Inclusive Education Plan for Children with Speech Disorders

Running head: INCLUSIVE EDUCATION PLAN FOR CHILDREN WITH SPEECH
DISORDERS
INCLUSIVE EDUCATION PLAN FOR CHILDREN WITH SPEECH DISORDERS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Date
ACWR 303

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INCLUSIVE EDUCATION PLAN FOR CHILDREN WITH SPEECH DISORDERS
ABSTRACT
Speech and language related disorders are very common nowadays among children. This
condition restricts them from interacting and communicating with others freely. This affects
the children mentally and often creates anxiety in them. The education of these children
having speech and language oriented disorders are often seen to have been affected. Various
studies concluded that there was a huge gap before diagnosing the children with these
disorders, which makes the situation worse. There is also lack of collaboration, which was
observed between teachers and speech and language disorders. There is also no exclusive
education plans that was observed while conducting the research on the internet. This paper
also proposes a newer education plan that would help these children with speech related
disorders to learn and be free while conversing.

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INCLUSIVE EDUCATION PLAN FOR CHILDREN WITH SPEECH DISORDERS
INCLUSIVE EDUCATION PLAN FOR CHILDREN WITH SPEECH DISORDERS
Speech and language are two important components of conversation. Absence of any
one of the component in a conversation would end up having no meaning. However, there are
millions of children who are suffering from special conditions in which they either have
inability of hearing or have speech problems. This is a serious issue that makes individuals
having these conditions incapable of participating in any conversation which further causes
them numerous difficulties throughout the life (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
2020). In this essay, the speech and language related issues in children, case studies,
background studies will be discussed in detail for better understanding and light will be shed
on the development of a new inclusive education plan for the children having these
conditions.
It has been seen that speech and language related issues are very common in Canada.
Statistics show that about 8% to 12% of the pre-school children population have difficulties
in speech and language adaptation which becomes evident and can be identified when they
reach the age of 3 (Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists,
2020).
There are several reasons that causes the speech and language difficulties in children.
The speech disorders include Articulation Disorder, Fluency Disorder, Resonance or Voice
Disorder. The articulation disorder can be defined as the disorder that causes inability of
uttering words or syllables to an extent where it could not be comprehended. The fluency
disorder can be explained as the issues such as stuttering including repetition of partial word
and stretching the sound of syllables. The resonance or voice disorder is the issue in which
the pitch, frequency and the volume of the voice is such that nothing spoken can be
interpreted. This disorder is also known to be causing pain and discomfort to the child while

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INCLUSIVE EDUCATION PLAN FOR CHILDREN WITH SPEECH DISORDERS
speaking. There are a few reasons that give rise to language as well. The language disorders
that are commonly observed in children include Receptive Disorder, Expressive Disorder and
Cognitive Communication Disorder. The receptive disorder can be defined as the condition in
which children with this condition have problems in understanding the language spoken and
processing the language. The expressive disorder is a condition where the children face
difficulties in arranging words together and speaking a continuous sentence. They also have a
very limited vocabulary and are mostly unable to utter language which everyone can
understand or acknowledge. The cognitive communication disorder is the condition in which
the children have issues in communication skills and can not involve the usage of memory,
intellect and organization while speaking (Schwartz, 2017).
Children having these conditions require special educational programs for developing.
The children with these conditions are often observed to be not having any interaction or
communication with anyone because of their incapability in doing so. This creates a negative
impact on their self-esteem and confidence greatly. Therefore, apart from the treatment,
which is provided by speech and language pathologists, the children also, requires a proper
teacher centered education program that would encourage them to open up and have
conversation and interaction with open heart. This would help them in getting appropriate
education as well as improving their communicative skills (Reading Rockets, 2020).
CASE STUDY
A boy who goes by the name Tom aged 4 years old was brought over to speech-
language pathologist by his mother. The mother informed the pathologist that Tom is having
problem in his speech and can not utter many words and is also unable to comprehend
everything spoken by anyone. He is also performing quite badly in his education. The

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INCLUSIVE EDUCATION PLAN FOR CHILDREN WITH SPEECH DISORDERS
pathologist on checking Tom diagnosed him with a condition named SLCN or speech,
language and communication needs.
Another girl child named Liza of 5 years of age was observed by her class teacher that
she remained isolated in class, had almost nil social communication with other children,
difficulty in understanding most of things spoken and had repetitive patterns of behaviour.
She asked her mother to take her to speech language pathologist. When her mother visited the
pathologist with Liza, the clinician checked her and diagnosed her with Autism Spectrum
Disorder.
In another case, a child named Helly was brought to the speech language pathologist
by her parents. The child’s parents informed the pathologist that Helly was 6 years old and
had serious issues in socializing and having communication with anyone. The parents also
informed that she can not also participate in any conversation that involved memory and
attention and also performed poorly in her studies. The pathologist also conducted a few
diagnostic tests on Helly and concluded that she was a speech and language issue named
Cognitive Communication Disorder.
LITERATURE REVIEW
A study was conducted by researchers to identify language impairments in children
and how can it be treated effectively. The researchers state that it is a very common thing in
the world where numerous children develop ability of speaking later in life and other cases in
which children suffer from a few conditions that create difficulty of interacting freely. The
authors recruited 59 professionals belonging from various streams such as psychology,
education, speech and language pathology and paediatrics from different countries all across
the world. The authors further prepared 46 statements based on case studies and articles
regarding the impairment of speech and language in children. The authors, then advised the

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INCLUSIVE EDUCATION PLAN FOR CHILDREN WITH SPEECH DISORDERS
professionals to mark these statement according to it’s relevance, practicality on a seven point
scale. The authors then received the notions the professionals had about the statements and
combined them to improve the consensus. The resultant statements were then again given to
the professionals to note if they agree or disagree to the statements. After this, the result
showed the amalgamation of all the points given by the professionals. It effectively showed
the way in which the evaluation of the conditions can be done, followed by assessing the
speech, language and communication of the children and identification of additional factors if
they exhibited any (Bishop et al., 2016).
Another study was conducted by researchers to identify various challenges, and the
opportunities that are available to meet the requirements of the children having speech,
language as well as communication related hardships. In this research, the authors
interviewed teachers teaching in various pre-schools and primary schools regarding their
knowledge about the speech, language and communication related problems that numerous
children have. They were also interviewed in detail about the type of children they come
across with any discrepancies in their communication, interaction and education performance.
The result of the interview concluded that most of the teachers who were interviewed had
very little idea about the terminologies related to speech and language oriented disorders that
the children suffer from. They could not differentiate between children with SLCN and other
additional problems the students had. From the interview conducted it could also be derived
that the teachers confused children who did not have English as their first language with
children with genuine speech and language related issues. The teachers also reported in the
interview that the children whom they identified as the ones with speech and language
disorders also exhibited symptoms of anxiety and lacked confidence and were also bullied by
other children. Thus, the authors concluded the paper by recommending few ways in which

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INCLUSIVE EDUCATION PLAN FOR CHILDREN WITH SPEECH DISORDERS
the teachers can identify the issues related to speech the children faced (Dockrell & Howell,
2015).
Glover, McCormack & Smith-Tamaray, (2015) conducted a research study to
understand the collaboration between teachers and speech and language pathologists in
primary school for children having various speech, language and communication needs. The
authors state that the collaboration between teachers and SLCN is very much important. For
the study, the authors recruited 156 teachers and 36 speech and language pathologists
working in a specific region. They were all handed over a questionnaire which they needed to
answer. After tallying the questionnaire it was observed that there was minimum
collaboration present between the teachers and speech and language pathologists. Both the
professional groups asked for more proper training to deal with the situations much
effectively. They also complained of the lack of funding and resource to support their
endeavours. From the results the authors concluded that there is a necessity of change that
needs to be brought to the service delivery and better collaboration between the teachers and
speech and language pathologists to achieve better outcomes in guiding children with speech,
language and communication needs.
INCLUSIVE EDUCATION PLAN
The development of an education plan for the children having speech, language and
communication issues is very much necessary in present time. The children with speech and
language related issues are commonly observed to be having very low self-esteem and
confidence. They are also seen to be prey of bullying in schools, which leads them to a much
worse state and thus, develops anxiety and other illnesses (Iverach et al., 2016). To overcome
this problems an innovative education system should be introduced where they would be
given the same respect and recognition as any other normal children and they would also be

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INCLUSIVE EDUCATION PLAN FOR CHILDREN WITH SPEECH DISORDERS
encouraged by the teachers and their families alike so that their development is facilitated
Ofe, Plumb, Plexico & Haak, 2016).
The education plan for the children with speech related issues should be based on
teacher centered education procedure. The teacher centered education can be defined as the
teaching process in which the students concentrate on what the teacher is saying and gather
the knowledge. The teachers who would be recruited under this education plan should be
highly trained to handle kids with speech issue (Fakolade, Adeniyi & Tella, 2017).
The role of teachers in this education plan would be the most crucial in helping the
children. The teachers should identify the confidence levels of the children by talking to them
in an interactive way and in the process identify the students who avoid these conversations
in class. Then analyse the reasons that might cause them to be isolated in the class. The
teachers should present the classroom as a lively place to be in so that the children having
speech and language difficulties try to easen and open up. The teachers should look after the
difficulties each one of the children are having in day to day life while speaking and
collaboratively discuss with the speech and language pathologist to determine their respective
learning as well as treatment procedure. Another thing that the teachers as well as the speech
and language pathologist should do on a daily basis is encourage them to interact with
everyone freely and open up about the difficulties they are facing. It is a very well known fact
that children are quite fascinated by stories and it can be used as a medium for them to
express and speak. Therefore, story-telling sessions should be introduced in the curriculum
for their speech, language, communication and cognitive development. The teachers should
also inform the parents of the children with difficulties about their condition and ask them
guide their kids accordingly. The teachers can help the kids in pronouncing the words in
proper way by breaking the syllables. The teachers should represent the course of education

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INCLUSIVE EDUCATION PLAN FOR CHILDREN WITH SPEECH DISORDERS
in the most interactive way for attracting the attention of the children. Proceeding in this way
might help the children in learning things faster than they used to (Smith et al., 2015).
CONCLUSION
Thus, it can be concluded that, children with speech and language difficulty should be
given proper attention as soon as their disorder has been diagnosed to initiate the treatment.
The children should also be encouraged by both family and teachers so that they can
overcome their respective difficulties in speaking and comprehending the things they hear.
Newer, innovative and interactive education plan for this subpopulation of children should
also be introduced to facilitate their education and learning stage along with improving their
speech, language and communication issues.

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INCLUSIVE EDUCATION PLAN FOR CHILDREN WITH SPEECH DISORDERS
REFERENCES
Bishop, D. V., Snowling, M. J., Thompson, P. A., Greenhalgh, T., & Catalise Consortium.
(2016). CATALISE: A multinational and multidisciplinary Delphi consensus study.
Identifying language impairments in children. PLOS one, 11(7), e0158753.
Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists. (2020). [Ebook].
Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists. Retrieved
from
https://www.sac-oac.ca/sites/default/files/resources/CASLPA_10_Year_Health_subm
ission.pdf
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). Language and Speech Disorders in
Children | CDC. Retrieved 30 March 2020, from
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/language-disorders.html
Dockrell, J. E., & Howell, P. (2015). Identifying the challenges and opportunities to meet the
needs of children with speech, language and communication difficulties. British
Journal of Special Education, 42(4), 411-428.
Fakolade, O. A., Adeniyi, S. O., & Tella, A. (2017). Attitude of teachers towards the
inclusion of special needs children in general education classroom: the case of
teachers in some selected schools in Nigeria. International Electronic Journal of
elementary education, 1(3), 155-169.
Glover, A., McCormack, J., & Smith-Tamaray, M. (2015). Collaboration between teachers
and speech and language therapists: Services for primary school children with speech,
language and communication needs. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 31(3),
363-382.

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INCLUSIVE EDUCATION PLAN FOR CHILDREN WITH SPEECH DISORDERS
Iverach, L., Jones, M., McLellan, L. F., Lyneham, H. J., Menzies, R. G., Onslow, M., &
Rapee, R. M. (2016). Prevalence of anxiety disorders among children who
stutter. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 49, 13-28.
Ofe, E. E., Plumb, A. M., Plexico, L. W., & Haak, N. J. (2016). School-based speech-
language pathologists' knowledge and perceptions of autism spectrum disorder and
bullying. Language, speech, and hearing services in schools, 47(1), 59-76.
Schwartz, R. G. (Ed.). (2017). Handbook of child language disorders. Psychology press.
Smith, T. E., Polloway, E. A., Patton, J. R., Dowdy, C. A., & Doughty, T. T.
(2015). Teaching students with special needs in inclusive settings. Pearson.