Blurred dysarthria in children

Erased dysarthria occurs in almost half of children with speech underdevelopment or phonetic-phonemic disorders. But such a speech therapist verdict should not frighten parents - the problem is surmountable.

Worn out is dysarthria, in which speech disorders are associated with minor violations of the articulatory apparatus. Usually these are violations associated with fuzzy pronunciation, distortion of sounds, children's speech with little expressiveness.

For the first time the term proposed to use in 1969. Since then, defectologists have not stopped scientific debates about the essence of pathology, trying to concretize it. More often the problem is called minimal dysarthric disorder. Doctors in Europe call her articulation dyspraxia.

It is believed that the basis of speech disorders weakness or excessive tension of the muscles of the articulation organs - lips, tongue, soft palate. Muscles are abnormal due to damage to the central nervous system. Often erased form of dysarthria is associated with some adverse factors that affect the central nervous system of the child during his stay in the womb, as well as after birth.

Among intrauterine causes, preeclampsia, high pressure in the expectant mother, kidney failure, Rh-conflict, maternal diabetes, and placental insufficiency are more often called. These conditions lead to hypoxia, and a lack of oxygen affects the development of the brain and nervous system. Infections can affect the child in the womb. Most often, the mildly erased form of dysarthria is characteristic of children who have had an infection in the third trimester.

If the child was born perfectly healthy, the reason for the formation of speech defects may be complications after vaccination, viral diseases, infections that the child suffered in the first months of life, that is, during the period that is pre-verbal.

It is practically impossible for parents to recognize the erased dysarthria. Speech impairment is minimal, and only a specialist can pay attention to it during a speech therapy examination. Most often, this pathology becomes apparent at the age of 5-6 years. Up to this age, some indiscernibility of individual sounds is regarded as dyslalia, and only its persistence and lack of effect from the developmental activities of a speech therapist can suggest that the case lies in dysarthria.

Children with a worn out form of dysarthria are slightly lagging behind their peers physically, often have a small height, lack of body weight, they have a narrow chest. Often, kids are very clumsy, they are much faster than their peers when they are stressed and it is difficult for them to make simultaneous movement, for example, with two hands.

They have less developed fine motor skills.it is harder for them to assemble constructors, the task is to fasten buttons on clothes or tie laces on shoes. They are hard at drawing, modeling. Children of school age with such a diagnosis are written illegibly and very slowly.

Children with dysarthria, even its erased form, do not have at their disposal a rich variety of facial expressions, they often have asymmetric nasolabial folds.

Such children easily excitable, often fussing, or, conversely, somewhat inhibited. Most often, the difficulties of sound pronunciation are associated with incorrect or difficult pronunciation of hissing, hissing, and sound sounds.

In order to examine the child, you need to contact a speech therapist. This specialist will conduct a series of tests for fine motor skills, facial expressions, ability to freely articulate, check how correct speech breathing is in a child. If the speech therapist suspects the erased dysarthria, he will definitely recommend parents to visit with the child a neurologist.

This doctor will prescribe an electroencephalogram of the brain, can conduct an electroneuromyographic examination, if necessary, an MRI scan of the brain. With the results of these studies and the conclusion of the neurologist about the state of the nervous system and articulation muscles, the child will again go to the appointment with a speech therapist. He will lead a special correctional speech therapy card and draw up an individual rehabilitation program in addition to the medications prescribed by the neurologist.

Treat the erased dysarthria in children of preschool and school age should be comprehensive. Need a joint work of a neurologist and a speech therapist. This will allow to achieve a stable desired effect, in which the defect can be completely eliminated. The only thing that is required of parents is great patience and consistency, responsibility for the fulfillment of all appointments, because the correction is rather lengthy.

Neurologist usually prescribes taking nootropic drugs, vitamins of group B. In the complex, such treatment allows to activate the nervous system, and also improves blood circulation in the brain. The child shows massage, reflexology. Often doctors recommend writing a child with erased dysarthria in the swimming section. It is swimming that improves the condition of the muscles, as well as improves motor skills.

Speech therapist will put incorrect or illegible pronunciation of sounds, and then this skill will be brought to automaticity. Speech therapy classes are often complemented by a logopedic massage. Should get ready for a long course of treatment - it is from a year or more.

Considering that speech defects are minimal, on the development of the child, they may not affect but even small deviations in sound pronunciation interfere with the normal construction of communication, which one way or another can affect the psychological development of the child.

With timely treatment started projections are favorable. Speech defects succeed eliminate completely.

Read more about dysarthria specialist in the following video.