After the initial diagnosis of speech delay, a hearing test will be administered to ensure that hearing loss or deafness is not an underlying cause of the delay. If a child has successfully completed the hearing test, the therapy or therapies used will be determined. There are many therapies available for children that have been diagnosed with a speech delay, and for every child, the treatment and therapies needed vary with the degree, severity, and cause of the delay. While speech therapy is the most common form of intervention, many children may benefit from additional help from occupational and physical therapies as well. Physical and occupational therapies can be used for a child that is suffering from speech delay due to physical malformations and children that have also been diagnosed with a developmental delay such as autism or a language processing delay. Children that have been identified with hearing loss can be taught simple sign language to build and improve their vocabulary in addition to attending speech therapy.

The parents of a delayed child are the first and most important tool in helping overcome the speech delay. The parent or caregiver of the child can provide the following activities at home, in addition to the techniques suggested by a speech therapist, to positively influence the growth of speech and vocabulary:

- Reading to the child regularly

- Use of questions and simple, clear language

- Positive reinforcement in addition to patience

For children that are suffering from physical disorder that is causing difficulty forming and pronouncing words, parents and caregivers suggest using and introducing different food textures to exercise and build jaw muscles while promoting new movements of the jaw while chewing. Another less studied technique used to combat and treat speech delay is a form of therapy using music to promote and facilitate speech and language development. It is important to understand that music therapy is in its infancy and has yet to be thoroughly studied and practiced on children suffering from speech delays and impediments.

Children who demonstrate deficiencies early in their speech and language development are at risk for continued speech and language issues throughout later childhood. Similarly, even if these speech and language problems have been resolved, children with early language delay are more at risk for difficulties in phonological awareness, reading, and writing throughout their lives. Children with mixed receptive-expressive language disorder are often likely to have long-term implications for language development, literacy, behavior, social development, and even mental health problems. If suspected of having a mixed receptive-expressive language disorder, treatment is available from a speech therapist or pathologist. Most treatments are short term, and rely upon accommodations made within the environment, in order to minimize interfering with work or school. Programs that involve intervention planning that link verbal short term memory with visual/non-verbal information may be helpful for these children. In addition, approaches such as parent training for language stimulation and monitoring language through the "watch and see" method are recommended. The watch-and-see technique advises children with mixed receptive-expressive language disorder who come from stable, middle-class homes without any other behavioral, medical, or hearing problems should be vigilantly monitored rather than receive intervention. It is often the case that children do not meet the eligibility criteria established through a comprehensive oral language evaluation; and as a result, are not best suited for early intervention programs and require a different approach besides the "one size fits all" model.

Treatment of APD typically focuses on three primary areas: changing learning environment, developing higher-order skills to compensate for the disorder, and remediation of the auditory deficit itself. However, there is a lack of well-conducted evaluations of intervention using randomized controlled trial methodology. Most evidence for effectiveness adopts weaker standards of evidence, such as showing that performance improves after training. This does not control for possible influences of practice, maturation, or placebo effects. Recent research has shown that practice with basic auditory processing tasks (i.e. auditory training) may improve performance on auditory processing measures and phonemic awareness measures. Changes after auditory training have also been recorded at the physiological level. Many of these tasks are incorporated into computer-based auditory training programs such as Earobics and Fast ForWord, an adaptive software available at home and in clinics worldwide, but overall, evidence for effectiveness of these computerised interventions in improving language and literacy is not impressive. One small-scale uncontrolled study reported successful outcomes for children with APD using auditory training software.

Treating additional issues related to APD can result in success. For example, treatment for phonological disorders (difficulty in speech) can result in success in terms of both the phonological disorder as well as APD. In one study, speech therapy improved auditory evoked potentials (a measure of brain activity in the auditory portions of the brain).

While there is evidence that language training is effective for improving APD, there is no current research supporting the following APD treatments:

- Auditory Integration Training typically involves a child attending two 30-minute sessions per day for ten days.

- Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes (particularly, the Visualizing and Verbalizing program)

- Physical activities that require frequent crossing of the midline (e.g., occupational therapy)

- Sound Field Amplification

- Neuro-Sensory Educational Therapy

- Neurofeedback

However, use of a FM transmitter has been shown to produce significant improvements over time with children.

Intervention services will be guided by the strengths and needs determined by the speech and language evaluation. The areas of need may be addressed individually until each one is functional; alternatively, multiple needs may be addressed simultaneously through the intervention techniques. If possible, all interventions will be geared towards the goal of developing typical communicative interaction. To this end, interventions typically follow either a preventive, remedial, or compensatory model. The preventive service model is common as an early intervention technique, especially for children whose other disorders place them at a higher risk for developing later communication problems. This model works to lessen the probability or severity of the issues that could later emerge. The remedial model is used when an individual already has a speech or language impairment that he/she wishes to have corrected. Compensatory models would be used if a professional determines that it is best for the child to bypass the communication limitation; often, this relies on AAC.

Language intervention activities are used in some therapy sessions. In these exercises, an SLP or other trained professional will interact with a child by working with the child through play and other forms of interaction to talk to the child and model language use. The professional will make use of various stimuli, such as books, objects, or simple pictures to stimulate the emerging language. In these activities, the professional will model correct pronunciation, and will encourage the child to practice these skills. Articulation therapy may be used during play therapy as well, but involves modeling specific aspects of language—the production of sound. The specific sounds will be modeled for the child by the professional (often the SLP), and the specific processes involved in creating those sounds will be taught as well. For example, the professional might instruct the child in the placement of the tongue or lips in order to produce certain consonant sounds.

Technology is another avenue of intervention, and can help children whose physical conditions make communication difficult. The use of electronic communication systems allow nonspeaking people and people with severe physical disabilities to engage in the give and take of shared thought.

While some speech problems, such as certain voice problems, require medical interventions, many speech problems can be alleviated through effective behavioral interventions and practice. In these cases, instruction in speech techniques or speaking strategies, coupled with regular practice, can help the individual to overcome his/her speaking difficulties. In other, more severe cases, the individual with speech problems may compensate with AAC devices.

Speech impairments can seriously limit the manner in which an individual interacts with others in work, school, social, and even home environments. Inability to correctly form speech sounds might create stress, embarrassment, and frustration in both the speaker and the listener. Over time, this could create aggressive responses on the part of the listener for being misunderstood, or out of embarrassment. Alternatively, it could generate an avoidance of social situations that create these stressful situations. Language impairments create similar difficulties in communicating with others, but may also include difficulties in understanding what others are trying to say (receptive language). Because of the pervasive nature of language impairments, communicating, reading, writing, and academic success may all be compromised in these students. Similar to individuals with speech impairments, individuals with language impairments may encounter long-term difficulties associated with work, school, social, and home environments.

Treatment often involves the use of behavioral modification and anticonvulsants, antidepressants and anxiolytics.

To have a better understanding of a child's communication skills, parents, teachers, speech therapists and language therapists have a greater chance of collecting data that will determine in which area the child needs to be assessed. Children with speech difficulties range from a variety of communication skills, the most common would be literacy and psychosocial. Improving the child's skill can enhance their communication. It all starts with the child and their guardians at home. There are several factor that contribute in their speech such as:

- Waiting until the child has finished speaking

- Refraining from excessive correction and from disproportionate emphasis on correction (lest the child's desire to avoid correction lead him/her to simply shut down speech-production efforts as a crude means of avoiding error generation)

- Providing praise when warranted

- Approaching the child as a communicator partner

- Being an appropriate speaking model

- Exposing the child to literature

- Limiting exposure to television, especially during efforts at parent-child communication

- Asking questions

- Repeating words

- Providing explanations and drawing conclusions

Intervention is usually carried out by speech and language therapists, who use a wide range of techniques to stimulate language learning. In the past, there was a vogue for drilling children in grammatical exercises, using imitation and elicitation methods, but such methods fell into disuse when it became apparent that there was little generalisation to everyday situations. Contemporary approaches to enhancing development of language structure are more likely to adopt 'milieu' methods, in which the intervention is interwoven into natural episodes of communication, and the therapist builds on the child's utterances, rather than dictating what will be talked about. In addition, there has been a move away from a focus solely on grammar and phonology toward interventions that develop children's social use of language, often working in small groups that may include typically developing as well as language-impaired peers.

Another way in which modern approaches to remediation differ from the past is that parents are more likely to be directly involved, particularly with preschool children.

A radically different approach has been developed by Tallal and colleagues, who have devised a computer-based intervention, Fast Forword, that involves prolonged and intensive training on specific components of language and auditory processing. The theory underlying this approach maintains that language difficulties are caused by a failure to make fine-grained auditory discriminations in the temporal dimension, and the computerised training materials are designed to sharpen perceptual acuity.

For all these types of intervention, there are few adequately controlled trials that allow one to assess clinical efficacy. In general, where studies have been done, results have been disappointing, though some more positive outcomes have been reported. In 2010, a systematic review of clinical trials assessing the FastForword approach was published, and reported no significant gains relative to a control group.

Studies have failed to find clear evidence that language delay can be prevented by training or educating health care professionals in the subject. Overall, some of the reviews show positive results regarding interventions in language delay, but are not curative. (Commentary - Early Identification of Language Delays, 2005)

A speech sound disorder is a speech disorder in which some speech sounds (called phonemes) in a child's (or, sometimes, an adult's) language are either not produced, not produced correctly, or are not used correctly. The term protracted phonological development is sometimes preferred when describing children's speech to emphasize the continuing development while acknowledging the delay.

Muteness or mutism () is an inability to speak, often caused by a speech disorder, hearing loss, or surgery. Someone who is mute may be so due to the unwillingness to speak in certain social situations.

Language delay is a risk factor for other types of developmental delay, including social, emotional, and cognitive delay. Some children may grow out of these deficits, even coming to excel where they once lagged, while others do not. One particularly common result of language delay is delayed or inadequate acquisition of reading skills. Reading depends upon an ability to code and decode script (i.e., match speech sounds with symbols, and vice versa). If a child is still struggling to master language and speech, it is very difficult to learn another level of complexity (writing). Thus, it is crucial that children have facility with language to be successful readers.

Neuroscientist Steven Pinker postulates that a certain form of language delay may be associated with exceptional and innate analytical prowess in some individuals, such as Albert Einstein, Richard Feynman and Edward Teller.

Because clutterers have poor awareness of their disorder, they may be indifferent or even hostile to speech-language pathologists. Delayed auditory feedback (DAF) is usually used to produce a more deliberate, exaggerated oral-motor response pattern. Other treatment components include improving narrative structure with story-telling picture books, turn-taking practice, pausing practice, and language therapy.

Most speech sound disorders occur without a known cause. A child may not learn how to produce sounds correctly or may not learn the rules of speech sounds on his or her own. These children may have a problem with speech development, which does not always mean that they will simply outgrow it by themselves. Many children do develop speech sounds over time but those who do not often need the services of a Speech-Language Pathologist to learn correct speech sounds.

Some speech sound errors can result from other syndromes or disorders such as:

- developmental disorders (e.g. autism)

- genetic disorders (e.g. Down syndrome)

- hearing loss, including temporary hearing loss, such as from ear infections

- cleft palate or other physical anomalies of the mouth

- illness

- neurological disorders (e.g. cerebral palsy)

Specific language impairment (SLI) is diagnosed when a child's language does not develop normally and the difficulties cannot be accounted for by generally slow development, physical abnormality of the speech apparatus, autism spectrum disorder, apraxia, acquired brain damage or hearing loss. Twin studies have shown that it is under genetic

influence. Although language impairment can result from a single-gene mutation, this is unusual. More commonly SLI results from the combined influence of multiple genetic variants, each of which is found in the general population, as well as environmental influences.

Expressive language disorder is a communication disorder in which there are difficulties with verbal and written expression. It is a specific language impairment characterized by an ability to use expressive spoken language that is markedly below the appropriate level for the mental age, but with a language comprehension that is within normal limits. There can be problems with vocabulary, producing complex sentences, and remembering words, and there may or may not be abnormalities in articulation.

As well as present speech production, very often, someone will have difficulty remembering things. This memory problem is only disturbing for speech; non-verbal or non-linguistically based memory will be unimpaired. An example of a child with expressive language disorder can be seen here.

Expressive language disorder affects work and schooling in many ways. It is usually treated by specific speech therapy, and usually cannot be expected to go away on its own.

Expressive language disorder can be further classified into two groups: developmental expressive language disorder and acquired expressive language disorder. Developmental expressive language disorder currently has no known cause, is first observed when a child is learning to talk, is more common in boys than girls, and is much more common than the acquired form of the disorder. Acquired expressive language disorder is caused by specific damage to the brain by a stroke, traumatic brain injury, or seizures.

Care must be taken to distinguish expressive language disorder from other communication disorders, sensory-motor disturbances, intellectual disability and/or environmental deprivation (see DSM-IV-TR criterion D). These factors affect a person's speech and writing to certain predictable extents, and with certain differences.

Careful diagnosis is also important because "atypical language development can be a secondary characteristic of other physical and developmental problems that may first manifest as language problems".

Mixed receptive-expressive language disorder (DSM-IV 315.32) is a communication disorder in which both the receptive and expressive areas of communication may be affected in any degree, from mild to severe. Children with this disorder have difficulty understanding words and sentences. This impairment is classified by deficiencies in expressive and receptive language development that is not attributed to sensory deficits, nonverbal intellectual deficits, a neurological condition, environmental deprivation or psychiatric impairments. Research illustrates that 2% to 4% of 5 year olds have mixed receptive-expressive language disorder. This distinction is made when children have issues in expressive language skills, the production of language, and when children also have issues in receptive language skills, the understanding of language. Those with mixed receptive-language disorder have a normal left-right anatomical asymmetry of the planum temporale and parietale. This is attributed to a reduced left hemisphere functional specialization for language. Taken from a measure of cerebral blood flow (SPECT) in phonemic discrimination tasks, children with mixed receptive-expressive language disorder do not exhibit the expected predominant left hemisphere activation. Mixed receptive-expressive language disorder is also known as receptive-expressive language impairment (RELI) or receptive language disorder.

Those who are physically mute may have problems with the parts of the human body required for human speech (the esophagus, vocal cords, lungs, mouth, or tongue, etc.).

Trauma or injury to Broca's area, located in the left inferior frontal cortex of the brain, can cause muteness.

There is no known "cure" for PDD-NOS, but there are interventions that can have a positive influence. Early and intensive implementation of evidence-based practices and interventions are generally believed to improve outcomes. Most of these are individualized special education strategies rather than medical or pharmaceutical treatment; the best outcomes are achieved when a team approach among supporting individuals is utilized.

Some of the more common therapies and services include:

- Visual and environmental supports, visual schedules

- Applied behavior analysis

- Discrete trial instruction (part of applied behavior analysis)

- Social stories and comic strip conversations

- Physical and occupational therapy

Hyperlexia is a syndrome characterized by a child's precocious ability to read. It was initially identified by Norman E. Silberberg and Margaret C. Silberberg (1967), who defined it as the precocious ability to read words without prior training in learning to read, typically before the age of 5. They indicated that children with hyperlexia have a significantly higher word-decoding ability than their reading comprehension levels. Children with hyperlexia also present with an intense fascination for written material at a very early age.

Hyperlexic children are characterized by having average or above-average IQs, and word-reading ability well above what would be expected given their age. First named and scientifically described in 1967 (Silverberg and Silverberg), it can be viewed as a superability in which word recognition ability goes far above expected levels of skill. Some hyperlexics, however, have trouble understanding speech. Some experts believe that most, or perhaps all children with hyperlexia, lie on the autism spectrum. However, one expert, Darold Treffert, proposes that hyperlexia has subtypes, only some of which overlap with autism. Between 5 and 20 percent of autistic children have been estimated to be hyperlexic.

Hyperlexic children are often fascinated by letters or numbers. They are extremely good at decoding language and thus often become very early readers. Some hyperlexic children learn to spell long words (such as "elephant") before they are two years old and learn to read whole sentences before they turn three.

An fMRI study of a single child showed that hyperlexia may be the neurological opposite of dyslexia.

A communication disorder is any disorder that affects an individual's ability to comprehend, detect, or apply language and speech to engage in discourse effectively with others. The delays and disorders can range from simple sound substitution to the inability to understand or use one's native language.

Echolalia (also known as echologia or echophrasia) is defined as the unsolicited repetition of vocalizations made by another person (by the same person is called palilalia). In its profound form it is automatic and effortless. It is one of the echophenomena, closely related to echopraxia, the automatic repetition of movements made by another person; both are "subsets of imitative behavior" whereby sounds or actions are imitated "without explicit awareness". Echolalia may be an immediate reaction to a stimulus or may be delayed.

The word "echolalia" is derived from the Greek , meaning "echo" or "to repeat", and ("laliá") meaning "speech" or "talk" (of onomatopoeic origin, from the verb ("laléo"), meaning "to talk").

As of 2012 there has only been one small-scale study comparing CROS systems.

One study of the BAHA system showed a benefit depending on the patient's transcranial attenuation. Another study showed that sound localisation was not improved, but the effect of the head shadow was reduced.

Cluttering (also called tachyphemia or tachyphrasia) is a speech and communication disorder characterized by a rapid rate of speech, erratic rhythm, and poor syntax or grammar, making speech difficult to understand.

Specific language impairments are often secondary characteristics of other disorders such as autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In these cases, issues with speech and language are often not treated specifically, but rather attention is given to the primary complaint. Due to the high correlation of an SLI with other disorders, it is difficult to tell the difference between "pure SLI" or language impairments due to the presence of another disorder.

The focus and attention on the need for effective literacy instruction in the current educational climate is large. It is widely recognized that literacy needs to be taught across all curricula and verbal fluency correlates positively academic achievement. Literacy strategies are now being taught in an inclusive manner, rather than the traditional pull-out system, it is assumed that successful teaching strategies for high needs students are good for all students. Basic principles for interventions for students with a specific language impairment follow - the necessity to set specific goals, to manipulate the classroom environment and curricula so that there are many opportunities to use grammar effectively, the importance of consistently modelling high quality speech, the use of a wide variety of text and literature, and to value comprehension as the most important goal for students to achieve. There is no current cure-all intervention for students with SLIs, however, this is an ever expanding field of research.