But, we use the word articulat ion to refer to the ability to enunciate, to pronounce a sound, a phoneme, a word or a sentence clearly. This is an issue of speech and language. We want our children to speak with good articulation and to be articulate we want both good speech and language. For the purpose of this article let s define speech as the neuro-motor function of pronouncing words clearly. Language will be defined as the neurodevelopmental ability to use words, and to combine words so as to communicate.
Many children have both speech and language problems while others have only speech problems.
We must first have good hearing and processing of sound. We should first look at normal development of auditory function. The nerve and the stimulation of this nerve are very critical to the entire development of the child. The brain begins to learn how to process sounds in utero. The child is not born with the ability to process a full range of tones well, as a matter of fact, many people never learn to process a full range of tones well.