*  Cleft Palate ~  Cleft palate is a congenital fissure (opening) in the child's palate - soft palate, hard palate, possibly lip and jaw.                       

*  Articulation Disorder ~  Is the inability to correctly produce speech sounds (phonemes) due of imprecise placement, timing, pressure, speed, or flow of movement of the lips, teeth, tongue, palate or various articulators. 

*  Receptive  & Expressive Language Disorder ~  Is impaired comprehension and/or use of spoken, written and/or other symbol systems. The disorder may involve (1) the form of language (phonology, morphology, syntax), (2) the content of language (semantics), and/or (3) the function of language in communication (pragmatics) in any combination.

*  Hearing Impairment ~   Reduced hearing acuity;  A deviation or change for the worse in either the auditory structure or auditory function, usually outside the range of normal hearing.

 

*  Apraxia ~ [Taken from ASHA]Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a neurological childhood (pediatric) speech sound disorder in which the precision and consistency of movements underlying speech are impaired in the absence of neuromuscular deficits (e.g., abnormal reflexes, abnormal tone).  The core impairment in planning and/or programming spatiotemporal parameters of movement sequences results in errors in speech sound production and prosody. 

 

*  Stuttering ~  ASHA's definition as defined by Wingate, 1964,: Stuttering is a repetition of a sound,syllable, or one-syllable word; silent or audible prolongation;or both. 

*  Autism ~ Is a developmental disability that causes problems with social skills and communication. Autism can be mild or severe. It is different for every person. Autism is also known as autism spectrum disorders .  Children with autism may have problems with communication, social skills, and reacting to the world around them. Not all behaviors will exist in every child. A diagnosis should be made by the child's doctor or other professional with experience in working with children with autism. Possible signs and symptoms are outlined below.

* Phonological  Processing ~  Multiple articulation errors that can be grouped on some principle or characteristics and thus form patterns.

 

*  AAC [Augmentative and Alternative Communication ] ~  ASHA's definition: Systems that attempt to compensate and facilitate, temporarily or permanently, for the impairment and disability patterns of individuals with severe expressive and/ or language comprehension disorders. Augmentative/alternative communication may be required for individuals demonstrating impairments in gestural, spoken, and/or written modalities.

 

An AAC program neither begins nor terminates with the prescription of a communication aid. Instead it involves an ongoing program of decision-making that considers individuals, their methods of communicating, and the effectiveness of that communication with a variety of listeners, as well as environmental variables that foster or impede communication. The specific unaided and aided methods of communication that are associated with this area of practice constitute one small part of the AAC domain, which is composed of four primary components: symbols, aids, strategies, and techniques.

 

 ~  Many definitions have been used from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.