PalmBeachSpeechTeach

01/13/2026

11/20/2025

Did you know a correlation exists between children with a speech/language delay and reading difficulties?

Source: Lewis, et al., 2006

There is a strong connection between spoken language and literacy. We can leverage our expertise in language and its components (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics) to prevent, assess, and support literacy skills!

11/06/2025

Did you know? English has approximately 24 consonant sounds, while Spanish has around 18. This difference explains why sounds like /v/ or /θ/ can be particularly challenging for bilingual speakers.

Note that Spanish has two r phonemes: a tap /ɾ/ and a trill /r/. English /ɹ/ is unique.

11/02/2025

A child’s vocabulary size at age 2 is more than just a milestone. This highlights the importance of early intervention, early language screening, and parent coaching. When we support vocabulary growth in the toddler years, through play, modeling, and responsive interaction, we’re not just building words, we’re shaping future literacy success.

10/28/2025

Why do we work on basic concepts? They are critical not only to language and communication, but to a student’s overall academic success. Basic concepts encompass: following directions and routines, understanding mathematical terminology, and literacy.

Example types:
▫️Qualitative
▫️Positional
▫️Temporal
▫️Quantitative
▫️Negation
▫️Emotions
▫️Characteristics
▫️Colors
▫️Shapes
▫️Sizes
▫️Patterns
▫️Textures

What’s the hardest one for you to target?

10/28/2025

You asked, and here it is - comparing all these terms!

These terms reflect different distinct underlying challenges that impact language and communication skills.

Receptive and expressive language disorders are focused directly on either understanding or expressing language, whereas other disorders, like LPD and APD, impact the processing of language or sound.

10/01/2025

SOCIAL COMMUNICATION • Social communication is the use of language in social contexts. It includes social interaction, social cognition, pragmatics, and language processing. These terms are closely related and are sometimes used interchangeably, but they have different meanings!

1️⃣ Social interaction: The relationship between individuals. Our speech style and context, gender communication differences, and rules for linguistic politeness all fall under this definition.

2️⃣ Social cognition: This is how we process and apply information about social situations. Our ability to take the perspective of others and modify language use, as well as emotional understanding and expression.

3️⃣ Pragmatics: The social skills we use in our interactions with others. Our communicative intentions, prosody, social reciprocity, as well as body language and nonverbal communication.

4️⃣ Language processing: This is the spoken and written language that allows us to use effective communication.

09/24/2025

Note: These numbers are based on unfamiliar listeners in an unknown context. You will notice the dark blue is the milestone (when 95% of children at this intelligible) and the light blue is the average (when 50% of children are this intelligible.)

The snapshot on the left is a summary given by the researchers as a quick way to remember and recite this new information.

09/16/2025

The quote by Balthazar and Scott (2023) highlights that understanding individual sentences, especially complex ones, is a foundational skill. Without solid sentence-level comprehension, students cannot effectively perform higher-level tasks, such as finding the main idea, drawing conclusions, or making inferences.
➡️

08/02/2025

What’s the difference between an average and a milestone?

An average is what 50% of children can do at a specific age.
A milestone is what 90% of children can do at a specific age.

Why is this critical to know?
When reading research and looking at norm charts, be sure you find the criterion for the data represented. People may interpret milestones as averages, which is misleading when looking at a child’s development.

Save this post as a reminder!

07/07/2025

July is Cleft and Craniofacial Awareness Month 👉 These are the common interventions needed with those who have a cleft lip ± palate.

▫️Velopharyngeal Insufficiency (VPI): VPI occurs when the velopharyngeal port is not properly closed during speech or swallowing. Air leaks into the nasal passage typically due to the soft palate’s inadequate range of function. This can result in nasal air emission, hypernasality, abnormal speech, and decreased intelligibility. All children with a cleft palate will demonstrate VPI before cleft repair.

▫️Nasal air emission: The audible release of bursts of air through the nose during speech.

▫️Hypernasality: When air flows through the nasal passage during voiced consonants and vowels, causing too much nasal resonance.