (though it still might be handy for that).

If you're looking for names related to speech and language pathology (e.g. business names, or pet names), this page might help you come up with ideas. The results below obviously aren't all going to be applicable for the actual name of your pet/blog/startup/etc., but hopefully they get your mind working and help you see the links between various concepts. If your pet/blog/etc. has something to do with speech and language pathology, then it's obviously a good idea to use concepts or words to do with speech and language pathology.

If you don't find what you're looking for in the list below, or if there's some sort of bug and it's not displaying speech and language pathology related words, please send me feedback using this page. Thanks for using the site - I hope it is useful to you! 🐇

• rehabilitation psychology
• pediatrician
• psychologist
• allied health profession
• respiration
• occupational therapy
• behavior analysis
• physical therapy
• communication disorders
• speech disorder
• language disorder
• aeromechanics
• voice disorders
• speech communication
• autism spectrum disorder
• audiologist
• human voice
• receptive language
• speech sound disorder
• expressive language disorder
• apraxia of speech
• feeding disorder
• language-based learning disability
• occupational therapist
• nurse practitioner
• cleft lip and palate
• applied behavior analysis
• youth detention center
• auditory processing disorder
• regional accreditation
• professional degree
• college of education
• american speech-language-hearing association
• australian dollar
• comprehensive exams
• children's commissioner for england
• speech and language pathology in school settings

That's about all the speech and language pathology related words we've got! I hope this list of speech and language pathology terms was useful to you in some way or another. The words down here at the bottom of the list will be in some way associated with speech and language pathology, but perhaps tenuously (if you've currenly got it sorted by relevance, that is). If you have any feedback for the site, please share it here , but please note this is only a hobby project, so I may not be able to make regular updates to the site. Have a nice day! 🐜