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Disorders of speech and language include myriad diagnoses that vary in incidence and prevalence across age span and cultures. Disorders can range from those that do not impinge upon general communication, learning or psychosocial function, such as a mild speech disturbance, like a lisp, to global aphasia with a complete lack of communication ability. The short- and long-term effects of these impairments are often directly related to the age at onset, duration, co-morbidities, access to intervention by qualified professionals, and the societal response to the disability. In cultures that take a dim view of any type of deviation from the norm, there may be less access to diagnosis and treatment, as well as a hesitancy to seek out available options for treatment. Additionally, for those countries in which there are larger issues of general health, economic support, and quality of care, the nature of the disability may receive little or no attention simply due to national priorities or limited access to resources. Although, globally, disorders of speech and language are not exclusively limited to those countries with poorer health outcomes, in general, speech and language services may be less accessible or absent in poverty-stricken nations of the world. In many cases, these countries are at greater risk for many of the disorders simply due to environmental and social conditions, such as lack of early access to health care and preventative interventions. This chapter explores Global Perspectives on Speech and Language Impairments.

This article aggregates and reviews the disparate information needed to assess journal literature related to communication disorders both directly and peripherally. An extensive analysis was performed using a list of 40 journals on communication disorders derived from a review of selected libraries’ journal collections, and then compared to entries in respected indexes and bibliographies covering this discipline. The result of this analysis is a list providing comprehensive information including scope and coverage, publisher information, indexing/abstracting data, and online availability for those 40 journals. In addition, a survey was conducted among communication disorders faculty in the City University of New York (CUNY) to investigate which professional journals are used regularly for current awareness and for clinical/research information. The information presented in this article should be of interest to faculty, students and practitioners in this area, as well as subject librarians responsible for collection development.

Students with communication disorders present unique challenges to educators working toward fostering an inclusive classroom. For children with speech/language impairments, expressing themselves either academically or socially may present obstacles requiring communicative support and facilitation. For children with hearing loss, full access to educational material will be difficult without technological and/or visual support. Many children may have a combination of disorders, requiring a team of educators and other professionals to provide educational content and classroom support in the most inclusive way possible. This chapter is intended to provide an overview of variety of communication disorders, along with guidelines for improving student access across educational settings.

Writings about language and speech impairments (SLI) have been present for many centuries (Smith, 2004). Unfortunately, early historical accounts tended to reflect negatively upon individuals with SLI. For example, Van Riper and Erickson (1996) related that during the Roman times, an individual who stuttered was placed into a cage for entertainment purposes. According to these authors, citizens passing would throw coins into the person's cage to get him to talk. During the late 1800s, the profession of speech-language pathology began as an avocation of certain professionals, notably doctors, educators, and elocutionists (public speakers), who were interested in helping others improve their speech. American doctors studied under the auspices of European doctors who treated people with communication disorders. The two most common disorders that were treated then were dysfluency (stuttering) and speech sound errors (articulation) (Duchan, 2002). Treatment was available for the above disorders, however, the programs were not in public schools and the results of intervention were mixed (Smith, 2004).

Academic outcomes for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remain poor, especially in the area of reading, in particular, reading comprehension. In recent years, researchers have begun to investigate subcomponent skills of reading comprehension for children with ASD in order to better understand its development and potential interventions to enhance outcomes. This chapter highlights the current knowledge in the field in regards to the key cognitive and language skills associated with reading development for individuals with ASD. These include emergent-literacy skills, word-reading and decoding, reading fluency, oral language, and social cognition. Additionally, the chapter makes suggestions for future research in this area, in particular the need to conduct research to establish evidence-based practices to better support the syndrome-specific reading needs for this population.

This chapter provides an overview of speech-language pathology including education and training requirements of the field of speech-language pathology and the typical role that speech-language pathologists play as members of school-based teams serving children with speech-language-hearing related delays and disorders. A description of the primary areas of treatment is provided along with suggestions for how collaboration with additional team members and families are involved in school-based intervention plans.

Dynamic assessment in the educational setting has been shown to offer many benefits for students with speech and language disorders. This chapter highlights the benefits of dynamic assessment and describes the limitations of static assessments. Because dynamic assessment can be implemented in many ways, three scenarios have been designed to provide an overview of some of these variations. Scenario 1 includes a graduated prompt approach for assessing abilities in the production of speech sounds using a standardized dynamic assessment. Scenario 2 includes a graduated prompt approach for assessing the linguistic skills underlying spelling errors. Scenario 3 includes a test-teach-retest approach for determining the presence of language impairment in students who speak a nonmainstream dialect of English. Suggestions for goal setting and increasing dynamic assessment applications for students with speech and language disorders are presented.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the severity of certain communication disorders (CD) in a sample of Syrian refugee children. There are a limited number of studies about CD among refugee children.

Over a period of 22 months, 161 cases of CD – not caused by motor or structural disorders – were seen at a Mental Health Clinic in Beqaa, Lebanon. The authors calculated descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages) and bivariate statistics to identify relationships between CD, demographics and school enrollment among cases.

Ages ranged between 3 and 16 years with a mean of 6.91. Male to female ratio was 1.6:1. The most prevalent category of CD was speech, followed by expressive language, then receptive language. Parents reported behavioral or emotional problems in 38 percent of the cases; emotional problems, mainly anxiety, were much more common than behavioral problems. Enrollment in school was associated with a lower number of impairments and less severe speech and language impairments.

The results highlight the importance of early detection and intervention among Syrian refugee children. Schools can alleviate some psychological issues that compound CD by enhancing resilient behaviors and providing social support. They can also implement measures for detection and intervention.

Speech pathology services have not been traditionally provided within school classroom settings. This chapter will describe the service-delivery options for provision of speech pathology services in classroom settings. A review of select research related to the efficacy of these services is included as applied examples for educators.

This paper examines the overlap between two groups of children, those with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) and those with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD). The case is made that these are common and overlap, with serious consequences for the children and families concerned. The difficulties experienced by the children and their families have implications for health inequalities and should influence the way in which both child and adolescent mental health and public health services are conceptualised and delivered.