ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides background information for teaching staff about working with children with speech impairments. It provides specific information and activities to use to help children with phonological impairments. The book then covers typical error patterns, including listening activities. It also describes how to help the child who can modify their speech patterns, but does not habitually do so. Children are sometimes slower to develop language if reared with one or more languages in their environment, but usually they catch up. If they enter school with limited English most of them will pick up the language and be proficient within a year or so. If a child is hard to understand in English, they will need an assessment in both/all languages to see if there is underlying speech impairment.
