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Speech-Language Therapy
Early Speech-Language Development
As infants children begin developing their speech and language. Early signs of delay include:
- Delays in sound production and babbling
- early sounds include coos
- early speech specific sounds include p, b, m, h
- Lack of gestures like waving and pointing
- Delays in first words (typically 12 months) and word combinations (24 months)
- Vocabulary fewer than 50 words by 24 months
- Difficulty identifying items or following directions from others
- Difficulty with social play and engaging with others
- Difficulty with turn taking both in play and in conversations
- Reduced response to questions
Intervention focuses on developing joint attention between child, therapist, and parent, expanding play skills, teaching basic concepts and early vocabulary, and creating an environment to increase the child's understanding and use of language. In some cases, use of augmentative strategies, including picture supports or technology, may be appropriate.
School Age Speech and Language
As children begin school years, some may have continued difficulty from speech and language delays in younger years, or may start to have new difficulties when faced with academic challenges. Articulation and language skills continue to be addressed in the school age child.
Difficulties may be seen with:
- Unintelligible or incorrect production of sounds/words
- Difficulty expressing thoughts and ideas, using simple terms or filler words
- Unable to respond appropriately to questions or follow directions
- Difficulty engaging with peers and caregivers, social challenges
- Difficulty retaining new information
- Difficulty learning basic concepts (left/right, prepositional concepts, letters-sounds, colors, shapes, etc)
- Difficulty with writing and spelling
- Poor grammar use
- pronouns (he, she, they, his, hers, himself, herself, him, it, etc)
- poor subject-verb conjugation
- poor tense conjugation
Intervention continues to focus on expanding skills for learning basic concepts, vocabulary, sentence formation, and becomes more in-depth to improve language comprehension and narrative development. Continued development of social skills occurs for our school-age children too!
Feeding Therapy
Infants and children can experience feeding delays or difficulties. Children with reduced intake due to poor oral control/weakness, poor motor coordination, or picky feeding are at risk for poor growth and development and developmental delays. A speech-language pathologist is uniquely trained to address these difficulties through improving oral motor strength and coordination as well as addressing the sensory acceptance of new foods.
