Speech therapy is a specialized service that focuses on helping individuals develop and improve their communication and feeding skills. At our clinic, our skilled speech therapists work with children facing a range of speech, language, and feeding challenges. Through personalized, play-based sessions, we help children strengthen their ability to understand and express language, communicate their needs and thoughts, and build confidence in social settings. Our goal is to support each child’s unique journey towards clearer, more effective communication and an improved quality of life.
Receptive Language Delays
A receptive language delay is a type of language delay where a child has difficulty understanding or processing spoken language. This means that the child may struggle to follow directions, understand questions, or comprehend words and sentences appropriate for their age. Children with a receptive language delay might appear to “tune out,” have trouble answering questions, or need extra time to process information.
This delay can impact learning and social interactions, as understanding language is key to following instructions, engaging in conversations, and connecting with peers. Receptive language delays can vary in severity, but with the right support, children can make progress.
Speech therapy for receptive language delay focuses on building the child’s understanding of language through activities that teach listening skills, following directions, and recognizing words and concepts. By strengthening receptive language skills, children can better engage in their surroundings, communicate more effectively, and gain confidence in their daily interactions.
Expressive Language Delays
Expressive Language Disorder is a communication disorder where a child has difficulty expressing thoughts, needs, and ideas through spoken language. Children with this disorder may have trouble using the right words, forming complete sentences, or putting words in the correct order. They may understand language well and follow instructions but struggle to communicate as effectively as their peers.
Signs of expressive language disorder can include limited vocabulary, difficulty describing events or objects, or challenges in storytelling and sentence structure. This disorder can affect a child’s ability to share their ideas, which can impact social interactions and academic performance.
Speech therapy for expressive language disorder focuses on helping children expand their vocabulary, build sentences, and organize their thoughts more clearly. Through structured activities and practice, children can improve their ability to express themselves confidently and effectively in a variety of situations.
Speech Sound Production Delays
Articulation
An articulation disorder is a type of speech difficulty where a child struggles with producing certain sounds correctly, making their speech harder to understand. This can include substituting one sound for another (like saying “wabbit” instead of “rabbit”), leaving out sounds (saying “nana” for “banana”), or distorting sounds in a way that makes words sound unclear.
Articulation issues are common in young children as they learn to speak, but if these patterns continue beyond typical developmental stages, it may be classified as an articulation disorder. Speech therapy can be highly effective in helping children learn the correct placement and movement of their tongue, lips, and mouth to produce sounds accurately. With practice and support, most children with articulation disorders make significant progress, leading to clearer, more confident speech. During these treatment sessions, our therapists embed numerous repetitions of targets to ensure motor learning as indicated by evidence-based practice.
Phonology
A phonological disorder is a speech sound disorder where a child has difficulty organizing sounds into the correct patterns or rules for their language. Unlike an articulation disorder, where specific sounds are difficult to pronounce, a phonological disorder involves a pattern of errors, such as leaving off the ends of words (saying “ca” instead of “cat”) or simplifying clusters of sounds (saying “pane” for “plane”).
These patterns are normal as children develop speech, but if they persist beyond the expected age, it may indicate a phonological disorder. This can make the child’s speech difficult to understand, even though they may be able to make the sounds in isolation. Speech therapy for phonological disorders focuses on teaching children the sound patterns and rules of speech, helping them to produce words and sentences more clearly and confidently.
Apraxia of Speech
Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is a motor speech disorder where a child has difficulty planning and coordinating the precise movements needed for speech. With CAS, the brain knows what it wants to say but has trouble sending the correct signals to the muscles responsible for speech. This results in inconsistent errors in speech sounds and difficulty moving smoothly from one sound or syllable to another.
Children with CAS might struggle with longer or more complex words, have limited speech sounds, and may appear to “grope” for sounds as they try to form words. This can make their speech unclear, even though they often understand language well and know what they want to say.
Speech therapy for CAS focuses on practicing sound sequences, building muscle memory for speech movements, and developing communication confidence. With consistent, targeted support, children with CAS can improve their speech clarity and develop strong communication skills over time. Our staff has advanced training in the treatment of CAS using DTTC (Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing) and PROMPT (Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets) methods to best support progress in these cases. These methods are multidimensional, holistic, and evidence based. Learn more about CAS here.
Fluency Disorders
Fluency disorders are speech disorders that affect the flow, rhythm, and speed of speech. The most common fluency disorder is stuttering, where a child might repeat sounds or syllables (like “b-b-ball”), stretch out sounds (like “ssssssnake”), or experience blocks where no sound comes out despite the effort to speak. Another type is cluttering, where speech can sound rushed or irregular, often making it hard for others to understand.
Fluency disorders can vary in severity and may affect a child’s confidence, especially in social or school settings. Children with fluency disorders may know exactly what they want to say but struggle to get the words out smoothly.
Speech therapy for fluency disorders focuses on techniques to help children speak more easily and reduce feelings of tension or frustration around speaking. Through supportive practice, children learn strategies to manage their speech patterns, gain confidence, and communicate more comfortably in everyday situations.
Alternative and Augmentative Communication
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) includes a variety of tools and strategies that help children communicate when they have difficulty speaking. AAC can range from simple methods like gestures, facial expressions, or picture cards, to more advanced tools like speech-generating devices and communication apps on tablets. These methods supplement or replace spoken language, allowing children to express their needs, share ideas, and connect with others in ways that work best for them.
AAC can be beneficial for children with speech delays, developmental disabilities, or other conditions that affect speech and language. It doesn’t prevent a child from developing verbal speech—in fact, using AAC can encourage language development by providing a bridge for communication.
Speech therapists work closely with families to find the right AAC tools and teach children how to use them effectively. With AAC, children can gain independence in communicating, feel more understood, and participate more fully in their social and educational environments.
Social Communication
Social communication therapy is designed to help children who have difficulty with social skills and interacting effectively with others. These challenges, also known as pragmatic language difficulties, can affect a child’s ability to initiate conversations, take turns speaking, interpret social cues (like facial expressions or tone of voice), stay on topic, or adjust their language depending on the situation.
Children with social communication difficulties may struggle in group settings, have trouble making friends, or find it hard to express empathy and understand the perspectives of others. These challenges are common in children with conditions such as autism spectrum disorder, but they can also occur independently.
Social communication therapy focuses on teaching children these critical interaction skills through structured activities, role-playing, and real-life practice. Therapists help children understand the “unspoken rules” of social situations, practice conversation skills, and build confidence in connecting with others. With support, children learn to navigate social interactions more successfully, improving both their relationships and overall communication skills.
Feeding
Feeding therapy, conducted by a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP), helps children who have difficulty eating, chewing, or swallowing safely and comfortably. This type of therapy supports children with a range of feeding challenges including those with motor difficulties affecting chewing and swallowing. Feeding issues can be related to conditions such as oral motor delays, sensory processing disorders, or medical conditions that make eating difficult.
In feeding therapy, the SLP works closely with both the child and the family to create a positive and stress-free approach to mealtimes. Therapy may involve exercises to strengthen oral muscles, strategies to improve swallowing coordination, and sensory activities to help the child feel more comfortable with different textures, tastes, and temperatures. The goal of feeding therapy is to help children feel safe, confident, and successful at mealtimes, promoting better nutrition, growth, and overall health.
Myofunctional Therapy
Myofunctional therapy is a specialized approach that focuses on correcting oral and facial muscle function to improve overall oral health, speech, and swallowing. This therapy is often used for children who have issues related to tongue posture, lip closure, or breathing patterns, which can affect their speech development, dental alignment, and even sleep quality.
In myofunctional therapy, a trained therapist teaches children exercises to strengthen and coordinate the muscles of the mouth, tongue, and face. These exercises help establish proper tongue posture (where the tongue rests against the roof of the mouth), improve lip closure, and promote nasal breathing instead of mouth breathing. This therapy can be particularly beneficial for children with conditions such as tongue tie, chronic mouth breathing, or certain speech disorders.
The goal of myofunctional therapy is to support healthy oral function, which can lead to improvements in speech clarity, chewing, swallowing, and overall oral health. By addressing the root causes of these issues, myofunctional therapy can help children develop more effective and efficient oral habits that will benefit them for years to come.
