Services
Our services include comprehensive assessment, individualized therapy, and small group instruction in the following areas:
Articulation and Phonology Disorders
Children often make mistakes while learning to pronounce words. This is normal, but a speech-sound disorder occurs when these errors continue past a certain age. Children can develop articulation problems, such as using a “w” sound for “r” and saying “wabbit” instead of “rabbit.” They may also struggle with phonological processes by making incorrect sound patterns, such as leaving off the end of the word “want” and saying “I wa” instead of “I want.”
Autism
Autism creates varying degrees of social and/or communication problems. Children may neglect to respond to others; exhibit repetitive behavior patterns; insist on following set routines; and/or avoid physical touch. They may also experience delayed communication; have trouble learning to produce certain sounds; continually repeat particular phrases; and/or have difficulty comprehending commands, questions, and word meanings.
Developmental Speech and Language Delays
Children between 18 months and 3 years of age are learning to communicate and may have trouble comprehending certain words or formulating sentences. They may also have difficulty coordinating their mouths in sequential movements to produce sounds. In the case of speech or language delays, children can, with help, catch up to their peers. With disorders, however, more intensive therapy is needed to prevent development gaps from persisting.
Reading/Literacy Skills
In early educational years children are building literacy skills, such as letter recognition and the ability to blend sounds together, so they can learn how to read. By third grade the focus shifts and children start reading to learn rather than learning to read. For struggling readers, learning may be delayed because children are too focused on decoding individual words to grasp their combined meaning. Disorders such as dyslexia (difficulty learning to read or interpret words, letters, and symbols) may be the root cause.
Social Skills/ Social Pragmatics
For successful interaction with others, these skills include basic interaction, friendship, conflict resolution, perspective taking and self-advocacy. Developed in childhood and adolescence, these skills allow an individual to achieve “competence” in various social situations.
Fluency Disorders
These problems include stuttering, a communication disorder marked by frequent, excessive, or persistent disruptions in the forward flow of speech. “Disfluencies” like this can be associated with abnormal motor behaviors such as facial grimaces, twitching, jaw tension, head bobbing, and/or blinking, making it all the more difficult to communicate effectively with others.
Does my child need speech therapy? Read more by downloading these handouts.