A to Z Pediatric Speech Therapy Services!

What Is Speech Therapy

Speech/language pathologists specialize in complete speech/language diagnostic and therapeutic services. Each client’s needs are addressed individually, with sensitivity to the individual’s specific situation. These services include assessment, intervention, and consultation for children with language delays, phonological disorders, developmental dyspraxia, articulation difficulties and social communication difficulties. Special treatment plans are designed for children with autism, syndromes, apraxia, and other neurogenic disorders and developmental delays. Speech & Language therapy can include one or more of the following communication areas:

• Expressive language: unable to form meaningful messages using age appropriate grammar or word finding difficulties.
• Receptive language: difficulty understanding what is being said to them.
• Articulation/speech: unable to produce age appropriate sounds.
• Social language: difficulties with turn taking, initiating and maintaining a conversation, repairing conversation breakdowns, perspective taking and interpreting non-verbal cues.
• Feeding and swallowing : difficulties swallowing liquids or food.
• Voice: disturbance of pitch, loudness or quality in relation to an individual’s age, gender and culture.
• Oral Motor: difficulties with muscle function and/or motor planning that affect the individual's ability to eat, drink, or speak.
• APD(Auditory Processing Disorder): difficulties attending, poor listening skills, following multi-step directions, difficulties processing information, difficulty with reading, spelling and vocabulary.
• Augmentative : assisting non-verbal patient’s communication with a communication device or PECS (Picture Exchange System).

Speech Therapy Education/Careers:

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs), who are often informally known as speech therapists, are professionals educated in the study of human communication, its development, and its disorders. They hold at least a master's degree and state certification/licensure in the field, as well as a Certificate of Clinical Competency from the American Speech-Hearing-Association(ASHA).

By assessing the speech, language, cognitive-communication, and swallowing skills of children, speech-language pathologists can determine what types of communication problems exist and the best way to treat these challenges.

Speech-language pathologists typically treat problems in the areas of articulation; dysfluency; oral-motor, speech, and voice; and receptive and expressive language disorders.

For more information please see www.asha.org