Parents rejoice when their kids begin to pronounce the first sounds, then syllables and simple words. If the adored two-three-year-old child pronounces “fizka” instead of “bump” or “varnish” instead of “cancer”, this is perceived as the norm. But if the child is already four or five years old, and he still cannot make many sounds, distort words or speak in such a way that it is difficult to understand, you can confidently diagnose him with FFNR. This abbreviation stands for phonetic-phonemic underdevelopment of speech. This violation is not as harmless as it may seem to some mothers and fathers. If a child is not able to distinguish hearing phonemes similar in sound, this almost always causes him difficulties in spelling and reading, as well as in memorizing sentences and poems. It is difficult for such a child to adapt in the school team, and later realize himself in life. Therefore, it is necessary to correct the FFNR, and even in preschool age.
This article provides information on why children experience pronunciation problems and what methods exist to correct this defect.
Phonetic-phonemic underdevelopment of speech in speech therapy: what is it?
There is a clear definition of what constitutes FFNR. In speech therapy, this means a violation in a person of the processes of formation of the pronunciation system of the language, caused by defects in perception by ear and pronunciation of phonemes. Let us explain what a phoneme is. This term means the minimum unit of language and in some way corresponds to the concept of "sound".
Parents are always surprised if their perfectly hearing child is diagnosed with “impaired phonemic hearing”. The fact is that there are two concepts of hearing - biological (the ability to perceive by the hearing organs sounds from the world around us) and phonemic (the ability to clearly distinguish and analyze phonemes). If it is disturbed, children hear adult speech well, but cannot distinguish similar sounds, for example, “k” from “g” or “b” from “p”. As a result, they repeat and remember not what they are told, but how they heard what was said. At the same time, the child’s intellect can be at the appropriate age level.
Classification
Speech disorders can be mild, moderate, and severe.
A lung is observed when a child cannot differentiate and pronounce only some, especially complex phonemes or their combinations.
The middle form is diagnosed if the violations of sound analysis are more serious. In this case, the child does not distinguish or pronounce correctly a significant number of phonemes. When reading and writing, such children make specific mistakes; in a conversation, syllables in words are incorrectly reproduced.
A severe degree is characterized by deep phonetic disturbances. Children with such a problem do not distinguish phonemes by ear, do not know how to distinguish them in words, establish their sequence, form syllables in words. Almost always with a severe degree of FFNR, children's speech is incoherent and difficult to understand for others.
Causes
Phonetic-phonemic underdevelopment of speech is a defect that is congenital or acquired. Congenital can occur for the following reasons:
- some hereditary diseases;
- during pregnancy, severe toxicosis;
- a different rez-factor of blood in the infant and mother;
- complex birth, in which injuries of the newborn occur;
- fetal asphyxiation;
- Infectious diseases and emotional stress in women during pregnancy.
Acquired phonetic-phonemic underdevelopment of speech is a defect that is formed under the influence of social, domestic and other environmental conditions where the baby is brought up. The causes of speech underdevelopment in a child can be as follows:
- injuries of the organs of the speech apparatus ;
- adverse social and, as a result, living conditions in which the child lives;
- bilingualism in the family;
- Inadequate speech conditions (the child is left to himself for days on end, practically does not deal with him);
- defects in the construction of the dentition;
- psycho-traumatic situations;
- diseases of the auditory and visual apparatus (it has been proven that in most children with vision and / or hearing problems, FFNR occurs).
Symptoms
Phonetic-phonemic underdevelopment of speech is not only a defect in the spoken language of the child. Such a pathology can signal serious violations in the health of a small person, such as:
- bifurcation of the lips and / or palate;
- too high palate (called gothic);
- malocclusion;
- delayed maturation of the central nervous system (not to be confused with cerebral palsy);
- diseases of organs and systems.
Children with FFNR may have the following behavioral and communication features:
- fuzziness of articulation (the speech apparatus cannot correctly reproduce the phoneme);
- instability of attention;
- difficulties in switching from one lesson to another;
- narrowing the amount of memory;
- Difficulties in understanding and explaining abstract concepts;
- difficulties in separate pronunciation of phonemes from the proposed word;
- Errors in the use of prepositions and statement of words in the necessary case.
In this case, children have a lexical supply of their age sufficient.
What are the types of ffnr
Phonetic-phonemic underdevelopment of speech in preschoolers and primary school children is manifested by such violations of sound pronunciation:
- the constant replacement of a sound difficult for them with a simpler one (not a “picture”, but a “kaltina”, not a “bug”, but a “zook”);
- rearrangement in words of sounds (not “yet”, but “cop”);
- simplification of words by eliminating individual syllables from them (not “watchmaker”, but “thicket”, not “lift”, but “crush”);
- “swallowing” individual sounds in words (not “rocket”, but “aketa”, not “compote”, but “soot”);
- unstable use of phonemes (in some cases, the child can pronounce them correctly, in others with errors);
- mixing sounds;
- replacement of several sounds at once with one (for example, the sound "w", as well as "c" and "h" are pronounced as "t").
- replacement of syllables with unpronounceable phonemes (not a “cap”, but a “syapka”, not a “cup”, but a “syasyka”).
The speech of children with FFNR seems to be blurred, their diction is fuzzy. In the future, they have dysgraphia, that is, they do not write as they are correctly, but as they hear.
Diagnostics
Sound impairment in children without treatment can be a serious problem, and you need to take it seriously. In the presence of such a defect, the child must undergo a comprehensive examination with a visit to a speech therapist, ENT, ophthalmologist, neurologist and pediatrician. A special speech card is made for a small patient, where the doctor notes information about the course of pregnancy in his mother, the characteristics of childbirth and the development of the first months of life.
The ENT gives an opinion on the condition of the hearing aid, the optometrist notes whether there are vision problems, and the pediatrician - the presence or absence of concomitant diseases.
In addition, the condition and mobility of the patient's articulatory apparatus is examined and the state of the vocal and respiratory functions is evaluated.
The speech therapist conducts tests that determine exactly what violations of sound pronunciation a child has (replacing sounds, mixing them, distorting, and so on).
Treatment
When diagnosing "FFNR" children of kindergarten age are enrolled in a special speech therapy group, where a speech therapist deals with them. Correction of phonetic-phonemic underdevelopment of speech is performed in three stages:
1. Preparatory. The teacher conducts a series of classes, fixing the children’s pronunciation of sounds already mastered by them (vowels and consonants, hard and soft), offers tasks in a playful way, developing children’s phonemic perception of these sounds, their analysis.
2. Differentiating. At this stage, the child is invited to compare by ear well-acquired phonemes with similar sounds. Particular attention must be paid to vowel sounds, the clarity of speech in general depends on the correct pronunciation.
3. The final. This stage is the most difficult. A child learns the concepts of “syllable”, “sound”, “word”, studies what sounds are, determines their number in a word, performs analysis and synthesis of syllables, learns to change words, replacing vowels or consonants in them (for example, “poppy” - “Varnish”, “ox” - “shaft”).
Motility of hands to help children with ffnr
It is absolutely reliably established that the degree of formation of precise and subtle movements of the fingers directly affects the FFNR in speech therapy. What does it mean? Human speech is the result of the coordinated work of many parts of the brain, which gives orders to articular organs. Scientists have found that in children whose fine motor skills are age-appropriate, the development of speech also meets the standards. Therefore, children with FFNR must have classes that develop motor skills:
- games with fingers;
- gymnastics for hands and fingers;
- special exercises (folding mosaic figures, stringing beads, modeling from plasticine, painting pictures).
Articulation gymnastics
The purpose of such classes is to strengthen the muscles of the child's articulatory organs (tongue, lips, soft palate), develop their mobility and teach them differentiated movements. It is very convenient to perform exercises in front of a mirror or using special objects (a medical spatula, a regular spoon, nipples, and others). For example, the sound "w" can be taught to pronounce using the following exercises:
1. “Fence” (stretch your lips in a smile so that the upper and lower teeth are visible, then clamp them).
2. “Window” (open your mouth so that both the upper and lower teeth are visible).
3. “Spatula” (open your mouth, flatten your tongue on your lower lip and say “five-five-five.” Hold your broad tongue until the count of 10).
4. “Calyx” (it is necessary to open the mouth wider, raise the tongue so that it does not touch the teeth, and try to raise its edges and tip).
5. “Tasty jam” (opening your mouth wide, lick your lips, moving your tongue not left and right, but up and down).
Forecast and Prevention
To avoid deviations in the development of the child’s speech, you need to regularly conduct classes with him. In the first months of life, they consist in finger massage, in constant conversation with the child. In the future, various games corresponding to age, reading books and so on are added. An important point is the regular visit to the pediatrician and narrow specialists in order to identify possible deviations in the early stages. If the child’s speech correction is started on time, as a rule, the deficiencies are completely eliminated.