TECHNOLOGIES FOR DEVELOPING COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN CHILDREN WITH SPEECH IMPAIRMENTS BASED ON A DIFFERENTIAL APPROACH

Abstract

Children with speech impairments require communication interventions tailored to the etiology, severity, and developmental profile of their difficulties. This article conceptualizes a differential approach as the systematic alignment of technologies—linguistic, cognitive, sensorimotor, social-pragmatic, and digital—with individualized profiles derived from comprehensive assessment. Drawing on contemporary clinical practices, the paper outlines how phonological contrast therapies, motor-speech methods, parent-mediated language enrichment, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), and multimodal digital tools can be orchestrated to strengthen expressive and receptive skills, conversational participation, and communicative autonomy. The approach emphasizes dynamic goal-setting, dosage calibration, and contextual generalization across home, school, and peer settings. Evidence-informed illustrations show how selecting method families by impairment cluster—phonological disorder, childhood apraxia of speech, dysarthria, stuttering, and developmental language disorder—produces measurable gains in intelligibility, vocabulary growth, pragmatic flexibility, and self-regulation. The article concludes with practice recommendations on assessment-driven planning, family coaching, and progress monitoring using functional outcomes.