DeSilva, Speech Language Pathologist of The Child Development Programme (CDP) have assessed about 200 children with language problems this year. They consult with other staff, parents, physicians and educators.

"Communication disorders are serious problems,'' explained Ms DeSilva. "The ability to communicate is our most human characteristic and it is essential to learning, working, and social interaction. Impaired communication can affect every aspect of a person's life.'' Both language experts talked about the most common speech disorders: Stuttering : an interruption in the rhythm of speech characterised by hesitations, repetitions or prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases, for example, cow ... boy.

Articulation disorders : difficulties with the way sounds are formed and strung together usually characterised by substituting one sound for another (wabbit for rabbit), omitting a sound (han for hand), or distorting a sound (shlip for sip).

Voice Disorders : inappropriate pitch (too high, too low, never changing or interrupted by breaks);loudness (too loud or not loud enough); or quality (harsh, hoarse, breathy, or nasal).

When asked what causes communication disorders the expert duo responded, "With regard to hearing, some of the causes of hearing loss are chronic ear infections, heredity, birth defects, health problems at birth, certain drugs, head injury, viral or bacterial infection, exposure to loud noise, aging and tumours.

"Concerning speech and language, again hearing loss, cerebral palsy and other nerve/muscle disorders, severe head injury, stroke, viral disease, mental retardation, drugs, physical impairments such as cleft lip or palate, vocal abuse or misuse, and inadequate speech and language models; frequently, the cause is unknown.'' The minimum expectation of language for a two-year-old is putting two or three words together. The listener should be able to understand what the child is saying. The child should use language to make his/her needs and wants understood and to answer simple questions.

Ms Ewanchyshym explained, "Language development is very interesting from birth to age five. When we look at language we look at how the child expresses himself, how he understands the language and what the intent of the language is.'' She continued that there is a period of normal disfluency for children aged two to five.

Ms DeSilva and Ms Ewanchyshym stressed that language learning difficulties may become academic concerns related to reading.