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Services
A comprehensive therapy program for all areas of need identified during evaluation.
What We do
Speech Therapy
Speech therapy addresses communication skills in a variety of areas, including- speech sounds (articulation/ phonological disorders, apraxia), fluency, language, voice, and social skills. A speech disorder refers to a problem with the actual production of sounds. A language disorder refers to a problem understanding or putting words together to communicate ideas. Speech therapy can help kids learn to speak more clearly. This helps them feel more confident and less frustrated about speaking to others. Kids who have language issues can benefit socially, emotionally and academically from speech therapy.
Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapy addresses sensory concerns that may impact day to day activities such as eating a variety of foods or textures, tolerating certain touch, body awareness in space, and regulation behavior. Our occupational therapy services cover feeding therapy to handwriting skills! Immediate openings available.
Physical Therapy
Coming Fall 2022! Now hiring!
Is Speech Therapy Right For You?
Common Questions
Speech pathologists (SLPs) have extensive training in language development and acquisition. In some cases, language development may be disordered, meaning different skills develop at different times out of typical order. Our SLPs will develop a plan of assessment based on the case history caregivers complete for our intake process. Based on the presenting complaint and age of the child, we select an evaluation instrument to tease out specific areas of weakness (and determine your child’s language strengths) to target throughout the course of treatment. Our evaluations look at all areas of language, including but not limited to speech sound development (articulation), understanding language/directions (receptive), use of words, gestures, combining words, sentence structure (expressive). Other areas of assessment may include fluency (stuttering) or voice.
“Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning”-Diane Ackerman
Studies have shown that children learn most quickly through play-based learning than any other teaching method. Our therapists “play with purpose”- making your child’s sessions fun and something they look forward to! Our patients gleefully greet their therapist and eagerly run to the therapy room. Our fun and interactive play-based sessions are well suited for young children who are learning skills such as new sounds, first words, following directions, and learning appropriate play skills. Our therapists analyze evidence-based therapeutic techniques every session and parent coaching is built into every session so you can learn how to be your child’s best supporter of speech and language development in between sessions.
By 3 years old, most children should be able to be understood 75% of the time. There are many reasons why your child may be difficult to understand, including but not limited to: difficulty pronouncing sounds, leaving off sounds in words, weak vocabulary, or difficulty formulating sentences. Our comprehensive evaluations will determine the cause of the delay and treatment plan to improve.
Speech & Language Therapy
Disorders We Assess
01
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Social skills, functional expressive language, understanding verbal language, and play skills. Assessments may increase in complexity depending on child’s age and abilities.
In 2018, approximately 1 in 59 children were diagnosed with Autism, with boys four times as likely to receive a diagnosis than girls. Autism can be reliably diagnosed as early as 2 years old, and early intervention is key to support appropriate speech and language development. Hallmarks of ASD may include limited or loss of language, behavioral challenges, restricted interests, limited eye contact, persistent repetition of words or phrases (echolalia).
02
Language Disorders
From pre-language skills to disordered sentence structure, limited vocabulary, difficulty comprehending language and everything in between, we have a wide range of assessments that suit a variety of ages and abilities to gather a clear picture of strengths and weaknesses.
Refer to words or methods we use to communicate and understand others. By 18 months, children should say 50 words and by two years old, they should be combining words to form simple phrases. Difficulty understanding what others say (such as identifying objects or following directions) is referred to as receptive language, while using words or gestures to communicate is expressive language. Pragmatic, or social language skills are also a specific language impairment area. Children with social language difficulties have difficulty playing with peers, formulating, and maintaining friendships. Language disorders may persist into late childhood/early adulthood and affect academic skills such as reading, writing, math and can include executive functioning skills (includes working memory, cognitive flexibility, inhibition, and self control).
03
Articulation Disorders
Speech sounds and clarity.
By 4 years old, children should be 95-100% understandable to an unfamiliar listener. Difficulty with articulation can significantly impact academic skills such as reading and writing later on. Most speech sounds are developed by 6 with some later sounds such as “th” and “r” developing by 8 years old. For best outcomes, therapy on the “late eight” sounds should begin by 7 years old. Articulation disorders include phonological disorders and Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). Children with CAS require frequent, intensive therapy to address speech sound errors.
04
Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders
Incorrect posture of tongue, jaw, and lips that results in poor function of chewing, swallowing, and speech clarity. At rest facial posture and during speech tasks, an underlying OMD can negatively affect progress towards articulation goals resulting in longer than necessary treatment courses. We assess for an OMD with all articulation referrals.
Abnormal resting postures of the jaw, lips, and tongue, and/or abnormal swallowing (reverse swallow pattern). Often associated with persistent speech sound errors and repeated orthodontia intervention.
05
Reading Intervention/Dyslexia
Phonemic awareness (matching sounds to letters), blending, segmenting, oral language, spelling, reading fluency and comprehension.
Early reading intervention is imperative for children who struggle to develop emergent literacy skills (which start to develop at 2 years old!) in order to prevent reading failure. Successful readers have better academic and future economic opportunities than those that never acquire reading proficiency. Research based methods and a client specific treatment protocol are the foundation to our literacy treatment programs.
Dyslexia is a neurobiological disorder that affects a person’s ability to process phonology and written (orthographic) language. It is a type of learning disability rooted in language, and affects a person’s ability to read, write, and spell. Individuals with dyslexia may also experience difficulties with spoken language, including the ability to say and read multisyllabic words, word identification, and decoding of real and nonsense words.
06
Apraxia
Memory, restoration of functional skills, naming, comprehension, and expressive language for children and adults.
Brain injuries can have devastating, long term effects such as memory loss, visual neglect, cognitive reasoning, and impaired speech and language. Aphasia is an acquired injury to the brain, often due to a stroke, and typically involves the left hemisphere. Traumatic Brain Injuries are acquired brain damage usually caused by outside trauma, such as from a car accident. Treatment goals are to create the highest level of independent function specific to each patient.
07
Fluency Disorders
Connected speech, expressive language, and associated behaviors (such as avoiding certain words/sounds, facial grimacing, etc.
Sometimes referred to as stuttering or stammering, fluency disorders are difficulty speaking with smooth, rhythmic speech. Stuttering can occur in both children and adults with some known factors such as genetics and affects over 3 million people in the United States alone.
08
Swallowing Disorders
Chewing, swallowing, and choking when eating.
Signs of swallowing disorders include coughing, choking, spilling food or liquids from the mouth, food getting “stuck” in the throat. Difficulty swallowing and managing an oral diet may result in aspiration pneumonia, weight loss, or dehydration. A speech pathologist can train compensatory swallow strategies and implement an exercise program to strengthen the muscles used to swallow and make recommendations on diet modifications.
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If your child suffers from one of these disorders, speech therapy may be beneficial to your child’s development.