Language is More than Speech: A Case Study.

Abstract

Some individuals face severe challenges with producing oral language (i.e., speech). In this article a case study of a child who experienced severe challenges with speech development is presented. Medical records, historical home videos, audio recordings, and photographs, in conjunction with an extensive journal maintained by the child's mother provide the basis for this report, which profiles the child's development from birth to age 8;0. This child's development demonstrates the necessity of distinguishing between language-the mental representation of concepts and their relations-and speech-one means for communicating mental representations.