General Description of the Population

Speech impaired means a communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice impairment, which adversely affects a child's educational performance.

Common Characteristics

• Articulation errors, including omissions, substitutions, or distortions of sound
  
  
• Voice impairment, including inappropriate pitch, loudness, or voice quality
  
  
• Fluency impairment, including abnormal rate of speaking, speech interruptions, and repetition of sounds, words, phrases, or sentences, which interferes with effective communication
  
  
• One or more language impairments, i.e. phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic, or pragmatic use of aural/oral language
  
  
• Possible low self-esteem/self-concept
  
  
• Inadequate social skills
  
  
• Difficulties in language processing
  
  
• Poor phonology/language-based skills
  
  
• Difficulties with vocabulary, sight words, decoding, and comprehension
  
  
• Lack of overall academic/social-based communication
  
  
• Language delayed
  
  
• Low vocabulary
  
  
• Improper grammar usage
  
  
• Poor spelling skills
  
  
• Difficulty writing down thoughts
  
  
• Difficulties with abstract ideas
  
  
• Poor written skills
  
  
• Poor auditory skills

Instructional Strategies

• Divide academic goals into small units, utilizing the same theme
  
  
• Structure simple task encounters, emphasizing goals that are easy for the student to accomplish; also offer maximal social interaction opportunities
  
  
• Interrelate all tasks in a progressive hierarchy, never moving to a higher step until accomplishing mastery
  
  
• Work at the student's pace
  
  
• Present only one concept at a time
  
  
• Provide verbal and tangible reinforcements
  
  
• Provide parents with information they can use at home to reinforce the in-school program
  
  
• Utilize speech therapists to present language units to the entire class
  
  
• Use computers in the classroom to enhance language skills
  
  
• Demonstrate patience, respect, and understanding for these students which can serve as an example for other students and staff
  
  
• Encourage reading and writing daily
  
  
• Use tactile and visual cues e.g., pictures
  
  
• Incorporate vocabulary with unit being taught
  
  
• Stress need for correct spelling
  
  
• Provide fun activities that are functional and practical
  
  
• Be aware of the student's functioning level in the following areas and how they affect academic process: auditory skills, semantics, word recall, syntax, phonology, and pragmatics

Information taken from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders