Speech Difficulties

Understand a range of developmental speech difficulties and disorders, including phonology, and motor coordination, such as childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), and difficulties due to a problem in articulation.

Course description

This course focuses on speech sound disorders and their impact on children. There is also an exploration of the relationship between oral speech and literacy. It is taught online, by distance learning, delivered in one and two-day study blocks. The course is designed to give you specialist knowledge and skills to assess and clinically manage children with developmental speech difficulties.

You will examine conditions including phonological impairment or disorder and childhood apraxia of speech (developmental verbal dyspraxia). You will explore methods of assessing, investigating and managing speech difficulties, and how to use the latest research to inform your practice. PGDip and MSc students can also study associated topics such as autism spectrum disorders or communication in adolescence.

The course is aimed at speech and language therapists or pathologists, as well as linguists, psychologists and other related professionals. Alongside our full-time study options, we offer a range of part-time options so you can fit your studies around your other commitments.

Students on the PGDip and MSc programmes study a range of quantitative and qualitative research methods, so they can keep up-to-date with the latest findings and use this to inform their practice. MSc students apply these skills to their own research project, which may include designing experiments, analysing data and reporting results.

This course does not lead to a qualification to practise as a speech and language therapist or pathologist.