Paper Example: Genetic & Neurobiological Makeup May Lead to Learning Disabilities in Toddlers

The genetic and neurobiological makeups of an individual are some of the vital factors in the development of learning disabilities. The two play an active role in altering optimal brain functioning, thereby affecting a child’s cognitive processes that are critically essential in learning. Learning disabilities amongst American toddlers manifest through difficulties in basic activities like reading, mathematical calculations and computation, and even writing, among others. Additionally, learning disabilities can cause cognitive-related processes like organization skills, time planning and management, abstract reasoning, memory issues, and attention. Understanding learning disabilities in light of communication delays and when it occurs, the developmental processes involving these delays, speech and language disorders and their effect on language and educational development forms the analysis basis for speech-language pathologists and the center of focus for the research.

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The communication delays in children can either be the simple sound forms of conversation or the general inability to decode, use, or understand language. In that case, the child faces challenges regarding the use of the oral-motor mechanism. One of the identification features for communication delays amongst children is the lagging behind in developing communication skills. Noticeably, comparing children with their peers, helps in the determination of delay in communication for children. It can include delayed acquisition of language skills as well as speech. Therefore, children experiencing communication difficulties relative to their peers, particularly at the age of 18 months, are considered to be having delayed communication (Kono et al. 2016). Additionally, those with speech problems relating to the use of gestures at the age of 12 months or those who cannot imitate speech at two years have delayed communication (Kono et al. 2016).

The communication development for children occurs gradually between childbirth and middle childhood, primarily for eight years. It can take numerous stages, with two main ones being pre-linguistic and linguistic stages. Pre-linguistic is the initial stage in language development and entails the use of different communication tools by toddlers. The stage occurs between 0 to 12 months of a child’s development process. The pre-linguistic stage of a child’s language development has numerous subdivisions. For instance, at 0 to 12 months, children learn to recognize different tones, voices, and other forms of communication, such as facial expressions and the use of cries to signify certain needs. Babbles, coos, chuckles, laughter, and the use of gestures are also common communication development processes in this stage and occurs between 6 to 12 months. The linguistic stage involves the use of simple words and limited vocabulary of short words (Berk, 2017). The stage occurs between 15 months to 8 years. For instance, children learn simple words such as “bye, bye” at 12 or 15 months (Berk, 2017).

Speech disorders are another manifestation of delays in communication development and learning disability. It refers to the language development difficulties whereby children experience challenges in the formulation of speech sounds essential in communication. It is primarily characterized by stutters and speeches that are difficult to understand. A speech disorder can either occur in the form of articulation or phonological disorders. Dysfluency, which includes interruptions and disruptions in speech and rhythmic flows, are common characteristics of speech disorders (Lyons & Roulstone, 2018). Language disorders, on the other hand, involves challenges in the comprehension of spoken forms of a language among children. The primary characterization of language disorders is difficulties in content conceptualization or understanding the form or function of a language. The disorder mainly manifests either in the form of the receptive or expressive disorder among children. Speech and language disorders can affect a child’s language and educational development by causing difficulties in following instructions, which are essential in learning processes. It particularly occurs when oral instructions with multiple steps are involved in the learning process. Speech-language disorders can also affect children’s learning and development process by interfering with their ability to read and spell out words correctly. Additionally, language and speech disorders can cause withdrawal and frustrations, thereby affecting positive language and educational development.

Speech-language pathologists are critically vital in helping children with communication disorders. They achieve this through the use of articulation therapy, for example, which primarily deals with the shaping of sounds that are essential in forming words and communication. For instance, a speech-language pathologist can help a child pronounce a letter correctly or help them avoid lisp in communication (Costello & Shane, 2016). They also help improve language and communication by dealing with stuttering to improve communication fluency. Disorders of the vocal cords, which causes speech-language pathologies can also treat speech and language impairment. They do this by offering voice therapies to children with speech disorders to enhance clear voices in communication (Costello & Shane, 2016). Language comprehension is another area of focus for the speech-language pathologists, where they enhance learning and language development activities through speech therapies. In a nutshell, speech-language pathologists enhance and cultivate the development of skills vital in social communication. Oral massage, lips and jaws exercises, oral-motor swallowing, and facial massages are some of the techniques employed by speech-language pathologists (Costello & Shane, 2016).

In conclusion, learning disabilities can occur in children in numerous ways. It can occur in communication delays whereby children master communication skills later in life compared to their peers. For children, communication delays can be simple or complex, depending on their ages. Communication delays for children can occur at 12 or 18 months when children demonstrate difficulties in communication (Lyons & Roulstone, 2018). In the developmental processes involving these delays; children experience numerous challenges, including following instructions, reading and writing difficulties, and getting orally-given points. Speech-language pathologists help children with learning disabilities by enhancing their speech and language use. They do so by employing several technics.

References

Berk, L. E. (2017). Exploring lifespan development. Pearson.

Costello, J. M., & Shane, H. C. (2016). Speech-language pathology: Supports to communication. In Health care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities across the lifespan (pp. 1077-1084). Springer, Cham.

Kono, Y., Yonemoto, N., Kusuda, S., Hirano, S., Iwata, O., Tanaka, K., & Nakazawa, J. (2016). Developmental assessment of VLBW infants at 18 months of age: a comparison study between KSPD and Bayley III. Brain and Development, 38(4), 377-385.

Lyons, R., & Roulstone, S. (2018). Well-being and resilience in children with speech and language disorders. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 61(2), 324-344.