Spaghetti or Pesetti?

Can Early Speech Problems Mean Later Reading Difficulties?

by Michelle Ivey , M.A., CCC-SLP

Speech disorders are the most common type of early childhood communication frustrations for parents and children alike. Research has shown that in some cases there is a connection between early speech problems and later reading difficulties. Intervention at an early age may help ease these frustrations and make learning to read a more enjoyable task for these children.

A two-year-old may seem precious when he asks for “pesetti” for dinner after he finishes playing with his “twuck”. The sentence, “Him eat chip” is fine coming from a toddler. If a child seems shy and reluctant to talk, that’s expected at young ages. However, there could be a problem that warrants intervention if these communication patterns persist into a child’s third or fourth year. Speech sound disorders are the most common type of childhood communication disorder. Early receptive (what is understood) and expressive (what is spoken) language disorders are also common. These problems may require treatment by communication specialists such as speech-language pathologists. Unfortunately, even after the errors are corrected, a child still might have further reading difficulties. If there is a family history of reading disorders, such as dyslexia, the possibility of reading problems increases.

Speech Disorders and Reading
Some speech errors are considered simple articulation substitutions. If a child is making only a few errors and they are not related, the diagnosis could be articulation disorder. Examples of this include saying “pish” for “fish” and “wan” for “ran.” This is a less complex diagnosis to remediate than a phonological process disorder. In phonological disorders, there are families of errors, such as a child saying “tootie” for “cookie,” “pid” for “pig” and “rin” for “ring.” These errors all occur when a certain group of sounds is consistently produced in a forward position in the mouth, rather than in the back where they should be made. These phonological errors tend to be more frequently related to future reading problems than simple articulation errors.

According to the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement, phonemic awareness (dealing with the individual sounds in a word) is one important part of phonological awareness and an early key to reading ability. Children with difficulty in phonological awareness consistently have problems with reading. However, good phonological awareness training at the initial stage of understanding phonemes or individual sounds can be beneficial in improving skills of those without speech impediments according to Gail Gillion, a speech language pathologist and researcher. Examples of skills included in phonemic awareness are recognition of sound similarities and differences, multiple sound blending and individual deletion and substitution of sounds. The awareness of rhyme and alliteration is the beginning of these skills. Once children can attend to the sounds of words, rather than the meanings, and isolate individual parts of the word, they can be successful with phonemic awareness activities. This results in more complex abilities to blend sounds together or omit some sounds to make new words.

Language Disorders and Reading
According to many reading experts, children with phonological disorders are not the only ones at risk for future reading problems. Children with early language disorders also may have difficulty with reading in elementary grades. This is especially true for children with errors in syntax (grammar), immature sentence structures and vocabulary. Generally these errors are delays, rather than deviances, from typical development. Examples of syntactical errors include omission of grammatical structures that have information as part of the word, for example “she write” rather than “she writes.” An immature sentence structure may lack relational phrases and conjunctions such as “I get shoes. I go.” rather than “I get my shoes, and then I go”. A vocabulary deficit is often evident when a child has difficulty using specific descriptions or words and possibly using vague terms such as “thing.” In addition to these sentence structure differences, children with later reading difficulties may be late to begin talking. Furthermore, once they begin talking, they may be more soft-spoken than peers and appear to avoid talking unless it is necessary. These children may not enjoy listening to books as much as their peers do.

Many linguistic concepts are involved in phonological processing. For a child who has a language delay these necessary skills may be difficult to master. Examples of language concepts necessary for phonological processing include first, last and middle, same and different and beginning and end. Difficulty understanding these concepts can lead to problems with the application of the phonological awareness skills. Difficulty understanding these concepts can lead to problems with the application of phonological awareness skills in word play activities such as making up silly rhymes and taking the last sound off a word.

Overall, reading involves the intertwining of many skills in different areas such as grammar, vocabulary, sound awareness and letter awareness. These are skills that are related to phonological processing and language. These underlying concepts are the foundation for a lifetime of reading.

Parents’ Role
If your child is exhibiting some of the problems associated with phonological and language disorders, you might want to investigate the possible need for intervention. You can communicate with a speech- language pathologist about whether your child is at risk and then implement a plan the therapist develops. It is important to be evaluated by a licensed speech-language pathologist as the first step. If the child is in school or daycare, communicating with the teacher or daycare provider is also important. Those that are close to him and see him on a daily basis should take notice if he enjoys storytime, nursery rhymes and books. Lack of interest in these areas may indicate difficulty with phonological awareness. Finally, take an objective look at your child. Is he showing any preliteracy skills? Is he recognizing print such as the names of stores or packages? Is he beginning to have letter awareness? While your child does not need to know each letter and sound by preschool, he should be beginning to show an interest. Try playing sound games and telling silly jokes. Difficulty with any of these can be early indicators of risk factors.

Research has demonstrated that children as young as 3 can benefit from explicit instruction in phonemic awareness. In addition, children can benefit from instruction to facilitate print awareness. Parents can help with beginning activities (see sidebar); however they should consult with a professional regarding their individual child’s needs. Parents of children with early language and articulation disorders need not panic. Many children have speech sound disorders and language disorders that require therapy. This information does not mean that every child with these types of disorders will have reading difficulty. There is only an association with a higher risk for a problem. Knowing this makes parents more informed and better able to catch difficulties early. Experts recommend not being over zealous about treatment or making any diagnosis on your own. Consultation with those involved in the child’s care will ensure that problems are addressed at appropriate times and with the best plan of action.

Michelle Ivey is a speech-language pathologist at an Atlanta outpatient pediatric practice.

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