The State of Competence and Language Proficiency of a 6‑Year‑Old Boy with Social Orphanhood. Comparative Study

Abstract

In the medical, psychological, and pedagogical literature it is emphasized that the lack of satisfying the basic psychological needs of a child affects its somatic development, causes disturbances in the emotional sphere, and delays psychomotor development. In various sci­entific fields, the effects of social orphanhood are already a marginalized topic and only dis­cussed in general terms regarding basic teachings – making these topics in speech therapy especially a novelty.

This article deals with the level of competence and language skills of a six‑year‑old boy with social orphan compared to a boy of the same age who is raised with his nuclear family – thus not deprived of his basic physical and emotional needs. A comparative – quantitative analy­sis based on the Linguistic Development Test and – qualitative analysis was performed, tak­ing into account all language subsystems.

The initiated research is includes a new perspective in speech therapy – taking into account the environmental effects on language development and in particular the impact of social orphanhood on the child’s linguistic development.