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Speech Language Difficulties Treated

Our services include a comprehensive evaluation and the development of an individualized treatment program. Our treatment programs utilize engaging and motivating activities which are specifically designed to focus on targeted speech and/or language skills. Our focus is on children from 18 months to 18 years of age.  Adult therapy is available for Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders, cognitive communication and accent reduction.

By age 4 years, children should be 100% intelligible to an unfamiliar listener.(Coplan & Gleason, 1988; Flipsen, 2006)

 

Speech Articulation is a series of complex movements of the lungs, vocal folds, tongue, lips and jaw.  In the typical child, articulation skill improves as the child matures.

 Determining whether a child requires assistance to develop their speech sounds is dependent on the interaction of several factors: the age of the child, number of sounds in error, how the sound is misarticulated (i.e. is it produced with an abnormal mouth posture), how difficult it is to understand the child, if the child can be easily taught the sound and family history.  

 

There are several different types of sound disorders.  The identification of the type of sound disorder will determine the type of therapy that your child receives

  • Articulation  Delay

  • Childhood Apraxia of Speech    

  • Phonological Process Disorder  

  • Lisp:  refers to an articulation disorder where a child is having difficulty producing the /s/ and /z/ phonemes, and sometimes with the sh, ch and J sounds as well. There are four main types of lisps, characterized by their specific substitution patterns: the interdental/frontal lisp, the dentalized lisp, the lateral lisp, and the palatal lisp. Treatment age varies from 3 to 7 years depending on the type of lisp and severity.

 When left untreated, OMDs may result in an open bite, irregular dental eruption, cosmetic issues such as elongated facial grow and retruded jaw.

 

Approximately 30% of the population present with OMD. 80% of these individuals have speech difficulties.

 

OMDs are a variety of oral habits and fuctionally abnormal mouth postures including:

 

 

VOICE

Incidence rates of pediatric voice disorders range from 6% to 23% (Maddern, Campbell, & Stool, 1991)

 

 SpeechAbility provides assessment and treatment for children with dysphonia (a chronically raspy or hoarse voice quality).  Many dysphonias are the result of the following:

  • Vocal Nodules (swelling on the vocal chords)

  • Laryngeal tension

  • Poor breath support

At SpeechAbility, we work with your child to improve voice quality for effective communication.

 

STUTTERING

Stuttering is a speech disorder characterized by diffculty producing fluent speech.  Disfluencies may include repeating or prolonging a sound, repetitions of words or sentences or difficulty getting words out.  In later school years it may be accompanied by frustration, embarrassment and anxiety about speaking.

At SpeechAbility, we work with your child to develop a fluent speech pattern and increase confidence in their speaking ability.

At SpeechAbility we also assess and treat adult speech and language issues including:

  • Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders

  • Vocal Hoarseness

  • Communication difficulties resulting from head injury and concussion.

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Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders (OMD)
SPEECH SOUNDS
LANGUAGE SKILLS
LITERACY SKILLS
VOICE & STUTTERING
ADULT THERAPY
Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders
Speechability: Does my child have a speech problem?
SpeechAbility: Speech Language Difficulties treated
SpeechAbility-Speech Language difficulties treated include Literacy

  • Tongue thrust (tongue pushes between teeth during speech or swallowing 

  • Tongue tie (Anklyoglossia)

  • Thumb sucking/ Pacifer use

  • Swallowing difficulties

  • Open lip posture at rest

Our Orofacial Myology Therapy is designed to improve tongue/oral resting position and eliminate oral habits that disrupt dental growth and to strengthen oral function for speech production. 

 

"A child's vocabulary upon entering school is a prime predictor of school success or failure."   Speech Language and Audiology Canada (2012)

 

Language involves the comprehension and expression of thoughts in verbal and written forms.

 

  • Expressive Skills: the ability to communicate thoughts through verbal or written expression  

  • Receptive Skills:  the ability to understand spoken and written language

  • Auditory Processing: the ability to make sense of the speech sounds that are heard.

  • Learnining Disabilities

  • Cognitive Communication: language  includes reasoning, problem solving, memory and organization

  • Word finding difficulties

  • Social Language Use

  • Late Talkers

 

At SpeechAbility, through assessment and evidenced-based speech language therapy, we strive to identify your child's specific area of language difficulty and maximize their ability to communicate effectively.

 

SpeechAbility: Speech Language Difficulties treated include Voice and Stuttering

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"Early language abilities are directly related to later read abilities"   Speech Language and Audiology Canada (2012)

 

Language is the basis for thinking, communicating, and learning. Students need language skills in order to comprehend ideas and information, to interact socially, to inquire into areas INTRODUCTION of interest and study, and to express themselves clearly and demonstrate their learning. Learning to communicate with clarity and precision, orally, in writing, and through a variety of media, will help students to thrive in the world beyond school.

Ontario Ministery of Education: Curriculum Grades 1-8: Language (2006)

 

Reading involves the following:

  • Phonemic awareness – ability to manipulate the sounds

  • Sound-symbol correspondence – associating sounds to written letters

  • Vocabulary development – word knowledge required to read effectively

  • Reading fluency – ability to read text orally with ease

  • Increase sight word vocabulary – contributes to fluency

  • Reading comprehension – ability to understand and gain meaning from what was read

  • Developing and maintaining motivation to read

 

 

Writing involves the following language based skills:

  • Letter recoginition and formation

  • Spelling

  • Vocabulary

  • Grammar/syntax/semantics

  • Punctuation/Capitalization

  • Written Discourse Planning

  • Use appropriate voice and style

  • Editing

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At SpeechAbility, we recognize the importance of good written communication as it is a major component of how students are evaluated academically.  We strive to enhance and develop good written communication. in speech language therapy sessions.

 

SpeechAbility-Speech Language Difficuties Treated include Adult Communication

Sources:

 

Maddern, B.R., Campbell, T.F., & Stool, S.(1991). Pediatric voice disorders. Otolaryngologic Clinics of North America, 24(5), 1125–1140. [PubMed]

 

 Theis, S. M. (2010, November 23). Pediatric Voice Disorders: Evaluation and Treatment. The ASHA Leader.

Speech-Language and Audiology Canada (SAC), http://maymonth.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/May-Month-Tips_SLP-EN.pdf

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