What is alalia in children: what are the reasons and how does it manifest itself?

Alalia is a disease characterized by severe underdevelopment of speech or its complete absence. The disease occurs when the speech centers in the cerebral cortex are damaged.

Alalia in children is accompanied by violations of several components of speech at once: phonetic-phonemic and lexical-grammatical structure. Children with this condition have very little or no vocabulary.

Alalia is a rare and severe speech disorder. Alalik children need comprehensive medical and psychological correction.

A survey of children with alalia showed that preschoolers and, to a lesser extent, primary schoolchildren are more susceptible to this disease. Experts also note that alalia is more often diagnosed in boys than in girls.

What is alalia

Alalia in children is a consequence of damage that occurred during the prenatal or early period of life. Without specially developed treatment, children with this disease will not begin to speak independently.

The appearance of speech may be postponed to preschool, and in some cases to a later period. In such children, such speech delay is not associated with hearing and intellectual defects.

Attention! Alalia cannot be treated at home; to make a diagnosis and prescribe therapy, you only need to visit a specialist in person. First of all, you need to contact your local pediatrician, who will refer the child for further examination.

If correctional therapy begins after 4-5 years, secondary speech delay is possible, associated with the mental development of the child. These children have less knowledge about the world around them than their healthy peers. Alalia is characterized by violations of all aspects of speech:

phonetic;
lexical;
grammatical;
morphological;
syntactic.

This is a systemic disorder of the speech apparatus, in which it is difficult to learn the rules of functioning of the native language. The vocabulary is poor and ungrammatical. The treatment is complex and systematic over several years. Statistically, boys suffer from it twice as often.

Alalia is a persistent, severe pathology of the speech apparatus. Children with this diagnosis have difficulty acquiring language. They do not perceive speech as a single system. There are cases when a child does not begin to speak even by school age.

Disorders associated with this disease affect the baby's speech and cognitive activity. Later, problems may arise during the formation of personality. There is often a lack of desire for development and interaction with the outside world.

Alalia is characterized by a systemic nature of speech development disorders, which affects all its components. A child with such impairments does not understand speech addressed to him; all communication is reduced to short babbling words.

In subsequent years, a poor vocabulary, agrammatism, incorrect construction of syllables, and disturbances in the pronunciation of sounds are observed. Alalia is one of the most severe speech disorders. It is impossible to solve this complex problem without the help of speech therapists and other specialists.

Forecast, preventive measures

When alalia is detected in a child, it is important to start therapy as early as possible. This will not only significantly smooth out existing speech disorders, but also reduce the risk of developing deviations in the future. Only the attending physician can give a prognosis, since this is very individual and depends on many factors: the severity of the disease, the degree of neglect, the presence of associated complications, and the individual characteristics of the child’s body.

The chance that a child will be able to acquire formed, full-fledged speech with sensory alalia is significantly reduced when contacting a specialist late. Lack of therapy can aggravate the situation and cause poor socialization of the child in the future.

It is appropriate to take measures to prevent sensory alalia not only during pregnancy, but also in the first few years of a child’s life.

Alalia classification

Modern speech therapy distinguishes two forms in the classification of alalia - expressive (motor) and impressive (sensory). There is alalia that combines these two forms - sensorimotor (mixed type).

Expressive or motor – systemic underdevelopment of expressive speech of a central organic nature. This is due to the insufficient development of language operations.

Impressive or sensory alalia is a speech disorder that has a central pathogenesis. A child with this diagnosis is unable to understand speech addressed to him due to the malfunction of the speech-hearing analyzer.

Each of these types has its own treatment method. Without proper therapy, the sensory type is more dangerous for a child's development than the motor type. Based on neurophysiology, neurochemistry and psycholinguistics, methods for correcting all types of alalia have been developed. But the child’s parents must prepare themselves for long and hard work.

To make it easier to monitor speech development, speech therapists recommend a convenient and simple diary, where you should write down all the baby’s new words. You can download this questionnaire, fill it out and continue further. Be sure to take it with you to your appointment with a specialist - with its help you can quickly form a general impression of your child’s speech skills

Stages of speech therapy assistance

Regardless of the form of alalia and the structure of the defect, speech therapy work to overcome this disorder consists of four stages:

Preparatory. At this stage, the speech therapist forms the prerequisites for speech activity. The specialist creates situations that encourage the child to communicate. It also forms his understanding of the importance of speech in a person’s life. At the preparatory stage, work is carried out to develop the tempo-rhythmic aspect of speech and higher mental functions.
At the second stage, initial speech skills are formed. They work to expand and clarify the vocabulary, teach the child to relate a word to an object. The speech therapist teaches the child to recognize words by their sound design and corrects sound pronunciation. In addition, they give exercises to generalize and classify objects.
The goal of the third stage is the formation of a statement as the main speech unit. The speech therapist focuses on correcting grammatical structure and teaching the child how to structure a statement.
At the fourth stage, the concept of the communicative and cognitive functions of speech is formed. The speech therapist gives more tasks for the formation of coherent speech - this is its planning, developing self-control skills. The specialist teaches alalik to choose speech means to form a statement.

The speech therapist selects exercises for each stage in accordance with the form of alalia. Taking into account the peculiarities of the structure of the defect, the specialist will be able to organize the work in such a way that it is possible to achieve high results and maximally correct deficiencies in speech development.

What is sensory alalia

Sensory (impressive) alalia is a severe form of speech development, in which both understanding and speaking suffer, and a number of symptoms of the motor type of the disease are observed. According to medical statistics, in the total number of children suffering from problems with the speech apparatus, the motor type accounts for 90% of cases, while the sensory type accounts for only the remaining 10%.

Sensory alalia is a violation of a child’s understanding of the speech of others. Expressive speech (the ability to speak coherently) cannot develop in a child under such circumstances. Some believe that sensory alalia is an inability to speak due to a violation of the articulatory apparatus. However, the speech impairment here is secondary, that is, due to a lack of understanding of the speech of others, due to problems with phonemic hearing.

A child with good hearing cannot put into words the sounds that he hears from adults or pronounces himself. Therefore, he is unable to reproduce them.

With this type, damage or underdevelopment of the speech-hearing analyzer is observed. This leads to serious disruptions in analytical and synthetic activities. The sounds that the child hears are not different to him. He is unable to recognize words or even individual sounds or syllables.

Causes of sensory alalia

This disorder is caused by lesions of the brain, namely certain zones located in the cortical part of it, which are responsible for the speech apparatus, speech analysis, and understanding of sounds. The main factors that can lead to this are:

Fetal pathologies that appear during pregnancy. Gestation can be complicated by hypoxia, infections, and malnutrition. Disturbances in the development of the fetal central nervous system may occur when consuming alcohol or drugs.
Disturbance of the central nervous system during childbirth. The fetus can suffer damage to the nervous system if the obstetrician acts incorrectly. During childbirth, the baby may suffer a head injury.
Diseases in the postnatal period. They can occur in the first years of the baby.

There are other reasons that can also cause such a speech disorder. Diagnosis can only be made after a comprehensive examination of the child. The baby should be examined by a speech therapist, pediatrician, neurologist, child psychologist, and otolaryngologist.

How to identify sensory alalia

To assess the state of the brain of a child who is suspected of having alalia, it is necessary to conduct an MRI of the brain and an EEG. All these research methods are absolutely harmless to the child and do not pose any health hazard.

It is necessary to clearly distinguish between sensory alalia and possible hearing loss. This should be done by a qualified otolaryngologist. To do this, he performs audiometry and otoscopy. Diagnostics should also determine the severity of existing disorders.

What are the symptoms of sensory alalia?

With this disorder, the understanding of speech addressed to the baby primarily suffers. He is unable to understand what is being said to him. When severe, the child shows complete indifference to surrounding sounds, regardless of the nature of their origin. Such children are unable to distinguish speech from other sounds and do not respond to their name. With a mild degree, the child can understand some everyday words.

A child suffering from this speech disorder has high speech activity, but it consists of simple (babbling) sounds and interjections. The meaning of this stream of sounds and words is incomprehensible to the people around. The child’s speech is more like a “word salad.”

One of the distinctive signs of the sensory type of the disease is pronounced echolalia - the repetition of individual sounds without understanding their meaning. It is difficult or even impossible for a child with such a speech disorder to repeat words spoken by an adult. The child is not able to correlate the word and the object it means.

Alaliks are characterized by a large number of speech errors. They indicate phonetic insufficiency, which is manifested by incorrect placement of stress, omission of sounds or their replacement with others. The child cannot control his own speech and makes mistakes in it.

Causes

The reason for the appearance of sensory alalia in a child is damage to certain areas of the brain that are located in the cortical part. These zones are responsible for the speech apparatus, understanding and analysis of audible sounds. The following factors can lead to such a violation:

Diseases that arise in the first years of a child’s life.
Central nervous system disorders that arose during complicated childbirth.
Fetal pathologies that appeared during pregnancy.

A speech disorder such as sensory alalia can also be caused by other reasons. Diagnosis of the disease is possible only after a complete examination of the baby by specialists such as a neurologist, speech therapist and psychologist.

How to correct sensory alalia

It is necessary to correct sensory alalia only using an integrated approach. It consists of:

medications prescribed by a neurologist;
neurocorrection;
classes with a speech pathologist;
classes with a speech therapist;
working with a child psychologist;
physiotherapy, occupational therapy;
special speech therapy massage.

Comprehensive assistance

Doctors prescribe nootropic drugs, neuropeptides, neuroprotectors, vitamins. These drugs have a positive effect on the central nervous system as a whole. Additional measures may include massages, exercise therapy, and medicinal baths.

Logotherapy

The goal here is the formation of auditory perception, the development of the ability to analyze the speech and words of others. In the first stages, the baby’s chaotic speech slows down, his perseverance and attentiveness increase.

Neuropsychological correction

Here, the development of deficit functions and thinking occurs, the baby’s memory improves, and activity appears in exploring the world around them. All these treatment components are selected and prescribed by specialists, taking into account age, severity of the disease, causes and a number of other physiological characteristics. A prerequisite for successful therapy is training with a speech pathologist.

Corrective measures can be selected only after a comprehensive diagnosis. The outcome of therapy depends on the timing of detection of this speech disorder. The optimal age when it is desirable to begin correction is considered to be 2-3 years.

Treatment prognosis and preventive measures

The prognosis of the result is determined by how early the problem was identified and only the doctor who is caring for the baby can talk about it. Logotherapy will help only if the entire plan of correctional work, consisting of a medical as well as a psychological component, is followed.

Timely initiation of therapy and strictly observed correction make it possible to smooth out disorders of the speech apparatus and prevent deviations in the future.

In case of late application, the likelihood of receiving a fully formed speech is sharply reduced. In the absence of corrective measures, speech delay can lead to poor socialization of the baby. As a result, psychological disorders may appear. Measures to prevent sensory alalia are carried out during pregnancy, and then at an early age of the baby.

Differences between sensory alalia and the motor type of speech impairment

Auditory attention with this disorder is reduced or completely absent. The speech of adults is perceived indistinctly, as a set of chaotic sounds. Therefore, there is no desire to imitate, repeat words, syllables, sounds.

Children with sensory alalia have increased speech activity. This distinguishes them from children with a motor type of speech disorder. Children with a sensory type talk a lot, maintaining the correct intonation.

In this case, the speech motor analyzer is not damaged. However, the speech of such children is unstable in sound composition. It contains many isolated fragments of words and meaningless phrases. Such speech is incomprehensible to others. In some cases, echolalia is observed - repetition of individual words and sounds without understanding their meanings.

Often the correlation between heard and spoken words is not formed. The name cannot be assigned to a specific item. Children with normal development of the speech apparatus remember the name of an object after 3-5 repetitions.

For alaliq with a sensory type of disease, this requires a minimum of 25-30 repetitions. The child cannot repeat the word spoken by the parent. Adults regard this as stubbornness on the part of the child.

The degree of impairment of understanding may vary. There may be a complete misunderstanding of speech, or a misunderstanding of individual sounds and words. Understanding speech is situational. One phrase can be understood in different ways.

Sensory alalia is increased speech activity with low understanding of it by others. The baby has poor control over his own speech. Symptoms of sensory alalia:

high excitability;
poor behavior control;
secondary delay in intellectual development.

Children suffering from this disorder have difficulty interacting with other people. It is difficult to influence them with words and beliefs, it is difficult for them to explain something. These factors explain the baby's uncontrollability.

It is typical for a sensory type that even specialists can often confuse it with autism. In the professional circle of speech therapists, there is an opinion to replace the term “sensory alalia” with “sensory disintegration.” Therapy for this disease begins with the sensory component. This is dictated by the fact that the child first begins to develop an understanding of speech, and only after that does the ability to pronounce sounds and words appear.

Principles of organizing speech therapy work to overcome alalia

Regardless of the form of this speech disorder, correctional work will be based on general principles for overcoming the defect:

The principle of the necessary formation of speech components in accordance with structural and functional requirements (with the exception of sensory alalia).
The principle of the simultaneous development of speech and non-speech processes - during the lesson, not only speech is corrected, but also the motor sphere and higher mental functions.
The principle of an active approach in the formation of speech skills - all instructions are accompanied by actions and visual material.
The principle of relying on physiological norms for the development of children's speech.
The principle of development of the semantic side, that is, it is necessary to explain the meaning of actions.
The principle of overcoming a child’s reduced need for communication.
The principle of step-by-step correctional work.
The principle of relying on intact speech functions.
The principle of relying on the senses is compensation for underdevelopment of speech function at the expense of other analyzers.
The principle of taking into account the child’s capabilities, that is, an adult must make adequate demands.
The principle of relying on the leading type of speech: the specialist forms in the child an understanding that speech is the main tool for interacting with the outside world.
The principle of clarity and commentary on activities - it is necessary to use pictures, toys, and didactic games; the adult must voice his actions.

For correctional work to be effective, a specialist must build classes based on these principles. It is necessary to correct not only speech processes, but also other areas so that the child’s development is harmonious. Any underdevelopment of a function or slow operation of any process can lead to an imbalance in speech development. All these principles allow us to take into account the specifics of working with this defect.

What is motor alalia

Motor alalia - or expressive in other words - is due to the fact that it is associated with motor (movement) disorders. The main problems in speech development are poor mastery of language operations and insufficient vocabulary. For example, motor alalia in a 3-year-old child is expressed in the inability to express his thoughts, words, and individual sounds. It is difficult for him to form words, phrases and use them correctly.

Such children have normal mobility of the organs responsible for speech. But there is difficulty in motor skills and abilities. A child can lick ice cream with his tongue, but cannot lift his tongue up at the request of an adult or parent.

Understanding the speech of others, the baby is powerless in reproducing his native language. The delay affects exclusively the speech apparatus. If there is a long-term delay, secondary mental retardation may appear. This is smoothed out with the formation of speech and its development, complication.

A characteristic symptom of the motor type of alalia is the inability to repeat speech heard from adults. In particularly difficult situations, the child cannot repeat even the simplest sounds, such as “AU”, “BA”, “PA”, although he understands the spoken speech of adults. The more complex the syllable, the more difficult it is to repeat. Children suffering from such speech disorders usually have neurological or mental disorders.

Neurological symptoms may include awkwardness, poor coordination, and lack of physical activity. Poor fine motor skills of the fingers may be observed - it is difficult to fasten buttons or tie shoelaces.

Children with motor alalia find it difficult to play with other children. It is difficult for them to jump well, play ball and do other movements that are easy for healthy children.

In some cases, the opposite effect may be observed, that is, increased activity. It depends on the location of the brain lesion. In this case, children may be hyperactive, easily excitable, and excessively fussy, but at the same time they get tired quickly.

Mental disorders with motor alalia

Deviations in the emotional-volitional sphere may be observed. This manifests itself in excessive touchiness, a tendency to violent reactions, frequent tears, hysterics, and reluctance to have contacts and communication with other people. Such symptoms can be expressed in:

memory impairment;
poor concentration;
slow development of thought processes;
visuospatial disorders;

Children with motor alalia have difficulty concentrating on any activity or object. They are very quickly distracted by other unimportant objects or events. It is extremely difficult to interest such a child in anything. It is difficult for such children to remember rhymes, numbers, and names of the days of the week.

Recommendations for conducting classes

In addition to the speech therapist, a defectologist should also work with alalik. Because, in addition to difficulties with speech, he also has disturbances in the emotional-volitional sphere. A defectologist pays more attention to the correction of higher mental functions and personality characteristics.

It is also necessary to be observed by a neurologist, because the cause of the defect is organic damage to certain areas of the cerebral cortex. He will prescribe appropriate medication to help your child perform better.

During the first lessons it is very important to establish contact. The adult’s task is to arouse the child’s desire to communicate. The classes should have a calm, relaxing atmosphere. Praise your child for any achievements, create a situation of success, then he will remain interested in activities.

Mixed type - sensorimotor alalia

In most cases, a mixed type of alalia is observed - sensorimotor. To understand what sensorimotor alalia is, we will describe the classic clinical picture. The child spoke late and has difficulties in forming speech. The vocabulary (both active and passive) is quite meager. Understanding of spoken speech is poor.

Social adaptation skills are impaired, which often makes it difficult to differentiate sensorimotor alalia from autism spectrum disorders. There may be a fear of loud sounds, and obsessive movements are common. But nevertheless, this type is treatable and correctable.

Diagnosis of alalia

Speech therapists sometimes find it difficult to diagnose alalia. There are different ways of making a diagnosis, which are designed to complement each other:

History – collection of information from parents and communication with the child. Alalia can be suspected if at least three characteristic symptoms are present.
Differential diagnosis. It is necessary to conduct an examination with a number of specialists of a narrow profile. The otolaryngologist must rule out hearing problems, and the psychoneurologist must give his opinion on the mental state. A child psychologist should evaluate him for autism.
Dynamic examination. When starting correction, the speech therapist must monitor the dynamics of speech development. Based on the information received, the speech therapist can correct the previously made diagnosis.

Diagnosis using MRI and EEG is common. These studies reveal organic lesions and disorders.

Clinical picture and behavioral characteristics

In the absence of verbal communication with children or adults, the child experiences psychological discomfort. Children from a very early age use gestures to express their emotions and desires.

Gradually, they begin to connect speech to this, which becomes more complex as they grow older.

A child with alalia does not have this opportunity; it is difficult for him to explain what he wants from an adult. The degree of difficulty may vary, but there are three levels of underdevelopment of the speech apparatus:

Complete lack of speech.
There are initial signs of speech development. The baby has some words or sounds in its reserve and can make words from them, but such a reserve is extremely limited.
There is an extended speech with fragments of weak development of the speech system. The vocabulary in this case is large, but the words are pronounced in a distorted way, and there are defects in the pronunciation of certain sounds.

These levels are not related to the child's age. At 5 years old he can be at the first level. These impairments inevitably affect oral speech and, later, the ability to write and read.

Children have difficulty remembering letters and numbers. They confuse them, interfere with each other. This further complicates the development of speech ability. The child understands everyday speech. It is simple for him and does not require grammatical rules.

The child can understand simple requests, such as closing the door or taking a book, based on the current situation. He understands that if the door to the room is closed, and his mother suddenly spoke about it, then some manipulations need to be done with it.

Intuitively, the baby will open the door. But whether he understands exactly the meaning of words at this moment depends on the severity of the disease. At difficult stages, he may not understand at all what adults tell him.

Alalia correction

Children suffering from alalia have difficulties in raising them. Some parents may treat such children unfairly. They do not understand all the problems that the baby faces along the way. It is important to realize that such children require a special approach based on calm, patience, and understanding.

If a parent notices the first symptoms of alalia, they should immediately seek help from specialists. The sooner a problem is identified, the easier it is to deal with it. Timely correction will reduce the risk of complications.

The treatment of these disorders includes various techniques and methods. There are psychological, pedagogical, and medicinal approaches. The technique of transcranial electrical stimulation has a special contribution to the restoration of speech capabilities. Correction stages based on special classes must also go through:

gymnastics;
Speech therapy rhythm classes (logorhythmics);
artistic and technical classes,
reading;
writing classes;
speech therapy classes;
memory training;
special classes aimed at attention and perception;

In special correctional centers and speech therapy schools, special medical and psychological therapies are used. The drug approach is primarily aimed at stimulating and shaping damaged brain centers. Experts note the effectiveness of some procedures:

DMV;
IRT;
hydrotherapy;
laser therapy;
electrophoresis;
magnetic therapy;
electropuncture;
transcranial electrical stimulation.

The correction program is selected individually and must take into account all the characteristics of the child. The recovery process should influence the pathology itself and its accompanying diagnoses.

Treatment of motor alalia in children

When treating, emphasis should be placed on the development of the child’s motor skills, his thinking, and his ability to remember. Since this disease has a systemic nature of occurrence, the speech therapy approach is adjusted to the full coverage of sound-letter productions, visualization, and the ability to concentrate attention on something. This should be a whole range of measures that have an impact on:

speech stimulation;
meaningfulness of speech;
formation and expansion of vocabulary;
grammatical development of speech.

Multidisciplinary specialists, not just speech therapists, take part in treatment and correction. A child with alalia needs to be taught the alphabet and letters as early as possible. These skills will help to better develop memory, teach how to form words from individual sounds, and control speech.

Examination and correction

What examinations of children need to be carried out to clarify the diagnosis. If this pathology is suspected, it is important to assess the degree of brain damage.

To do this, you need to visit the following specialists:

Neurologist - will prescribe the necessary examinations and drug treatment.

Examinations:

EEG (electroencephalography) ECHO-EG (echoencephalography) Skull regnography + MRI of the brain

Otolaryngologist - check the hearing and speech apparatus.

Examinations: Otoscopy Audiometry Study of the function of the auditory analyzer

It is also useful to visit a child psychologist and speech therapist. These specialists will form a correction program for working with the baby.

When correcting alalia, an integrated approach is important, which includes:

Drug treatment
Correctional work with a speech therapist and child psychologist.

Drug treatment mainly includes nootropic drugs (Cortexin, Cogitum, Encephabol, Gammolon, Ceraxon), which stimulate the development of brain structures. Treatment is prescribed by a doctor. Usually a small dose of medication is prescribed at the beginning, which is gradually tapered off.

The doctor may also prescribe physical therapy for a child with speech disorders. Physiotherapy in combination with medications gives good results for alalia. Magnetic therapy, laser therapy, electrophoresis, and hydrotherapy are used.

Classes with a speech therapist

Correctional work with alalik children always involves a comprehensive psychological, medical and psychological approach.

Speech therapy massage is often used in the treatment of alalia in children. It is carried out to restore the tone of the facial muscles.

The following techniques are used: Relaxation of the tongue and its root, lips, mouth and neck muscles using acupressure, vibration, light patting and stroking.
Strengthening the facial muscles by stroking the forehead, cheeks, kneading the zygomatic and cheek muscles.
Tongue gymnastics to establish the correct functioning of the articulatory apparatus. The gymnastics complex includes facial exercises, exercises for the tongue and lips, and phonetic exercises.

Pedagogical work is built in stages:

Work on the emergence of sounds.
Evoking syllables in speech.
Linking syllables into words.

The teacher conducts exercises with the child to correct speech breathing, voice strength, intonation, correction of the syllabic structure of the word, and accumulation of speech reserve.

Exercises:

Pendulum The speech therapist asks the child to stick out his tongue and move it from left to right. To make it more clear to the baby, the movements of the tongue can be compared to the movement of the tail of a fish or the tail of a fox. The fish swims and moves its tail: back and forth, back and forth. The fox runs and waves its tail: left-right, left-right.
Puffing out the cheeks The speech therapist asks the baby to puff out his cheeks. Puff up your cheeks like an angry little bear. Let's hide our apples behind our cheeks!
Tube The speech therapist asks you to stretch your lips with a tube. What kind of trunk does an elephant have? It's so long!

Facial exercises

Spring has come. The teacher invites the baby to imagine that spring has come. The child shows delight from meeting the sun, how he basks in the rays of the warm sun.
Bear in the house The teacher suggests a situation: spring has come, the snow has melted, and melt water has entered the bear’s den. The bear was at first frightened, then surprised and happy about the coming of spring.

Exercises for neck muscles

Flowers The teacher shows the child how the flowers sway, tilting his head to the right and then to the left.
Sun The sun has warmed up, look (the baby raises his head up), flowers will soon grow (the baby lowers his head down).

Home activities

Games and exercises for the development of fine motor skills stimulate speech skills.

Such exercises can be performed not only in classes with a speech therapist, but also at home. Parents can easily master these simple exercises on their own. It is enough to devote 15-20 minutes a day to classes. It is better if it is in the morning, before lunch, when the baby is still active and not overtired.

Rearrange the toys The baby is offered some small objects: buttons, large beads, small toys (for example, from a Kinder Surprise). The child is asked to arrange these items into small vessels (jars, cups).
Make beads The child is given a thick thread and large beads and asked to make beads. You can make beads for yourself or for your mother.

The game “Make Beads” for the development of fine motor skills in children with speech disorders

Close the boxes The child is offered several boxes with lids of different sizes, but of the same shape, for example, round or square. The adult opens the boxes and invites the child to find a suitable lid for each of them.
Catch the ball Multi-colored balls are placed in a container of water, for example, in a basin or bathtub, if the game is played at home. The kid is offered a net with which he will catch the balls, then he is given tasks: get the red ball, and now the green one.
Button pattern The child is offered buttons of different colors and sizes and a sheet of paper with a thin layer of plasticine. Using buttons, the baby lays out a pattern on paper.

Button patterns for developing fine motor skills for alalik children

Sensory and motor alalia often leads to the fact that the baby does not use verbs in his speech. Therefore, games with cards that depict actions are effective.

Who does what? For the game you will need cards that depict actions: a mother feeds her daughter, a boy plays football. The teacher or mother first tells the child about what is drawn in the picture, and then asks him to tell it.

Cards for classes: Cards for working with alaliks part 1 Cards for working with alaliks part 2 Cards for working with alaliks part 3 Cards for working with alaliks part 4

Why does alalia occur?

Alalia can result from asphyxia of the newborn, prematurity, or birth injuries. Sometimes this disorder occurs in children after premature or prolonged labor. Provoking factors can be complications during pregnancy and childbirth, perinatal pathologies. The causes of alalia are usually:

infectious diseases (infection occurred in utero or during childbirth);
hypoxia;
asphyxia;
toxicosis;
fetal injury (fall or blow of a pregnant woman);
TBI during childbirth or pregnancy;
risk of spontaneous abortion;
a number of chronic diseases in women (heart failure, pulmonary failure, hypertension and a number of others.

Among the etiopathogenetic factors for the onset of the disease, it is necessary to highlight encephalitis, meningitis, head injuries, and a number of somatic diseases affecting the central nervous system. A number of scientists associate alalia with heredity. Alalik children are seriously different from mentally retarded children. As speech develops, their mental retardation disappears.

Main reasons

The causes of the disease can be:

Pathology of intrauterine development: maternal illnesses, injuries;
Genetic predisposition;
Complications during childbirth: hypoxia, infection;
Head injuries;
Poisoning with toxic substances.

Risk factors for the development of motor alalia may be frequent illnesses in children in the first years of life, surgical interventions under general anesthesia, insufficient speech contacts, as well as pedagogical neglect.

Home therapy for alalia

In addition to classes with specialized specialists, you can conduct additional classes at home. To get rid of the disease, the parent must focus as much as possible on his baby and help him. There are some effective methods designed specifically for patients:

The baby must learn to understand speech by ear. The parent names the object, the child must show it. If he showed it wrong, you need to show it correctly. This exercise is repeated many times for alaliks before he understands what is required of him. Bright toys and colored figurines are suitable for such activities.
If the vocabulary is wide, train him to pronounce the names of objects by showing them.
You need to talk to children suffering from alalia more often. Parents' speech should be clear, correct and not too fast. With sensory alalia, words must be accompanied by a demonstration of corresponding pictures.
Show the letters. And then say words starting with these letters. Ask your child to show the letter with which the word begins and pronounce the whole word.

Take your child a few books with bright illustrations and get him interested in reading. Tell interesting stories and show what the main characters look like. Educational games with adults can help.

Symptoms

With a form of disorder such as sensory alalia, the child is unable to understand speech that was addressed to him. If the disorder is severe, then the child may experience absolute indifference to any sounds, regardless of the nature of their origin. The patient does not respond to his name and cannot distinguish the speech of an adult from any other sounds in space. If the form of the disorder is mild, then the child can demonstrate understanding of individual words from everyday life.

With sensory alalia, the child’s speech activity is quite high, but he utters only simple sounds, the meaning of which cannot be understood by others. The child is not able to repeat words after adults, and he also cannot compare objects and words.

A distinctive feature of this type of alalia is the repeated repetition of any sounds without understanding the meaning of what was said.

Possible complications and consequences

Primary manifestations of this disease become noticeable as early as 2 years. If treatment is not taken at the right time, the disease will continue to develop further. The main complications include:

disturbance in coordination of movements;
high excitability;
fine motor disorders;
poor understanding of adult speech;
lack of self-service;
numerous grammatical errors in your own speech;
mental retardation;
communication problems.

Work with alaliks is carried out in a playful way. The patient should not experience discomfort or psychological pressure on himself. Correct correction work is the key to getting rid of problems associated with alalia. Success of therapy is likely when started early - at 3-4 years. An integrated approach is needed. With minor damage to the speech center, this pathology can be completely cured.

Article:

Alalia is the absence or underdevelopment of speech due to organic damage to the speech areas of the cerebral cortex in the prenatal or early period of a child’s development
Causes:

inflammatory lesions of the brain
traumatic brain injuries
cerebral hemorrhages as a result of difficult or rapid labor
metabolic disorders during the period of intrauterine and early development
consequences of severe rickets and respiratory system diseases

Happens:

delayed maturation of nerve cells in certain areas of the brain (neuroblast stage) - in both hemispheres of the brain - bilateral damage.

May be:

congenital underdevelopment
early acquired underdevelopment (in the pre-speech period)

Motor alalia is a systemic underdevelopment of expressive speech of a central organic nature, caused by the immaturity of linguistic operations for generating speech utterances with the relative preservation of semantic and sensory operations. Motor alalia is a violation of the production of independent utterances with intact understanding of addressed speech.

Speech symptoms:

phonetic disorders (sound pronunciation)
underdevelopment of phonemic hearing
agrammatisms in speech
violations of word and phrase structure
vocabulary is severely impoverished
no coherent speech
communication motivation is unformed
speech understanding is intact

Non-speech symptoms:

general motor clumsiness and underdevelopment of fine motor skills
impaired coordination of movements
underdevelopment of mental functions (attention, memory, thinking)
pathological personality traits (low performance, negativism)
secondary mental retardation (concrete thinking, poverty of logical operations, decreased ability for symbolization, generalization, abstraction)
violation of oral and dynamic praxis
lack of gaming skills
impulsiveness, chaotic activity
instability of interests

There are three levels of speech underdevelopment:

level: lack of common speech
level: rudiments of common speech
level: speech with elements of underdevelopment in the entire speech system.

Speech samples:

Level 1:

amorphous root words (“tya bang” - the cup fell, “Deka mo” - the girl is washing) can only be understood in the appropriate situation when reinforced by gestures and facial expressions
the child uses only situational speech

Level 2:

simple phrasal speech (“Sec. Ipyat. Syabaka pisses off the goki” - Snow. Guys. The dog runs down the hill)

Level 3:

speech includes extended agrammatic statements (“Babuti Kaev and Guti and Manenka Syanata” - grandmother has a cow and geese and little piglets)

level:

Speech therapy technique for alalia

Corrective work for motor alalia is the gradual formation of speech.

There are 5 stages in correctional work.

Stage 1 - one-word sentence (with non-speaking children)

Target:

cause imitative speech activity in the form of sound manifestations
expand speech understanding

classes are conducted individually, in a playful way
avoid using the words “say”, “repeat”, because Children may respond to these words. negative reaction (“guess, answer”), non-verbal tasks predominate
children must hear correct speech, without chanting syllables; repeated repetition of the same verbal material is necessary

Speech understanding:

remembering the names of toys, body parts, clothes (show your nose, teddy bear, dress)
understanding of phrases supported by visual action
verbalization of everyday situations (washing, dressing, etc. “Let’s go wash. Let’s open the tap. No, in the other direction. Opened it? Take the soap. Got it? Lather your hands. Three fingers. Okay. Rinse off the soap with water. Now let’s wash your face”)
understanding the questions WHO? WHAT? WHERE? TO WHOM? WHERE? – questions are asked in context: “Where did you get the books from?”, and not “Where from?”
understanding the instructions (“Place the toys like this: cube, doll, car”; “Put the doll on the chair, put the car on the table”)

You cannot repeat amorphous root words after your child; it is only permissible to use generally accepted simplified forms: DOLL - LYALYA, not KOOKA

Development of independent speech:

a situation is created that causes the need for speech (a beautiful doll at the speech therapist: “Give”) - activation of speech imitation
naming loved ones (“mom, dad”)
expression of requests: (here, go, give, there, here, more)
expressing a state with interjections (ay, oh, shh! - through a game situation)
onomatopoeia for animals (dog – aw-aw, cow – muu)
calling animals (kiss-kiss, chick-chick), controlling animals (Noo!, Whoa! Shoot!)
introduction of onomatopoeia into poetry: GUSE, GEESE - GA-GA-GA, etc.
imitation of musical toys: pipe - doo-doo-doo, balalaika - la-la-la, drum - boom-boom-boom
imitation of traffic noises: car - beep, plane - oo-oo, train - tu-oo-oo
introduction of onomatopoeia into poetry: Look into the skies - the plane is there like a wasp: U-U-U
when playing lotto, use the words GIVE, ON, HERE, TAKE
formation of phrases LET ME DRINK I WANT TO DRINK

LET ME STILL WANT TO WALK

MOM, LET'S GO FOR A WALK

MOM LE'S GO, GO HOME, etc.

Stage 2 - first forms of words

(children had the opportunity to combine 2-4 amorphous words without grammatical connections in one phrase)

Speech understanding:

distinguishing the number of objects (many, few, one)
distinguishing the size of objects (large - small)
taste discrimination (sweet – salty)
spatial location (here - there, here - here)
distinction of units and plural Number: HOUSE – HOME
discrimination of the negative particle NOT: GO – DON’T GO (without an object), TAKE – DON’T TAKE, HIDE THE BALL – DON’T HIDE THE BALL (with an object)
distinguishing to whom the command is addressed: VOVA, SIT - CHILDREN SIT, SIT - SIT (imperative form of the verb in singular and plural)

Development of independent speech:

sound pronunciation - clarification of the articulation of vowels (except Y), consonants M, P, B, T, D; other sounds are approximate pronunciation
naming familiar objects
building up syllables towards the end of the word: MU - ... RU - ... PO -, LAP - + KA

Children's ability to reproduce words of different syllabic structures is associated with the ability to combine words into sentences: as soon as two amorphous roots appear, it becomes possible to reproduce a word of two syllables by imitation.

two-word sentence with the words “ THIS, HERE, HERE, THERE, HERE + creatures .”: HERE IS THE BUNNY THERE IS THE STICK HERE THE CAT IS THE CAR
use of the imperative mood of the verb: commands to dolls - GO, SIT, RUN, CATCH, WASH
use of the phrase “ appeal + imperative verb ”: KATYA, GO! SIT UP, MISHA
the use of the phrase “appeal + imperative verb + Vin. Case of creatures.": KATYA, GIVE THE BALL (= I.p.), VOVA, PUT ON A FUR FUR (does not coincide with I.p.)
the use of the phrase “verb in the indefinite.” Form + I WANT, I DON’T WANT, I NEED, I DON’T NEED, I CAN, I CAN’T” : I WANT TO SLEEP, I DON’T NEED TO WRITE, I CAN EAT, GO

Exercise: “ Who will do what ?” Dolls in various costumes (apron, pajamas... Who should go to bed? Katya doll, go to bed

The child must learn: the place of stress in memorized words, reproduce the rhythmic-intonation structure of 2-syllable words.

Stage 3 - two-part offer

(For children whose sentence size is 2-3 words)

Speech understanding:

Distinguishing words that sound similar: MILA - SOAP, DONKEY - GOAT
Distinguishing words that have similarities in an objective situation: CARRYING - LUCKY, DRAWING - WRITING, SEWING - KNITTING, WASHING - WASHING - WASHING
distinguishing words with opposite meanings: PUT ON - TAKE OFF, STAND UP - SIT,
distinguishing prefixes in passive participles: OPEN - CLOSED, OPEN - CLOSED
understanding and distinguishing reflexive verbs: BATHING - BATHING, ROLLING - RIDING
distinguishing the plural and singular verbs SLEEP - SLEEP, FLY - FLY
distinguishing the gender of past tense verbs: ZHENYA FALLED – ZHENYA FALLED
distinction between object and subject of action: VOVA, CATCH NINA. Who's running away?
understanding the relationships between the characters: THE HARE RUNS AWAY FROM THE WOLF. – THE WOLF IS RUNNING AWAY FROM THE HARE. Where is the mistake?
Spatial relations of objects: prepositions ON, IN, UNDER, ABOUT, FROM, FOR and their differentiation: IN-ON, UNDER-FROM, FROM-FROM, ABOUT-FOR
Generalization of objects according to their purpose: WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DRAW?
Distinction between units and many more numbers of nouns Suggestion case: RIDING A BICYCLE – RIDING A BICYCLE, SITTING ON A CHAIR – SIT ON CHAIRS
Understanding adjectives with opposite meanings: NARROW - WIDE, LONG - SHORT, LOW - HIGH
distinguishing spatial adverbs: BELOW, ABOVE, FAR, CLOSE, FORWARD, BACK

Independent speech:

composing a sentence “beings. + verb + direct object”: A GIRL DRINKS JUICE, MOM MAKES SOUP
composing a sentence “beings. + verb + object, not a match. in Vin Pad. with Him. " : MOM IS READING A BOOK
the answer to the question “What does it do?” (selection of names of actions to the name of the object) MOTHER READS, LISTENS, SPEAKS...
matching the names of objects to the names of actions: GOING...MOM, DAD, GIRL, AUNT, BROTHER...SITTING...CAT, BIRD...
using the reflexive form of verbs: WASHES, COWS, SMILES
memorization of couplets and quatrains with the completion of words: RAIN, RAIN, Drip-drip-drip, WET PATHS. WE CAN'T GO FOR A WALK...
formation of the syllabic structure of a word: clapping of syllables in words a) from two identical syllables: DAD, MOM; b) from three open syllables: MACHINE
formation of sound pronunciation - development of auditory perception: isolating words from the stream: HAT, CAT , NOSE, TOOTH, CAT , MOUTH, CAT ...; distinguishing words that sound similar in sound: FISHING ROOM—DUCK, expanding the volume of auditory memory (2-3 step instructions, 3-4 pictures)

Stage 4 - multi-word sentences

Target:

teach how to build sentences of 3-5 words
teach the simplest inflection of nouns and verbs
develop coherent speech skills

Speech understanding:

understanding case endings of nouns
understanding adjectives and adverbs

Independent speech:

consolidation of structures from the previous stage
composing a sentence “beings. + verb. + 2 nouns in Vin and Dat cases”: KATYA READS OLE’S BOOK; MOM GIVES CANDY TO DAUGHTER
composing a sentence “beings. + verb + 2 entities in Vin and TV cases): MOTHER CUTS THE BREAD WITH A KNIFE; DADDY CHOPS WOOD WITH AN AX
composing a sentence using the construction “noun + verb + adverb” TANYA SINGS LOUD
composing a construction with the preposition U: THE COW HAS HORNS; THE GIRL HAS A BOOK
making a construction with the preposition B: PUT THE TOYS IN THE CLOSET, THE TOYS ARE IN THE CLOSET Game “What’s in your pocket?”
composing a construction with the preposition ON: THE FLOWER IS STANDING ON THE TABLE; MISHA IS SLEDGING
composing a construction with the preposition C: VOVA IS WALKING THE DOG
composing a construction with the preposition K: THE DOG RUN TO VOVA
composing constructions with the preposition UNDER: UNDER THE TABLE - UNDER THE TABLE
composing the sentence “noun + verb + infinitive +1-2 exists in indirect cases” VOVA WANTS TO PLAY BALL WITH TANYA
formation of the plural of nouns: CHAIR – CHAIRS, LEAF – LEAVES
formation of the diminutive form of nouns: CUCUMBER - CUCUMBER
formation of the negative form of the verb: I WILL GO FOR A WALK – I WILL NOT GO FOR A WALK (“naughty children”)
comparison of verb forms: LIE – LIES – LIE, MY – WASHES – MY
infinitive formation BOY DIGGING SAND AND WE WILL DIGGING
syllable structure of the word: pronunciation of combinations - MNA, MNO, ME...
production of sounds
memorizing poetry (couplets and quatrains)
learning stories: THE COCKER IS SINGING. CALLING THE HEN AND CHICKENS. THE COCKER FOUND THE GRAINS. I DID NOT EAT IT MYSELF, I GAVE IT TO THE CHICKENS. Or HERE IS OUR KITCHEN. ON THE STOVE IS A KETTLE - THE CHIEF OF ALL THE CUTLENS. THE WATER IS BOILING IN IT. LET'S DRINK TEA

Stage 5 - expansion of the scope of the proposal, complex sentence

Target:

teach children to build complex sentences
continue working on inflection
teach to agree pronouns and adjectives with nouns

(for children who speak phrasal speech with manifestations of agrammatism)

Independent speech:

formation of phrases “adverb MUCH + adjective + noun in Genus pad ”: MANY MULTI-COLORED BALLS
agreement of pronouns with nouns: MY BALL – MY DOLL – MY BUCKET
agreement of adjectives with nouns: BLUE RIVER - BLUE LAKE - BLUE STREAM
distinguishing prefixes in verbs: LEAVED - DRIVED - DRIVED IN - MOVED - GOED - LEAVED
drawing up a construction with the union A: SNOW IS WHITE AND COAL IS BLACK
composing sentences with homogeneous subjects SQUIRREL, HARE, BEAR, ELK LIVE IN THE FOREST
composing sentences with homogeneous predicates: CHILDREN AT SCHOOL READ, WRITE, COUNT, DRAW
composing sentences with homogeneous definitions: THE CARROTS GROWED BIG, TASTY, ORANGE, JUICY, SWEET
composing sentences with homogeneous additions: MASHA DRAWED A HORSE, A CAT, A GOAT, A PYRAMID
composing sentences with homogeneous circumstances SNOW LIES ON THE ROOFS, ON THE GROUND, ON THE TREES, ON THE FENCE
agreement of pronouns with the preposition U: I HAVE, HIM, THEM
composing sentences with the conjunction A : SASHA IS DRAWING, AND MASHA IS READING A BOOK
composing sentences with the words FIRST, THEN : FIRST YOU NEED TO WEAR A COAT, AND THEN MITTENS
composing sentences with the conjunction OR : SASHA WANTS TO DRAW OR MOLD
composing sentences with the conjunction BECAUSE : VOVA GOT SICK BECAUSE HE WET WET MY FEET
making sentences with the conjunction SO: I TOOK THE BALL TO PLAY FOOTBALL game “What they said on the phone”
formation of possessive pronouns: HARE TAIL, GRANDMOTHER'S GLASSES
formation of relative adjectives: WOOD – WOODEN
formation of adjectives from adverbs: FAST – FAST
formation of degrees of comparison of adjectives: COLD – COLDER
formation of cognate words: TEA - KETTLE - TEA PARTY - TEA - TEA PARTY
formation of nouns from nouns: SALT – SALTS, PEPPER – PEPPER SHELL
selection of polysemantic words: CHANTERELLES, BRAID, KEY
selection of antonyms - nouns, verbs, adjectives: DAY - NIGHT, DAY - NIGHT, RISE - SIT DOWN
distinguishing words with shades of meaning - GOING - MARCHING
distinguishing words with similar meanings: ROVET - BREAKS
replacing verb forms in the retelling: 1st person singular and plural to 3rd person
formation of future tense verbs: WRITE - WILL WRITE - WILL WRITE
formation of degrees of comparison from adverbs: FAST - FASTER, TASTY - TASTIER

Sensory alalia

Sensory alalia is a violation of speech understanding due to a malfunction of the auditory speech analyzer, which occurs when the temporal lobe of the dominant hemisphere

Manifestations:

the child hears but does not understand spoken speech, physical hearing is preserved
when examining hearing using equipment, auditory instability is detected (the same signals are sometimes perceived, sometimes not) - 8-10 audiograms are taken to make a final diagnosis
the connection between the word and the object (action) is not formed - closing acupopathy
hyperacusis - increased sensitivity to sounds that are indifferent to others (rustling of leaves, matches in a box, paper, creaking, dripping of water) Healthy people react to them during periods of fatigue and extreme irritation. Alaliks have anxiety, crying, turning their heads, pointing at their ears - super irritants

Psychophysical and speech features in sensory alalia - from complete misunderstanding of speech to understanding of individual everyday words and sentences:

The situation plays a big role in understanding speech (they understand not individual words, but a phrase in a situation with a certain order of words in a sentence
deterioration of understanding when the speaker's speech rate changes
improved understanding with repeated slow repetition
difficulties in turning on, switching and distributing auditory attention (do not immediately respond to speech, slowness of auditory perception)
improved understanding after speaking (reinforced by one’s own kinesia)
improved understanding if alalik looks at the speaker
improved understanding when communicating with mother

Speech with sensory alalia:

due to a lack of understanding of the speech of others, impossibility or gross distortion of one’s own speech
motor restlessness, behavioral difficulties
children use little gestures and facial expressions
react to intonation, not understanding the meaning
the game is accompanied by modulated babble
logorrhea - incoherent reproduction of all words known to the child
echolalia - repetition of addressed speech
when the first words appear:
o mistakes in accent
replacements
distortions of the structure of an unfixed nature (each time a different error)

the child’s statements are not accurate in content and erroneous in form

In general, the speech of a child with sensory alalia can be characterized as INCREASED SPEECH ACTIVITY DUE TO DECREASED ATTENTION TO THE SPEECH OF OTHERS AND LACK OF CONTROL OVER OWN SPEECH.

Speech therapy technique for sensory alalia

Main directions of correction:

conscious analysis of speech composition
development of phonemic awareness
understanding speech structures

The basic principle of correctional work:

consistent and systematic impact on all aspects of the child’s speech activity + specific treatment that stimulates the maturation of cerebral cortex cells

Strict organization of sound and speech regime (since disordered auditory load delays speech development)
limit unnecessary communication
exclude the influence of sound devices: telephone, radio, TV
gentle sound mode + situation of visual and auditory starvation (“dark room”) – to increase sensitivity to sounds

attracting the child’s attention (get into his field of vision, turn him towards you, take his hand)
awakening interest in the sounds of the surrounding world and speech sounds
distinguishing noises, non-speech sounds (the clink of a spoon in a glass, the tapping of a pencil)
development of directed attention and performance - inserts, cut-out pictures, sticks, mosaics - sorting, classification by color, shape, size, etc.)
development of visual and motor imitation: “ladushki”, “magpie”
development of the need for communication, motivation for communication
distinguishing sounding toys and instruments (The child watches the speech therapist’s action, does the action himself, closes his eyes (by gesture), distinguishes the source of the sound)

Secret: when working, avoid clapping your hands, stomping on the floor, or knocking on the table, because... in these cases, it is not sound that is perceived, but vibration

introduction into the noise range of a strong speech sound (a, p, y), which is associated with an object or phenomenon
normalization of performance, behavior, activity (copying actions, obeying non-verbal instructions)
development of conditional connections between a word and an object or its image: UUU - steam locomotive, RRR - dog, MUUU - cow
syllable discrimination: AU-UA-AM; MA-PA-NA-TA
word discrimination (using motor, visual and tactile reinforcement) - the child shows a picture and performs the movement
distinguishing the nature of sound, sound source, its localization
object-practical actions - not only repetition of a word, but the ability to perform an action with an object according to verbal instructions: DRINK MILK FROM A BOTTLE, BLOW ON THE MILK, POUR MILK
understanding standard phrases (words are pronounced in a certain order with the same intonation and are of an everyday, everyday nature -

when communicating with one person
when communicating with different people
in a certain situation
based on facial expressions, gesture

development of phonemic hearing
formation of one’s own speech (do not repeat or memorize phrases, but put the child in a situation of mental tasks )
developing an understanding of logical, grammatical and thematic groups of words:

dishes, furniture
hand washing, soap, towel, water, wash, wipe
flying - flying

concretization of concepts (color - red, blue..., taste - salty, sweet...)
early literacy

Researchers have questioned the possibility of completely eliminating sensory alalia. The prognosis is uncertain. The result depends on

states of auditory sensitivity
time and nature of treatment
correctional and educational influence
child's age and intelligence

Prevention of alalia

This disease can be congenital or acquired. Scientists have identified certain patterns in the appearance of this serious disease. It can appear after fetal hypoxia, a number of complications during pregnancy, and early childbirth.

Prevention of natural causes is impossible or extremely difficult. The baby may suffer a head injury during childbirth. Alalia is also caused by etiopathogenetic factors. These include:

rickets;
viral encephalitis;
TBI;
malnutrition;
meningitis;
viral diseases and complications after them.

A number of these reasons can be completely avoided, thereby minimizing the risk of pathology. These are the following measures:

parents should give up bad habits;
Before planning a pregnancy, undergo all the necessary tests to identify diseases in the mother.
During pregnancy, the mother should avoid infection with viral infections and exacerbation of chronic diseases as much as possible.
use medications that are safe for the fetus.
undergo all required examinations during pregnancy.
After birth, it is necessary to talk and engage in educational games.
If symptoms of mental or neurological disorders appear, immediately contact a speech therapist, child psychologist or neurologist.
carry out vaccinations prescribed by doctors, including for mother.

Such preventive measures will ensure good development of the nervous system, development of speech and motor skills.

Prognosis and prevention

The result depends on the type of motor alalia, the severity, and the age at which the disease was diagnosed and therapy was started. If all these conditions are met and adequate treatment is provided, the prognosis is favorable. Children catch up with their peers in speech and general development, acquire communication skills and even study in a regular school.

Severe motor alalia is difficult to correct, especially if it is diagnosed late. But with due persistence and following the doctor’s recommendations regarding treatment, it is possible to achieve significant progress.

Prevention of motor alalia begins during pregnancy planning. The expectant mother needs to eliminate bad habits, adjust her diet and daily routine. It is necessary to approach childbirth adequately and prevent injuries. It is also important to create favorable conditions for the development of the child in the postpartum period and subsequently, to devote time to developmental activities.

And of course, it is necessary to consult a doctor at the first signs of deviations in speech development in order to undergo a timely diagnosis and identify the cause.

Massage technique for alalia

Massage has a positive effect on the motor type of the disease. It has a number of positive effects: reduces increased muscle tone;

coordinates the muscles of the face and tongue;

improves articulation;

improves tissue sensitivity;
reduces salivation (excessive salivation, drooling).

The massage should be done with your fingers. Movements should be slow and careful. There should be at least 10 such sessions per course. The massage technique includes tapping on the lips, tongue, and inner surface of the cheeks.

You also need to carry out circular and pressing movements along the surface of the cheeks. It is worth seeking help from specialists who will prescribe a course of speech therapy massage and determine its features, frequency, and specific movements.

Correction methods

Sensory alalia can be corrected only with an integrated approach, which includes:

taking the necessary medications prescribed by a neurologist;
neuropsychological correction;
classes with a speech therapist-defectologist;
conducting audiotherapy according to the A. Tomatis method (as prescribed by a neurologist);

It is important that the assistance is comprehensive, therefore, in addition to taking medications that have a positive effect on the central nervous system, a specialist may prescribe comprehensive neurological rehabilitation.

Corrective work of a speech therapist

All corrective work must be carried out consistently and comprehensively. Treatment is carried out in several stages of a certain sequence.

Stage one

Training in distracting noises not related to speech. This may be the sound of a bell, rattles or other objects. Sounds must have different tonality, timbre, and volume.

Stage two

Teaching individual letters and sounds. The baby must learn to understand and pronounce simple sounds consisting of individual letters, for example, “rrrrrr”.

Stage three

Learning to pronounce syllables, simple words.

Stage four

Learn to pronounce words. There is training in composing simple word combinations and phrases.

Stage five

Increasing active and passive reserve, complication of speech patterns.

Forecast for overcoming the diagnosis

The key to successful therapy is early diagnosis of the disease. Speech therapists dealing with this problem are convinced that if correction begins at the age of 3-4 years, the child has a good chance of full recovery.

The main success factors are the correctly selected course of treatment, its timeliness, and the experience of specialists conducting corrective work.

At an early age, thanks to the plasticity of the brain and nervous system, speech functions can be transferred from affected areas to other centers.

It is also worth knowing that the more damage to the speech centers, the more difficult and longer the recovery will be. Children with motor alalia have a better chance of completely eliminating the problems, although both the sensory and mixed types are more difficult to treat. At school age, such children may encounter difficulties in writing, reading, and adding numbers.