Abstract
ABSTRACT Drug use during pregnancy is a well-known risk factor for the manifestation of speech-language disabilities. However, the necessity of studies directed towards drug use and its influence on interventional speech process in cases of alterations of child language and fluency is observed. In this study, clinical history data are presented as well as pre and post-assessment tests (Speech and Language) and the description of an interventional process of a six-year child. The main communication complaint about the child was stuttering. In addition to the child’s clinical history, there was also knowledge of alcohol and legal and illegal drug use by the mother from before the moment of conception until this intervention process was reported. The protocols Stuttering Severity Instrument (SSI), Child Language Test (ABFW): phonology, vocabulary, and fluency tests, along with the Checklist of Verbal Communication Skills were applied. Based on these assessments, the child was diagnosed with mild to moderate stuttering, phonological simplifications, vocabulary inferior to that expected for his age, difficulty maintaining communicative turns, simplified narrative skills, alterations in psycholinguistic processes, and complaints from the school about his learning. The child underwent speech therapy in the areas of fluency and Child Language (phonological approach), showing evolution in the post-intervention assessment. Thus, in the present case, it became clear that the concomitant use of alcohol with exposure to cigarettes and marijuana may trigger changes in the acquisition and development of language, fluency and, consequently, learning.
Highlights
Language acquisition and development are shaped by successful social interactions and initiated, for the most part, but stimuli from parents and the family environment
Other aspects of language were assessed using the Verbal Communication Skills Checklist[13] for practice and the ABFW phonology and vocabulary tests of child language[12], as well as the Percentage of Consonants Correct (PCC)[14], making it possible to analyze phonetic inventory, phonological organization, expressive vocabulary, and speech intelligibility in order to monitor the progress of the intervention, since this measure provides an objective assessment
The fluency assessments showed that the child demonstrated moderate stuttering for preschool stage children, with a score of 23 on the Stuttering Severity Instrument (SSI) protocol[11], and a speech rate lower than expected for six-year-old children, according to the ABFW test[12]
Summary
Language acquisition and development are shaped by successful social interactions and initiated, for the most part, but stimuli from parents and the family environment. At approximately three years (36 months) of age, children may show speech disruptions due to the natural development of the semantic-lexical subsystem of language, which involves acquiring and broadening vocabulary and increasing the complexity of syntactic structures[2]. When these symptoms are accompanied by tension or effort, regardless of the child’s age, we can note features characteristic of disfluency, typical of stuttering, which can result in serious problems affecting the child’s quality of life if not appropriately treated[3]. High alcohol and drug consumption is prevalent among young people (under 25 years of age) with low educational levels and lower-middle social class[2,4,6,7]
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