Just highlight the text, copy it to the Clipboard, and 2nd Speech Center does the rest. It supports several languages, and unlike many text-to-speech programs, it lets you adjust pronunciation. The program has a number of voices-male and female-to choose from, and it lets you encode your selections to MP3 or WAV format to listen to later. For Microsoft Internet Explorer users, 2nd Speech Center supplies a handy toolbar plug-in for Internet Explorer. 2nd Speech Center supports dozens of male, female and robotic voices for over 11 languages. 2nd Speech Center can monitor the Windows Clipboard and automatically process its contents.
Developmental milestones are identifiable skills that can serve as a guide to normal development. There is a general age and time when most children pass through these periods. These milestones help doctors and other health professionals determine when a child may need extra help to learn to speak or to use language. Use the table below to determine if you or someone you know could benefit from a FREE in-office screening.
- Reacts to loud sounds.
- Turns head toward a sound source.
- Watches your face when you speak.
- Vocalizes pleasure and displeasure sounds (laughs, giggles, cries, or fusses).
- Makes noise when talked to.
- Cooing: 3 Months
- Ah-goo: 4 Months
- Laughing: 4 Months
- Razzing: 6 Months
- Dada (nonspecific): 7 Months
- Mama (nonspecific): 8 Months
- Dada/Mama (specific): 9 Months
- Gestures: 9 Months
- Responds to name.
- Understands 'no'.
- Understand simple directions with gestures.
- Imitates familiar words.
- Waves good-bye and plays pat-a-cake.
- Uses 'mama' and 'dada' and several other words (usually nouns).
- Makes environmental noises in play.
- Gives a toy on request.
- Laughs.
- Attends to a book or toy for about two minutes.
- Answers simple questions nonverbally.
- Points to objects, pictures, and family members.
- Points to simple body parts.
- Begins using pronouns of 'mine'.
- Knows about 50 words at 24 months.
- Knows some spatial concepts such as 'in,' 'on'.
- Knows and uses pronouns such as 'you,' 'me,' 'her' .
- Knows descriptive words such as 'big,' 'happy'.
- Says around 40 words at 24 months.
- Strangers may not be able to understand much of what is said.
- Answers simple questions.
- Speaks in two to three word phrases.
- Asks 'what' and 'where' questions.
- Asks for drink, toilet, food and attention – 'watch me'.
- Begins to use plurals such as 'shoes' or 'socks' and regular past tense verbs such as 'jumped'.
- Language explosion at 30 months – up to 300 words in vocabulary.
- Has a growing vocabulary of 1,000 words.
- Groups objects such as foods, clothes, animals etc.
- Identifies colors.
- Uses consonants in the beginning, middle, and ends of words.
- Some of the more difficult consonants may be distorted, but attempts to say them.
- Strangers are able to understand much of what is said.
- Able to describe the use of objects such as 'fork,' 'car,' etc.
- Enjoys poems and recognizes language absurdities such as, 'Is that an elephant on your head?'
- Tell a simple story – focus on favorite parts.
- Expresses ideas and feelings rather than just talking about the world around him or her.
- Uses verbs that end in 'ing,' such as 'walking,' 'talking'.
- Answers simple questions such as 'What do you do when you are hungry?'
- Repeats sentences.
- Vocabulary continues to grow over 2,000 words.
- Understands spatial concepts such as 'behind,' 'next to'.
- Understands complex questions.
- Speaks in complex sentences.
- Speech is understandable but makes mistakes pronouncing long, difficult, or complex words such as 'hippopotamus'.
- Uses some irregular past tense verbs such as 'ran,' 'fell'.
- Describes how to do things such as painting a picture.
- Defines words.
- Lists items that belong in a category such as animals, vehicles, etc.
- Answers 'why' questions.
- Understands more than 3,000 words.
- Understands time sequences (what happened first, second, third, etc.).
- Carries out a series of three directions.
- Understands and names rhyming and opposite words.
- Sentences can be 8 or more words in length.
- Uses compound and complex sentences.
- Uses imagination to create stories.
- Speaks fluently; correctly uses plurals, pronouns, tenses.
- Very interested in words and language; seeks knowledge.
- Uses complex language; can tell and retell stories with practice; enjoys repeating stories, poems, and songs; enjoys acting out plays of stories.
- Shares experiences verbally.
- Engages in conversation.
The term developmental delay means that a child is not meeting developmental milestones at the expected age. While it's not always clear what is causing the delay, early intervention can often help kids catch up. Developmental disabilities are issues that kids don't outgrow or catch up from, though they can make progress. Some conditions that can cause developmental disabilities include: Autism, Down syndrome, and brain injuries.
Speech is how we say sounds and words to communicate. Speech includes:
- Articulation: How we make speech sounds using the mouth, lips, and tongue. For example, we need to be able to say the 'r' sound to say 'rabbit' instead of 'wabbit.'
- Voice: How we use our vocal folds and breath to make sounds. Our voice can be loud or soft or high-pitched or low-pitched.
- Fluency: This is the rhythm of our speech. We sometimes repeat sounds or pause while talking. People who do this a lot may stutter.
Language refers to the words we use and how we use them to share ideas and get what we want. Language includes:
- What words mean. Some words have more than one meaning. For example, 'star' can be a bright object in the sky or someone famous.
- How to make new words. For example, we can say 'friend,' 'friendly,' or 'unfriendly' and mean something different.
- How to put words together. For example, in English we say, 'John rode his bike to the store' instead of 'John bike ride store.'
- What we should say at different times. For example, we might be polite and say, 'Excuse me. ' But, if the person does not move, we may say, 'Get out of my way!'
A feedingdisorder includes developmentally atypical eating and drinking behaviors, such as not accepting age-appropriate liquids or foods, being unable to use age-appropriate feeding devices and utensils, or being unable to self-feed.
Dysphagia, a medical term used to describe a swallowing disorder, can result from decreased function of the oral, pharyngeal, or esophageal structures. Signs/Symptoms of a swallowing disorder include: abnormal oral feeding / chewing, coughing or choking with food or liquid, wet vocal quality, food refusal, prolonged eating times, pneumonia or respiratory problems.
We understand the complexity of hiring staff to provide medically necessary speech and language services within the settings of schools and private facilities. Without extensive knowledge about speech and language therapy, it can be difficult for facilities to know if their students and patients are being provided the best care. Speechcenter, Inc. offers a wide variety of contract services. Our services have been used for situations as temporary as covering a medical leave, to contract needs as extensive as staffing entire departments for entire school systems. Contact Us today to see how we can help with your contract needs!
Overview | Otolaryngologist / Laryngologist | Speech Language Pathologist | Singing and Acting Voice Specialists | Multidisciplinary Professionals | Developments in Voice Care
The speech-language pathologist is a key member of the Voice Care Team, and is a certified, licensed healthcare professional, ordinarily with either a master's or doctoral degree.
Education – Training – Certification Track
After college, speech-language pathologists generally complete a one- or two-year master's degree program, followed by a nine-month, supervised 'clinical fellowship,' similar to a medical internship. At the conclusion of the clinical fellowship year, speech-language pathologists in the United States are certified by the American Speech-Language Hearing Association, and use the letters 'CCC-SLP' after their names to indicate that they are certified.
Spectrum of Disorders in the Care of a Speech Language Pathologist
Like otolaryngology, speech-language pathology is a broad field that includes care of patients who have:
- had strokes or other neurological problems affecting speech and swallowing
- undergone laryngectomy (removal of the larynx)
- swallowing disorders
- articulation problems
- stuttering problems
- craniofacial disorders
- other related fluency disorders of speech
Concept of Subspecialty in Voice – 'Voice Pathologist'
Some speech-language pathologists subspecialize in voice, which includes care of the voice, and swallowing disorders. The speech-language pathologist affiliated with a voice team is usually such a subspecialist, and is often referred to as a 'voice pathologist' – although the term 'voice pathologist' has not yet received official recognition by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
Training Programs
Training as a voice team speech language pathologist is evolving to better provide speech-language pathology training programs that provide extensive education in voice and voice disorders. Ideally, voice team speech-language pathologists should have had training in and become comfortable with caring for individuals with voice problems. Subspeciality training is usually acquired through apprenticeships, extra courses, symposia, or by obtaining a doctoral degree that includes voice-related research.
Voice Speech Text
Scope of Responsibilities
Speech-language pathologists are responsible for voice therapy and rehabilitation which is analogous to physical therapy. The speech-language pathologist analyzes voice use, and teaches proper breath support, relaxation, and voice placement to optimize speaking. A variety of techniques are utilized to accomplish this goal. Speech-language pathologists do not ordinarily work with the singing voice, although they are involved in the treatment of speaking voices of singers.
Perspective on Practice
Speech-language pathologists may be found in universities, private offices, or freestanding speech and hearing centers. In the United States, most are members of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its voice-related special interest division (SID-3). Many speech-language pathologists with special interest in voice in the United States and elsewhere are also members of the Voice Foundation.
Amr And Smr
Role of Subspecialization in Voice Care
Like otolaryngologists, speech-language pathologists who subspecialize in voice care provide more incisive, state-of-the-art treatment for voice disorders than most general speech-language pathologists who care for patients with various problems encompassing the entire field. So, it is worthwhile for patients with voice disorders to seek out a subspecialist to improve the likelihood of rapid, excellent treatment results. Referrals to speech-language pathologists specializing in voice are usually obtained through a laryngologist or otolaryngologist.
