Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
40 results found in Speech and Language.
- Oral Motor Impairment (Oral-Motor Dysfunction, Oromotor Impairment)
- A condition affecting the muscles and movements of the mouth, jaw, lips, and tongue that are involved in speech production, feeding, and swallowing. Oral motor impairments can result from neurological…
- People Who Stutter (PWS, Person Who Stutters, Adults Who Stutter, AWS, Children Who Stutter, CWS)
- An identity-first and community-preferred term for people who experience stuttering, a neurodevelopmental condition involving involuntary speech disfluencies such as blocks, prolongations, and repetit…
- Perceptual Analysis (Perceptual Judgment, Auditory-Perceptual Analysis)
- A method of evaluating speech, voice, or other sounds based on a human listener's subjective auditory impressions rather than instrumental measurement. In clinical speech-language pathology, perceptua…
- Phonological Development (Speech Sound Development, Phonological Acquisition)
- The process by which children learn to produce and organise the speech sounds of their language, progressing from early cooing and vowel-like sounds through canonical babbling (consonant-vowel syllabl…
- Pre-speech Vocalizations (Pre-linguistic Vocalizations, Infant Vocalizations)
- Sounds produced by infants before the development of recognizable speech, including cooing, babbling, and other vocal productions. Pre-speech vocalizations are important predictors of later articulati…
- Prelinguistic Development (Pre-Speech Development, Prelinguistic Communication)
- Prelinguistic development refers to the stages of vocal and communicative development that occur before an infant produces meaningful words, typically spanning from birth to approximately 12-18 months…
- Preverbal Communication (Prelinguistic Communication)
- The stage of communication development before the consistent use of recognizable words, typically occurring in neurotypical children between birth and approximately 12 months of age. Preverbal communi…
- Quality of Communication Life Scale (QCL, ASHA QCL)
- A self-report assessment developed by ASHA (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association) that measures how communication disorders affect an individual's quality of life. The QCL evaluates domains in…
- Severe Speech and Physical Impairments (SSPI)
- A classification describing individuals who have significant limitations in both speech production and physical movement, often co-occurring in conditions such as cerebral palsy. People with SSPI may …
- Single-Case Study (Single-Subject Design, Single-Case Experimental Design, N-of-1 Study, ABA Design)
- A research methodology in which an individual participant serves as their own control, with systematic measurement of behavior across different conditions such as baseline and intervention phases. The…
- Social Communication (Social-Communication, Pragmatic Communication)
- The use of language and nonverbal behavior in social contexts, encompassing skills such as taking turns in conversation, adjusting communication style based on the listener or situation, understanding…
- Speech Sound Disorder (SSD, Speech Disorder, Articulation Disorder, Phonological Disorder)
- A communication disorder affecting the development of accurate speech sound and prosody production in childhood. Children with SSDs struggle with phonological representation, phonological awareness, a…
- Speech Therapy (Speech-Language Therapy, Speech Pathology, Speech-Language Intervention)
- Clinical intervention provided by speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to assess, diagnose, and treat speech, language, communication, and swallowing disorders. For speech sound disorders, effective tr…
- Speech-Like Vocalization (SLV)
- A sound produced by a person that can be phonetically transcribed based on the conventions of a spoken language, distinguishing it from non-speech-like vocalizations such as grunts, screeches, or voca…
- Synthetic Phonics (Phonics, Systematic Phonics)
- A method of teaching reading that emphasises learning the sounds (phonemes) associated with letters and letter combinations, then blending those sounds together to form words. Unlike analytic phonics,…
- VB-MAPP (Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program)
- The VB-MAPP (Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program), developed by Mark Sundberg, is a criterion-referenced assessment and curriculum-planning tool for children with autism and ot…
- Vocal Development (Speech Development, Vocal Production Development)
- The process by which individuals acquire and refine the ability to produce speech sounds and vocalizations. In typically developing children, vocal development progresses through stages from cooing an…
- Voice Disabilities (Voice Disorders, Speech Impairment, Aphonia)
- Conditions that partially or completely impair a person's ability to produce speech using their natural voice. Voice disabilities range from mild hoarseness or reduced volume to complete inability to …
- Western Aphasia Battery (WAB, WAB-R, Western Aphasia Battery-Revised)
- A standardized assessment tool used to evaluate language function in adults with acquired neurological disorders, particularly aphasia following stroke or brain injury. The WAB measures spontaneous sp…
- Word-Finding Difficulty (Word-Finding Deficit, Word Retrieval Difficulty)
- A language impairment characterised by difficulty retrieving specific words during conversation or communication, despite the person knowing the word and its meaning. Word-finding difficulties are a h…