Speech Sound Disorders
As children learn to talk, it is typical for them to mispronounce words and speech sounds. However, when a child continues to have difficulty saying speech sounds past the age of expected mastery, a speech sound disorder may be present. These errors can result in difficulty understanding the child, often leading to communication breakdowns and frustration.
Speech sound disorders that we treat include the following:
-
Articulation: difficulty with producing specific sounds correctly or clearly. For instance, a child may swap one sound for another, like "baccum" for "vacuum."
-
Phonology: a child who produces patterns of errors to simplify words. For instance, a child may cut off the end of words, like "duh" for "duck."
-
Apraxia of Speech: difficulty with initiating and coordinating the movements to produce words clearly. For instance, a child may say the same word differently each time, like "baba", then "bada" for "bottle."
Children with language disorders can have difficulty with receptive, expressive, and pragmatic language. Children with receptive language disorders often have difficulty with understanding language to follow directions, answer questions, and understand stories. Children with expressive language disorders are often observed to have a limited vocabulary, use short sentences, and have difficulty using words to express their wants and needs. Children with a pragmatic language disorder have difficulty using social communication to develop meaningful relationships.
​
Language disorders that we treat include the following:
-
Expressive Language: using gestures, words, and sentences to functionally communicate (e.g., requesting, protesting, asking for help, asking questions).
-
Receptive Language: understanding language to follow directions (e.g., "put your cup on the table"), answer questions (e.g., "where's the ball?"), and understand words (e.g., nouns, adjectives, verbs, prepositions, and pronouns).
-
Pragmatic Language: developing social communication skills such as greetings and farewells (e.g., saying "hi" and "bye"), taking turns during play or conversations, initiating conversations, and maintaining the topic of conversations.
Language Disorders
Autism
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects how children communicate, interact socially, and process information. Children with ASD experience a broad range of conditions, such as having delayed communication skills, repetitive behaviors, challenges with social interactions, and reduced pragmatic language skills. Each child with ASD is unique; therefore, each child's experience will differ. For instance, some children with ASD may have few or no words, while others repeat phrases or scripts that they hear. ​
​
Our speech-language therapy services provide support to children with autism by enhancing:
-
Functional Communication Skills: express needs, thoughts, and feelings.
-
Receptive-Expressive Language Skills: understand and use words to functionally communicate, answer questions, and follow directions.
-
Social Communication Skills: use language to interact with others.
-
Play Skill​s: engage in play to learn to communicate, explore, and build relationships.
Every child develops speech and language at their own pace. However, when a child does not reach expected milestones in one or more areas of development at the typical age expectation, this is considered a developmental delay. Common diagnoses that are often associated with developmental delays in speech and language include hearing loss, Autism Spectrum Disorder, genetic conditions (e.g., Down Syndrome, Fragile X Syndrome, etc.), Cerebral Palsy, and Intellectual Disabilities. ​
​
Our speech-language therapy services support children with developmental delays by:
-
Building Prelinguistic Communication Skills: (e.g., joint attention, turn-taking, responding to people, using gestures, and babbling).
-
Enhancing Receptive-Expressive Language Skills: (e.g., understanding vocabulary words, using words or gestures to communicate, answering questions, and following directions).
-
Fostering Play Skill​s: enhancing functional play skills (e.g., putting a ball into the basketball hoop) and pretend play skills. (e.g., playing doctor).
-
Supporting Emergent Literacy Skills: (e.g., holding books appropriately, looking at pictures in books, turning pages in books, and shared reading).
DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS
AAC
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) refers to a system of devices that help children who are nonverbal or who have limited verbal skills. ​When an AAC device is introduced, the goal is to facilitate and encourage the child's language, not replace it. AAC can be temporarily used while a child develops their words. It can also be used as a long-term support for children who are minimally speaking or nonverbal.
​
AAC methods that we use include:​
-
No-tech options: gestures, baby sign language, and facial expressions.
-
Low-tech options: pictures, communication boards, and speech buttons.
-
High-tech options: speech-generating devices or tablets with AAC apps.
​