What does Speech Pathology have to do with Reading and Spelling?

Some parents have asked "why do I need to see a Speech Pathologist - my child can speak fine".

Some children's speech can be clear, but they may have underlying comprehension or verbal expression difficulties. This influences how well they can read and how well they understand the content of what they have read. Other children may have difficulties with manipulating sounds in words - i.e. phonemic awareness skills, and find remembering what sounds match certain letter shapes; and children can also have troubles combining the individual sounds to read the words on the page.

When children develop spoken language skills, they are developing a crucial foundation for the development of reading, spelling and written expression.

The development of reading, spelling and written expression also allows children to develop ongoing spoken language skills.

• Children who find reading, spelling and writing difficult often have difficulties using oral language to communicate;
• Children with spoken language difficulties have an increased risk of difficulty learning to read and write.

Speech Pathologists come from a training and practice background which emphasises collaboration with educators, psychologists, medical specialists, children themselves and their parents;

Speech Pathologists are also trained to conduct research and use the results to teach children the key oral language and sound awareness abilities which are the foundation from which literacy skills develop.

Without the early identification and intervention described above, many students with speech, language or phonological processing and awareness deficits will be denied access to literacy skills 'at an appropriate level' that matches with their learning potential.