ACTs YouTube Session on Child Language Disorders in the Classroom was Enriching and Insightful

Asian College of Teachers (ACT) conducted a live YouTube live session on 'Child Language Disorders in the Classroom' on 5th August, 2022, a pertinent topic for 21st century inclusive teachers as well as parents. Ms Divya B Babu, audiologist and speech therapist, was the guest speaker at the session who shed light on the various speech and language disorders found in young learners. Ms Divya, skilled in speech pathology with expertise in pure tone audiometry, speech audiometry, behavioural observation audiometry and visual reinforcement provided a deeper insight into the common speech disorders among children e.g., stammering etc. It can often be mistaken with stuttering, but there are some clear differences, which an expert can detect. She also explained about the receptive expressive language disorder, which is often diagnosed in kids. Regarding the best age to get treated, she is of the opinion that 1-5-year age group is very critical and important in terms of development where a child can learn and unlearn things quite fast; and as early intervention is the best thing to do, parents must be cautious and need to visit an expert if they notice any speech abnormality in their kids. She also discussed that certain disorders like Down syndrome, autism etc. cause speech impairment and that is the reason kids with Down syndrome face problems speaking as their tongue movement is restricted. Ms Divya presented a real-life case study of an autistic kid and also discussed the role of family history playing a major role in speech disorders which is, most of the time, hereditary. She concluded that kids with speech disorders need more empathy, love and patience from people around them. Attendees found the session to be enriching and insightful.