Erased dysarthria occurs in almost half of children with speech underdevelopment or phonetic-phonemic disorders. But such a verdict of a speech therapist should not scare the parents - the problem is surmountable.
What it is?
Dysarthria is called erased, in which speech disorders are associated with minor violations of the articulatory apparatus. Usually these are disorders associated with fuzzy pronunciation, distortion of sounds, children's speech with low expressiveness.
The term was first proposed to be used in 1969. Since then, defectologists have not stopped scientific disputes about the essence of pathology, trying to concretize it. More often the problem is called minimal dysarthric disorder. Doctors in Europe call her articulatory dyspraxia.
Causes
It is believed that speech impairment is based on weakness or excessive tension of the muscles of the articulatory organs - lips, tongue, soft palate. The muscles are in an abnormal state due to damage to the central nervous system. The often erased form of dysarthria is associated with some unfavorable factors that affected the central nervous system of the child during his stay in the womb, as well as after birth.
Among the intrauterine causes, preeclampsia, high blood pressure in the expectant mother, renal failure, Rh-conflict, maternal diabetes mellitus, fetoplacental insufficiency are often called. These conditions lead to hypoxia, and a lack of oxygen affects the development of the brain and nervous system. Infections that have struck the baby in the womb can affect. Most often, a mild erased form of dysarthria is characteristic of children who have suffered an infection in the third trimester.
Pathological childbirth is another cause of speech impairment. It is believed that too long or rapid childbirth, a long period of being without water, entwining the umbilical cord around the neck can cause hypoxia with all the ensuing consequences for the nervous system.
If the child was born completely healthy, then the reason for the formation of speech defects can be complications after vaccination, viral diseases, infections that the child suffered in the first months of life, that is, in the period that is pre-speech.
Manifestations
It is almost impossible for parents to recognize erased dysarthria on their own. Speech impairment is minimal, and only a specialist can pay attention to it during a speech therapy examination. Most often, this pathology becomes apparent at the age of 5-6 years. Until this age, some promiscuity of certain sounds is regarded as dyslalia, and only its persistence and the lack of effect from developmental exercises with a speech therapist can suggest that the matter lies in dysarthria.
Children with an erased form of dysarthria lag slightly physically behind their peers, often have small stature, underweight, and have a narrow chest. Often, babies are very clumsy, they get tired much faster than their peers under load and it can be difficult for them to make a simultaneous synchronous movement, for example, with two hands.
They have less developed fine motor skills, it is more difficult for them to assemble constructors, the task of buttoning clothes or tying laces on shoes. Drawing and modeling are difficult for them. School-aged children with this diagnosis write illegibly and very slowly.
Children with dysarthria, even erased by its form, do not have a rich variety of facial expressions at their disposal, they often have asymmetrical nasolabial folds.
Such children easily excitable, often fuss, or, conversely, are somewhat inhibited. Most often, pronunciation difficulties are associated with incorrect or difficult pronunciation of whistling, hissing and sonorous sounds.
The peculiarities of sound pronunciation are that the problematic group of sounds is pronounced illegibly.
How is the diagnosis carried out?
In order to examine a child, you need to contact a speech therapist. This specialist will conduct a series of tests for fine motor skills, facial expressions, the ability to articulate freely, check how correct the child's speech breathing is. If the speech therapist suspects erased dysarthria, he will definitely recommend that parents visit a pediatric neurologist with their child.
This doctor will prescribe an electroencephalogram of the brain, can conduct an electroneuromyographic examination, and, if necessary, an MRI of the brain. With the results of these studies and the conclusion of a neurologist about the state of the nervous system and articulatory muscles, the child will again go to an appointment with a speech therapist. He will start a special corrective speech therapy card and draw up an individual rehabilitation program in addition to the medications prescribed by the neurologist.
Treatment
To treat erased dysarthria in children of preschool and school age should be comprehensive. We need a joint work of a neurologist and a speech therapist. This will allow you to achieve a persistent desired effect, in which the defect can be completely eliminated. The only thing that is required of the parents is great patience and consistency, responsibility for the fulfillment of all appointments, because the correction is quite long.
The neurologist usually prescribes taking nootropic medicines, vitamins of group B. In combination, such treatment allows you to activate the work of the nervous system, and also improves blood circulation in the brain. The child is shown massage, reflexology. Doctors often recommend enrolling a child with erased dysarthria in the swimming section. It is swimming lessons that improve the condition of the muscles, as well as improve motor skills.
Finger gymnastics is shown to a preschooler, and articulatory gymnastics is recommended to school-age children, which parents should master. Experts will show you which exercises will help you release muscle clamps, which ones will relax your articulatory muscles, and how to combine them with breathing exercises.
The speech therapist will put incorrect or illegible sounds, and then this skill will be brought to automatism. Speech therapy sessions are often complemented by speech therapy massage. Should prepare to a long course of treatment - it is from a year or more.
Considering that speech defects are minimal, they may not affect the development of the child, but even small deviations in sound pronunciation interfere with normal communication, which in one way or another can affect the psychological development of the child.
With timely started treatment the forecasts are favorable. Speech defects succeed eliminate completely.
The specialist tells more about dysarthria in the next video.
