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SPEEDY babies: A putative new behavioral syndrome of unbalanced motor-speech development
Marja-Leena Haapanen1, Tuomo Aro, Elina Isotalo
1Deparment of Otorhinolaryngology, Phoniatric Division, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Haartmaninkatu 4 E, FI-00029 HUS, Helsinki, Finland. marja-leena.haapanen@hus.fi
Insights
Children with rapid walking and speech delays may have a developmental triad. This condition, termed SPEEDY babies, involves fast motor skills, speech impairment, and tongue dysfunction, requiring specialized healthcare and parental support.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Speech-Language Pathology
- Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Background:
- Motor development difficulties are known in children with speech and language disorders.
- The link between early independent walking and speech delay is under-researched.
- Atypical developmental trajectories warrant closer examination.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe a developmental behavioral triad in children with specific characteristics.
- To highlight the association between rapid motor development and speech impairment.
- To propose a term and framework for understanding these children's needs.
Main Methods:
- Case series describing four children with a specific developmental pattern.
- Clinical observation and assessment of motor, speech, and oral-motor functions.
- Exclusion of other potential causes like cognitive impairment or neurological disease.
Main Results:
- Four children presented with atypically rapid motor development (walking) and impaired expressive speech.
- These children also exhibited tongue carriage dysfunction leading to misarticulations.
- No cognitive, neurological, sensory, or craniofacial abnormalities were identified.
Conclusions:
- A distinct developmental pattern, termed SPEEDY babies, is identified.
- This pattern involves rapid walking, dysfunctional speech, and lingual issues.
- Healthcare should address both motor and speech needs, with parental support.
Abstract:
Even though difficulties in motor development in children with speech and language disorders are widely known, hardly any attention is paid to the association between atypically rapidly occurring unassisted walking and delayed speech development. The four children described here presented with a developmental behavioral triad: 1) atypically speedy motor development, 2) impaired expressive speech, and 3) tongue carriage dysfunction resulting in related misarticulations. Those characteristics might be phenotypically or genetically clustered. These children didn't have impaired cognition, neurological or mental disease, defective sense organs, craniofacial dysmorphology or susceptibility to upper respiratory infections, particularly recurrent otitis media. Attention should be paid on discordant and unbalanced achievement of developmental milestones. Present children are termed SPEEDY babies, where SPEEDY refers to rapid independent walking, SPEE and DY to dyspractic or dysfunctional speech development and lingual dysfunction resulting in linguoalveolar misarticulations. SPEEDY babies require health care that recognizes and respects their motor skills and supports their needs for motor activities and on the other hand include treatment for impaired speech. The parents may need advice and support with these children.
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