THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY SUPPORT FOR YOUNG AND EARLY PRESCHOOL CHILDREN: THE CURRENT STATE OF THE PROBLEM

Abstract

The article summarizes the scientific positions of Ukrainian and international researchers regarding the mechanisms of speech development in early ontogenesis and identifies the psycholinguistic prerequisites for the emergence of speech difficulties. The results of Ukrainian studies are of considerable importance for the advancement of modern speech therapy, as they specify the psycholinguistic mechanisms of speech disorders and substantiate effective approaches to their early prevention and remediation. A theoretical analysis of contemporary approaches to providing speech and language therapy to children of early preschool age has been carried out. The expediency of an integrative approach to the assessment of speech development is substantiated, taking into account the interaction of cognitive, neuropsychological, and linguistic factors. It is emphasized that development in early preschool age proceeds unevenly. A slowed pace of age-related development may affect one or several functions, be observed at one or several stages, and be combined with various neurological disorders. It has been established that the leading risk markers include insufficient development of speech programming operations, lexical-grammatical encoding, and speech prediction. It is shown that early identification of specific speech development difficulties makes it possible to prevent secondary disorders of oral and written speech in subsequent learning. The directions for improving the content of speech and language therapy are outlined with consideration of the sensitivity of early age and the variability of children’s speech development. The practical significance of the results lies in the possibility of their application in the development of early intervention programs and corrective-developmental support for children with special educational needs. The obtained generalizations confirm the necessity of early interdisciplinary support for children at risk of speech disorders. The importance of combining diagnostic and corrective-developmental components within the system of speech and language therapy is emphasized. The expediency of a differentiated selection of intervention methods with regard to the child’s individual speech profile is noted. Prospects for further research are seen in the development and experimental verification of effective models of early speech and language intervention.