Word catchers: Russia lacks qualified speech therapists
There is a shortage of competent speech pathologists in the country, HR services and experts told Izvestia. Specialists who work with children with developmental delays, autism and neurological diseases are especially in demand. Currently, more than 75 thousand Russian schoolchildren suffer from severe speech disorders, and, according to experts, their number will grow. Among the possible reasons are the reduction of live communication in families and the craze for gadgets, which make children less likely to play and talk to each other. How many schoolchildren face such problems and what is the danger of the lack of timely support is in the Izvestia material.
Shortage of qualified speech therapists
Since the beginning of 2026, Russian employers have placed more than 5.8 thousand vacancies for speech therapists and speech pathologists, analysts told Izvestia. hh.ru . About 60% of them are professionals working with children. Those who work with children with delayed speech and speech development, autism and neurological disorders are especially in demand.
"The demand for school speech therapists is growing," the HR department noted. — Previously, kindergartens mainly needed such employees, but now schools are actively recruiting them.
Also, according to "Profi.<url>", there is a growing demand for speech therapists who work with adults and help restore speech after strokes, surgeries and injuries.
The need for speech therapy has increased significantly, Marina Kudryavtseva, speech therapist at the Association of People with Stuttering, Speech Development Specialists and Organizations, told Izvestia.
According to her, children often have problems with sound reproduction and phonological development, as well as more serious language difficulties — from limited vocabulary and grammar errors to difficulties with constructing phrases and understanding spoken speech.
At the same time, in recent years, the system of assistance to children with such disabilities has significantly expanded in Russia: they have become better identified and supported. According to the Ministry of Education, from 2021 to 2023, the number of institutions dealing with such problems increased from 37 thousand to 41 thousand. Each year, these organizations require more than 1,9 thousand speech therapists.
At the same time, supply is also growing: in 2026, the number of resumes for speech specialists increased by 20%, said Roman Gubanov, Director of Development at Avito Work. In the Rostov region, this figure increased by 10%. in St. Petersburg — by 13%, and the largest increase was recorded in Moscow — 139%,
— At the same time, there is an acute shortage of qualified personnel, — Marina Kudryavtseva admitted. — It is quite easy to find a speech therapist who works with sound pronunciation in preschoolers. But there are very few experts who work with serious cases. It is not easy for parents of such children to find a professional capable of conducting a full-fledged diagnosis, assessing speech comprehension and communication skills, determining the need for additional examinations and choosing a suitable correction scheme.
Paradoxically, it is possible to become a speech therapist relatively quickly, since there are many short-term retraining programs and courses, the expert emphasized.
"This helps to expand the talent pool, but it creates another problem: the qualifications of specialists are becoming extremely heterogeneous," she said. — The availability of a retraining document does not guarantee sufficient knowledge to work with a "complex" child.
How many children with speech disorders
According to the Ministry of Health, specific speech development disorders occur in 5-8% of children. In 2025, according to a report by the Ministry of Education and Science, more than 1.2 million children with disabilities were enrolled in preschool and general education institutions. Of these, more than 32,000 children have been diagnosed with autism, 411,000 have severe speech disorders, and another 443,000 have mental retardation.
At the same time, according to data for 2023, about 60% of children with disabilities study together with healthy peers — in an inclusive environment. According to corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Education (RAE) Tatiana Solovyova, more than 75 thousand Russian schoolchildren suffer from severe speech disorders and need to create special conditions for general education.
Elena, a Muscovite, told Izvestia that her daughter was diagnosed with general speech underdevelopment of the third degree and erased dysarthria, a violation of sound production due to damage to the nervous system.
— She is in the third grade of a regular school, although earlier she would probably have been sent to a speech school (for children with severe speech disorders. — Ed.), — she noted. — But now there are few such schools left, and they only accept children with very serious problems. The rest are offered inclusion and classes with a school speech therapist, which, of course, is good, but not enough.
After the first grade, there was no result at all, moreover, problems began in Russian and reading lessons, the girl's mother complained.
"And because of English, which is now mandatory from the second grade, she doesn't want to go to school at all," the woman emphasized. — A private speech pathologist, with whom we began to work additionally, believes that "speech" children should not learn a foreign language so early. In general, we are increasingly thinking about switching to homeschooling — but then either my husband or I will have to leave work or look for options remotely.
And Maria's child is still a preschooler, but the family has already faced difficulties.
"When my son was three, we got a referral to a speech therapy kindergarten," she told Izvestia. "He was only saying a few words back then, and even then he was slurring his words. Everyone said that things would get better for school, but there's only a year left, and it doesn't look like that's going to happen. Of course, they work with children in kindergarten, and if the problem is only in the production of sounds, it can usually be solved. But everything is more complicated for my son. He builds sentences incorrectly, cannot pronounce long words, and confuses syllables. The shifts have been minimal for two years. I don't know, either the teacher is not pulling, or there are too few classes. It is with great difficulty that we find a private speech therapist who takes on such cases, but so much time has already been lost...
The problem of accessibility of qualified care, especially for children with severe and complex speech disorders, is quite acute, said Olga Geladze, a child clinical psychologist and a specialist in the Alter psychological platform. The situation is most difficult in small towns and rural areas, she believes.
"Sometimes families have to travel to other cities to undergo a comprehensive diagnosis and receive the necessary help," the expert noted.
Mild disorders are much more common. According to the Ministry of Health, speech therapy problems are detected in 30% of cases among children aged 5-6 years, and in 20% of 7-8-year—olds. At the same time, the number of children who do not begin to speak until the age of three has increased significantly. For comparison, in the 1980s, speech defects were noted in 25% of preschoolers, and today, according to a number of experts, almost everyone has them.
Are smartphones to blame
The lack of timely assistance to a child with speech disorders can lead to severe secondary consequences, and correcting neglected conditions always requires tremendous effort and time, Nadezhda Rudakova, a medical speech therapist at the Be Healthy Children's clinic on Sushchevsky Val, told Izvestia.
"Speech development is directly related to thinking, psychology, and socialization," she explained. — If you skip the period up to 3-5 years, mental retardation may occur. It will be extremely difficult for a child to master the school curriculum, he will not be able to fully perceive and memorize information. Violations of oral speech almost always manifest themselves in writing: children confuse letters or write with gross errors.
According to the speech therapist, it is more difficult for such children to make friends and adapt in kindergarten and then at school, which can lead to isolation.
— As the child grows up, he begins to realize his difficulties and may refuse to speak. Some become withdrawn, aggressive, and insecure because their peers don't understand them," the expert noted.
The formation of speech is primarily influenced by the peculiarities of the nervous system, hearing and the pace of mental development, Olga Geladze said. However, uncontrolled use of gadgets can also lead to violations.
—It is important for a child to be talked to, to respond to his words and initiative, and to maintain a dialogue," she said. — Many children now spend most of their time at home, and there is much less free play, movement and live communication. Combined with the active use of gadgets, this can create a shortage of diverse experiences necessary for development.
And neuropsychologist Anna Kiryushina noted that, according to her observations, modern children have become more likely to encounter not just individual phonetic problems, but systemic speech disorders.
— For example, difficulty understanding speech or regulatory dysfunctions (disorders that occur due to malfunctions of the frontal lobes of the brain. — Ed.), — she said. — This is also due to the lack of live communication and movement. Speech is an exchange. The gadget or AI doesn't require an answer, they do everything for the child. He doesn't have to say, do, or move. The smartphone already has everything: interesting games and a palette of emotions.
"Speech" children often require not only classes with a speech therapist, but also the help of a neurologist, psychiatrist, sign language specialist, defectologist and psychologist, Olga Geladze noted. According to her, such an interdisciplinary approach reduces the risk of misinterpretation of symptoms and helps to build the most appropriate route for diagnosis, correction and support of the child.
Izvestia sent requests to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education with a request to tell how many children with speech disorders were registered in 2026 and what led to a shortage of qualified speech therapists.
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