SPEECH THERAPY
Every person deserves the right to excel and express their unique personality.
When you contact Speech Matters, our team of experienced Speech-Language Pathologists and Occupational Therapists will discuss your specific individual or group speech, language or feeding therapy needs. Sometimes it is not necessary for a full evaluation based on the case history discussed over the phone. If it is determined that an evaluation is needed, it will be scheduled within two weeks or whenever is most convenient fr the client. Evaluations typically take between one and a half to two hours to obtain a reliable and accurate diagnosis. If therapy is recommended, we will develop an individualized treatment plan that will most benefit the client and family’s needs. Length of therapy differs depending on the type and severity of the diagnosis and will be discussed prior to beginning therapy. Each client receives a written initial evaluation and tentative treatment plan as well as a progress report that will outline the detailed progress on each goal every three months. We feel that it is our job to remain educated in regard to the most current research findings and intervention techniques to aid in providing high quality, client-directed care for you and your family.
Encouraging Effective Communication and Comprehension Skills
Speech therapy (ST) facilitates successful communication skills by targeting deficits related to the amount of words a child understands and uses or how easily understood a child is when speaking. Speech therapy can also address phonological awareness, stuttering/fluency issues and social language ability. If your child has difficulty in any of the areas below, they may benefit from ST services. Inquire with our staff for scheduling with our speech-language pathologists.
• Articulation/Speech sound production
• Verbal communication
• Understanding incoming language
• Reading comprehension
• Social interaction
• Problem solving skills
• Executive Functioning (memory, planning, organizing, etc.)
• Vocabulary knowledge
• Fluency
• Social Language/Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Voice
• Apraxia
• Oral Motor Function
Assisting with Safety and Exploration of Foods
Speech and Occupational Therapy can target feeding skills in pediatrics. We conduct evaluations and provide treatment for children from birth to teens with various feeding issues.Whether your child has difficulty bottle feeding, chewing, swallowing, transitioning to solid foods, trying new foods or expanding their inventory of accepted flavors and textures, each treatment plan is designed to specifically target your child’s needs. Ask your therapist today bout feeding evaluations!
• Aversion to trying new foods
• Oral motor skills related to feeding
• Extreme food preferences
• Difficulty trying various textures
• Swallowing difficulty
• Bottle/breast feeding difficulty
• Transitioning to solid foods
Speech and language developmental milestones:
These are some of the many developmental milestones for children from birth through 5 years old. Please keep in mind that all children develop at their own pace and that most children will not follow the chart exactly. However, these milestones are helpful in determining if your child would benefit from a speech and language evaluation. Remember that the best expert on your child's behavior is you, so if you have any concerns, please contact the office with any questions.
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• Makes sounds back and forth with you
• Makes happy versus upset sounds
• Coos with simple vowels and early syllable combinations (ooooh, mooo, etc.)
• Turns to people talking to them
• Giggles
• Blows raspberries
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• Looks at person calling their name
• Babbles short syllables (“mamamama”, “babababa”, etc.)
• Points, waves, shows objects by gesturing to them
• May say 1-2 simple words (“mama”, “dada”, etc.)
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• Uses at least 50 single words for basic nouns and simple verbs (“dog”, “bird”, “go”, etc.)
• Uses early pronouns (“me”, “Mine”, “you”)
• Beginning to string 2 words together (“mommy go”, “more cheese”, etc.)
• Follows simple one and two step related commands (“get your shoes and put them on, etc.”)
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• Uses 2+ word sentences
• Says own name when asked
• Beginning more complex grammar forms and vocabulary (daddy’s shoe, he running vs. he run)
• Answers simple questions
• Produces speech sounds /p, b, m, d, t, n, k, g, w, ng, f, y/ correctly
• Overall speech is at least 68% understandable at all times
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• Increasingly complex sentence structure and vocabulary
• Longer sentences with 4+ words
• Identifies colors and categories
• Produces speech sounds /l, j, ch, j, sh, s, v, z, and clusters/ correctly
• Overall speech is at least 86% understandable at all times -
• Uses location words (inside, under, etc.) and some timing words (beginning, end, etc.)
• Starting to understand and tell/retell short simple stories with main characters and sequence
• Produces speech sounds /r, zh (as in “treasure”), th (as in “feather”)
• Overall speech is at least 94% understandable at all times
Feeding milestones:
Your child may benefit from a feeding assessment if you have any concerns with their feeding development. Children between the ages of 18 months and 4 years old are often picky eaters. However, they should be eating a variety of tastes and textures willingly without signs of aversion or extreme pickiness. Some characteristics to watch for that may indicate delayed or disordered feeding skills are excessive drooling after 18 months of age, poor attention to food (requires excessive distraction to eat), difficulty chewing or swallowing foods, extreme food preferences, not requesting foods or drinks, gagging or vomiting, pain or discomfort during or after eating, and signs of food allergies
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Liquid only. Babies develop at various rates and differences are common. However, a feeding should be efficient and effective from birth. Ideal feeding time takes 15-30 minutes and babies should be on a schedule with periods of obvious hunger vs. satiation. Latch should be with complete lip closure around the nipple from birth as well.
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Pureed textures are introduced. While babies may gag initially or have preferences, they should adapt within 2-4 weeks. When children begin to crawl, they are developmentally able to learn to chew table foods.
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Eats variety of tastes and textures easily. Children at this age can take bites from a cracker or sandwich without having it cut into smaller pieces and drink from a cup and straw well.
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Eats same food as rest of the family.
