The childhood dyslalia It is the most common language disorder in childhood, the best known and easiest to identify. It is estimated that it may have an incidence of 5-10 % among the child population. It usually appears between three and five years of age, with alterations in the articulation of phonemes. It refers to a poor pronunciation of words. children, a disorder in the articulation of phonemes.
All studies have focused on two main hypotheses:
- DYSLALIA AND MEMORY
Raine and his team are pioneers in linking articulation disorders with a decreased short-term memory capacity, shorter word length, and reduced articulatory motor activity (Raine, Hulme, Chadderton and Bailey, 1991). Recently, prosodic problems, alterations in speech and speech have been found. auditory memory and difficulties in repetition and auditory and visual rhythms in subjects with articulation problems (Wells and Peppe, 2003; Baldo and Dronkers, 2006)
On the other hand, there is a broad consensus in recommending the systematic exploration of memory (through the repetition of series of numbers, words and phrases) within the speech therapy evaluation of dyslalic children due to the influence that mnemonic aspects, in general, have on the development of oral language (Bruno, 1985) and the influence that immediate auditory memory, in particular, has on articulation difficulties (Mendoza and Carballo, 1990).
2. DYSLALIA AND NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS.
Joint problems have also been studied as secondary symptoms of various neurological disorders. Thus, memory, attention, visual-constructional and executive function problems related to pronunciation difficulties in the context of specific language disorders (SLI) (Arboleda-Ramírez et al., 2007; Crespo-Eguilaz and Narbona, 2009), in acquired aphasias and dysphasias (Conde-Guzón, Conde-Guzón, Bartolomé-Albistegui and Quirós-Expósito, 2008), in the one with dyslexia (Conde-Guzón, Conde-Guzón, Bartolomé-Albistegui, Quirós-Expósito and Cabestrero-Alonso, 2009), in that of the learning disabilities associated with cognitive and behavioral problems (Álvarez-Arenal and Conde-Guzón, 2009) or in children with epilepsy depending on the type of crisis and pharmacology (Conde-Guzón, Bartolomé-Albistegui, Quirós-Expósito and Cabestrero, 2007).
Our own experience working daily with children with dysphagia has led us to suspect some difficulty in memorization and concentration. A good immediate auditory memory makes it possible to easily recall the articulatory pattern, eventually becoming automated.
To test this hypothesis, Jiménez in 1988 designed a study with 178 children in Early Childhood Education and 1either of Primary and related immediate memory (auditory sequential memory, digit sequential memory, word memory, object recall, and visual sequential memory) with dyslalic problems. A high correlation was found between the inability to immediately retain auditory information and the presence of functional dyslalia. Consequently, in the author's words, "The hypothesis that dyslalias are frequent in those schoolchildren with poor auditory sequential memory can be confirmed."
In conclusion, we point to a recent study (Conde-Guzón, Bartolomé-Albistegui, Quirós, & Cabestrero, 2006) that intentionally and systematically studied the memory functioning of 150 Spanish children with articulation problems of diverse etiology. In this research, we concluded that children with speech articulation problems present significant difficulties in memory functioning characterized by remote memory deficit, immediate visual, auditory and logical memory, this being the first study in which immediate visual memory deficits were found in children with articulation problems.
There is a time, as we have already mentioned, in which we do not have to be alarmed because our child does not pronounce correctly, and even because many of the things he tries to tell us are unintelligible, since until three years it is normal who cannot communicate properly. However, after the age of three, children should communicate more fluently, and we should be able to understand them almost completely and without difficulty.
On many occasions we try to help our children pronounce well, and we could correct it only in the case in which dyslalia does not exist, but is simply a normal evolutionary process of language, but if the problem is caused by the disorder of dyslexia, we will have to provide them with a specialized treatment in order to correct it.
The importance of early care, once again, becomes more valuable when we talk about language disorders such as childhood dyslalia, since if the child is not able to make himself understood well or has problems with articulation or pronunciation of some phonemes, may be mocked by his schoolmates, which can aggravate the problem and add another one in which self-esteem is seen affected, their academic performance or their ability to relate to others.
Cristina Oroz Bajo