LEARNING MORE ABOUT OUR
speech
therapy
Speech therapists address so much more than talking! SLP’s can help your child build skills related to oral language, total communication, play, literacy, grammar, vocabulary, speech sounds, listening, feeding, social language, self-advocacy, and stuttering.
Communication helps build a strong relationship with your child whether it comes via words, signs, facial expressions, gestures, or any other method. Our speech therapists believe therapy should be fun and family-centered in order to promote success.
Isabelle is a wonderful speech therapist! We have seen so much progress with my son, and she has given me so much wonderful information and resources that I can use at home to better help my son.
late talkers
A late talker is a child between 18-36 months whose spoken language is delayed even if there aren’t delays in other areas of development. A child experiences the most brain growth before 3 years of age, so early intervention is critical.
Signs therapy may be beneficial:
LIMITED BABBLING AND/OR IMITATION OF GESTURES AT 1 YEAR
BY 18 MONTHS, LESS THAN 10 TRUE WORDS, NOT USING SEVERAL CONSONANTS, NOT FOLLOWING 1-STEP DIRECTIONS
BY 2 YEARS, LESS THAN 50 WORDS, NOT COMBINING 2 WORDS, NOT USING LANGUAGE TO COMMUNICATE
BY 3 YEARS, LESS THAN 300 WORDS, NOT COMING 2-3 WORDS, MINIMAL GRAMMAR
speech sound disorders
Children may say some sounds the wrong way as they learn to talk which is a typical part of development. However, by 4 years, most children can say almost all speech sounds correctly and are understood by people outside of their family. Speech therapy can determine if your child’s errors are age-appropriate or if help is recommended.
social language + play
Communication is more than just talking. Communication means talking with another person. These skills allow us to be social, to develop relationships and to understand meaning during social communication. For children, play is the primary facilitator of communication. Play supports social learning as children learn to work together, share a space, and negotiate with others.
language + literacy disorders
Developmental language disorder (DLD) is a communication disorder that interferes with learning, understanding, and using language. About 1 in 14 kindergarteners have a developmental language disorder. Because oral language is the bedrock of reading and writing, language difficulties can be the first sign of literacy difficulties. Speech therapy can strengthen your child’s vocabulary, grammar, and storytelling skills, which are all crucial parts of communication and literacy.
common symptoms of DLD:
HISTORY OF LANGUAGE DELAY
SLOW TO LEARN LETTER SOUNDS OR LEARNING TO READ
SMALL VOCABULARY, OVERUSE OF WORDS LIKE "STUFF" AND "THING"
DIFFICULTY EXPRESSING THOUGHTS CLEARLY
DISORGANIZED STORYTELLING (ABOUT ONE'S DAY OR FROM A BOOK)
FREQUENT GRAMMATICAL ERRORS
DIFFICULTY FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS AND ANSWERING WH- QUESTIONS
receptive + expressive skills
Receptive / expressive skills are required in order to let people know our wants and needs throughout our day. Children with difficulties in this area often don’t understand simple and complex directions and may be unable to communicate what they want or need.
USING WORDS INCORRECTLY
USING SIMPLE SENTENCES OR SHORT PHRASES
Children with EXPRESSIVE language disorder often struggle to form sentences that make sense. They may need extra time to answer questions or take a turn in a conversation. Common issues include:
USING VAGUE WORDS LIKE "THING" OR "STUFF"
HAVING A LOWER THAN AVERAGE VOCABULARY
HAVING TROUBLE FINDING THE RIGHT WORD
LEAVING OUT WORDS
BEING LATE TO BEGIN TALKING AND/OR SPEAKING QUIETLY
Children with RECEPTIVE language disorder have difficulty understanding language, following multi-part directions, and organizing their thoughts.
TUNING OUT WHEN PEOPLE TALK
MISUNDERSTANDING WHAT'S SAID
TROUBLE FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS
ASKING PEOPLE TO REPEAT
INTERRUPTING PEOPLE WHO ARE SPEAKING
NOT GETTING JOKES
GIVING ANSWERS THAT ARE "OFF"
apraxia of speech
Apraxia is a motor speech disorder which interrupts the messages needed to go from your brain to your mouth. These messages tell the muscles how and when to move to make sounds. In a child with apraxia of speech, the messages do not get through from the brain to the mouth correctly.
A child with apraxia of speech knows what they want to say, but when the words come out, they don’t sound right. The problem is not how the child thinks but how the brain tells the mouth muscles to move. The child might not be able to move their lips or tongue in the right ways, even though their muscles are not weak. Sometimes, the child might not be able to say much at all.
common signs of struggling with apraxia of speech :
DOESN'T ALWAYS SAY WORDS THE SAME WAY EVERY TIME
TENDS TO PUT THE STRESS ON THE WRONG SYLLABLE OR WORD
DISTORTS OR CHANGES SOUNDS
CAN SAY SHORTER WORDS MORE CLEARLY THAN LONGER WORDS
DELAYED LANGUAGE
DIFFICULTIES WITH FINE OR GROSS MOTOR SKILLS
NOT A PROBLEM THE CHILD WILL OUTGROW
WILL NOT MAKE PROGRESS WITHOUT TREATMENT
CAN TAKE A LOT OF WORK, BUT CHILD'S SPEECH WILL IMPROVE
motor skills + articulation
Oral motor skills refer to the movement of the muscles in the mouth, jaw, tongue, lips and cheeks. The strength, coordination and control of these oral structures are the foundation for feeding related tasks, such as sucking, biting, crunching, licking and chewing. They are also important for speech articulation and facial expression.
indicators of limitations in oral motor skills include:
LIMITED DIETARY PREFERENCES
EXCESSIVE DROOLING
DIFFICULTY SUCKING, CHEWING, AND SWALLOWING
POOR ARTICULATION
MESSY EATING HABITS
gestalt language processing
Gestalt language processing is a style of language development. It is not a diagnosis or disorder, but another way children acquire language. Gestalt language processors communicate with whole memorized phrases (also called scripts, chunks, echolalia, or gestalts). This distinction is important so speech therapists can tailor their interventions.
common signs a child might be a gestalt language processor:
USES SCRIPTS FROM FAVORITE SHOWS, MOVIES or SONGS
SCRIPTED PHRASES MIGHT SEEM OUT-OF-CONTEXT
LABELS LOTS OF OBJECTS, BUT HAS DIFFICULTIES USING THE WORDS FOR COMMUNICATION
WHEN ASKED A QUESTION, CHILD MAY IMITATE THE QUESTION INSTEAD OF ANSWERING
AAC (augmentative alternate communication)
AAC refers to all the ways we communicate besides talking. AAC can include pictures, writing, facial expressions, sign language, gestures and pointing, printed visual aid,s and high-tech devices. Our SLP’s are trained in Proloquo2go, LAMP Words for Life, TDSnap, TouchChat, SimPODD, and Go Talk.
AAC facts:
AAC USE DOES NOT PREVENT YOUR CHILD FROM TALKING
AAC CAN BE A PART OF CHILD'S COMMUNICATION TOOLBOX, MEANING THEY MAY USE VERBAL SPEECH, SIGNS/GESTURES, WRITING, ETC.
AAC CAN BE INTRODUCED EARLY – IT IS NOT A LAST RESORT!
AAC INCREASES OVERALL COMMUNICATION WHICH REDUCES FRUSTRATION
articulation + phonology
An articulation deficit is the inability to correctly produce speech sounds because of imprecise placement, timing, pressure, speed, or flow of movement of the lips, tongue, or throat. Children with articulation disorder are producing erred speech sounds and may have a difficult time being understood by others.
stuttering
Stuttering refers to interruptions to the forward flow of speech, characterized by repetition of sounds/syllables/words, blocks, and prolongations of sounds. About 5% of children go through a period of stuttering that lasts 6 months or more. Most of these kids will grow out of their stuttering, leaving about 1% of the population with a persistent stutter. Speech therapy address stuttering behaviors as well as thoughts and beliefs about stuttering to help children gain confidence in their communication skills.
pragmatics + social language
These skills allow us to be social, and to develop relationships and understand meaning during social communication. Some children have difficulty interpreting facial expressions and body language, and may only be interested in their own topic of conversation.