[ Post a Response | Articulation, Language, and Fluency ]
Posted by dawnslp
on 2/5/2009, 11:55 am, in reply to "Re: Just need to vent"
24.199.235.66
Wow! You really slammed a lot of people in this field and it really wasn't necessary. There is a way to give your opinion without trashing people.
That being said, I do think articulation affects education and, most definitely, self-esteem. I believe it to be a travesty that we are to just let these kids go and not worry about their sounds when that is the FIRST thing you notice when you speak to someone! I have a niece and nephew that both have /r/ and /s/ problems. My niece is 10 and my nephew is 8. Neither is receiving speech services at their schools and my sister cannot afford to pay for it. I do not live where they are, so I cannot give them therapy. Both are very shy and being teased about their speech. It's sad because there is a service that can help them, but narrow-minded thinkers who believe articulation doesn't affect education refuse to go the extra step to get them help and they will probably always have their errors. I too went to speech therapy as a second grader for the same problems and I am thankful I did. I probably wouldn't have the same opportunity today.
I understand we were first put into the schools to help with articulation and I STILL believe it is a vital part of communication. Yes, we have many more job responsibilities, but we are the only ones that are trained to fix sound errors and we should be allowed to do so!. Everyone in the school can and should be working on language skills as language is NOT learned in a vacuum. For a lot of the kids you mentioned, we are merely the catalyst to get their communication going. It is up to the others in their everyday world (as you said that spend more time with them), to keep it going. Unfortunately, I have yet to see that happen in 10 years of practice! I do not have a magic wand that I wave when I work with these kids, but the teachers and parents expect miracles when the kid has a 25 IQ and has had therapy for 10 years. THAT is the frustrating part of this field.
Message Thread:
« Back to thread