Alalia

Alalia is the absence or marked underdevelopment of speech in a child with normal physical hearing and primarily intact intelligence. It stems from a disruption in the speech areas of the cerebral cortex. A distinction is made between motor (expressive) alalia, in which the child understands addressed speech but has severe difficulty producing their own, and sensory (receptive) alalia, in which comprehension of speech is affected first. Alalia must be distinguished from a temporary speech delay and from hearing impairment.

Alalia is about "the non-verbal child"

Parents rarely arrive with the word "alalia" — more often with the phrase "my child is three and doesn't talk." Alalia is the medical term for a persistent underdevelopment of expressive speech that is not explained by hearing loss or a tempo delay. Unlike a simple speech delay, with alalia speech does not "catch up on its own" — systematic, long-term work is needed.

How the center works

Speech development is one of the center's strongest areas. A program for a non-verbal child is assembled from several blocks:

• speech therapy sessions — comprehension, naming, phrases, dialogue, functional communication;
• oral-motor therapy — massage and training of the mouth muscles: articulation, chewing, swallowing;
• cognitive sessions — attention, thinking, understanding instructions;
• sensory integration and auditory therapy — the foundation for perception and attention to speech;
• alternative communication — PECS cards and elements of ABA when communication is difficult;
• traditional Chinese medicine methods — scalp acupuncture and children's tuina massage;
• hardware-based methods when indicated — TMS and EEG biofeedback.

Sessions take place daily, several times a day; children are grouped by developmental level rather than by age. The team includes speech therapists specialized in oral-motor therapy and in eliciting first speech in non-verbal children.

Honest expectations

No conscientious center will promise that a child "will start speaking in a month." Progress in alalia is individual and depends on the form, age, and accompanying features. Whether the program is right for your particular child is determined by the physician after reviewing the documents and video; the goals of the course are set and discussed with the family before arrival.