Speech

Dad little boy clapping handswith toddler

"We wanted Jose to learn to speak. We work with him all the time at home. He is 3 years old and won't stop talking." ~ Carlos

Speech is a skill that many people take for granted. But speech is a building block — a skill that helps build language. Parents can choose to have their child use this building block for communicating — that is, expressing themselves.

Speech is often used in combination with hearing aids, cochlear implants, and other assistive devices. A child with some residual hearing may find it easier to learn speech than a child with no residual hearing. But, since this building block is used by a child to express him or herself to other people, one or more other building blocks must be used to help the child understand others.

Speaking may seem easy to a person with hearing. But for a child with hearing loss, speaking is often hard without proper training. Like all other building blocks, the skill of speaking must be learned. Often a speech-language pathologist must work with the baby and family.