What do our Pediatric Speech Therapists do?

Speech-Language Pathologiests (Speech Therapists) are professionals who can evaluate, identify, and treat delays and disorders involving verbal and nonverbal communication as well as difficulties with feeding or swallowing. Our SLPs focus on communication, language, articulation, and feeding and swallowing to improve a child’s quality of life. Our therapists are instrumental in developing oral motor skills, learning speech and sound production, and assisting in eating and swallowing age-appropriate foods safely through skilled therapy treatment.

 

Our speech therapists work with children of all ages in achieving their language and feeding milestones. This includes babies who have difficulties with feeding and latching, toddlers with difficulties using certain sounds, and children who have difficulties with both verbal and nonverbal communication.

 

At the evaluation, our SLPs help identify the causes of speech and feeding milestone delays. They will then work with you and your child to create an individualized plan for treatment to reach your goals! Some things you may work on are:

• Speech: Of course! Therapists will work on articulation, stuttering, or voice disorders
• Receptive Language: Therapists help children process and understand the information they receive. This includes following directions or understanding a story they have been told.
• Expressive Language: Therapists help children learn how to produce words and combine them into phrases and sentences to communicate their thoughts, wants, and feelings!
• Feeding/Swallowing: Therapists work on development of muscles and motor planning for safely eating and drinking.

Some signs that your child might need Speech Therapy include:

• At 12-15 months, they only make a few sounds, do not point or gesture (such as wave), or have not said any words.
• At 18-24 months, grunts and points rather than speaking, they do not use two-word combinations, or leave off the ends of words.
• At 2-4 years, they do not put 2-3 words together, say fewer than 50 words, or if others outside of your family have a lot of difficulty understanding your child.
• At 4-5 years old, they are unable to follow simple directions, repeat sounds of words, leave off sounds in words, or stutter.

Our speech therapists will work with you to develop a customized home program to help with caregiver involvement to maximize your child’s potential for reaching milestones and goals!

If you have any concerns regarding your child’s development of gross motor, fine motor, or speech skills and want to find out ways we can assist, please call our office for a free consultation/screening or to schedule a full evaluation.