Pediatric Therapy

If a child is unable to speak clearly and process speech sounds, to understand others, to express ideas and interact with others. These components are fundamental building blocks for a child’s development. Children who have trouble understanding what others say (receptive language) or difficulty sharing their thoughts (expressive language) may have a language disorder. Developmental language disorder (DLD) is a language disorder that delays the mastery of language skills. Some children with DLD may not begin to talk until their third or fourth year.

A child can overcome many speech and language problems with treatment, especially when you catch problems early.

Each child is different and the diagnosis can vary from a simple delay to more serious issues. It is always a good measure to take your child to the pediatrician if they are not speaking more than 50 words at 24 months. A hearing impairment should also be ruled out!

Developmental delays are present when a child does not demonstrate abilities and skills commonly found in other children in the same age group. Delays may occur in physical abilities (gross or fine motor skills), language, or personal or social skills development. If it is confirmed that your child has a delay, enrolling in therapy is recommended.

Adult Therapy:

Speech and/or language therapy is typically required following a stroke, head injury, brain tumor or when experiencing a progressive neurological disorder. Therapy will focus on one or more of the following; articulation, clearly speaking, expressive and receptive language focus, the speaking and understanding of what others are saying. One might hear the word, aphasia, this is having difficulty either with expression, receiving auditory messages, (understanding) or both. There are many categories of aphasia and will be properly diagnosed and treated by the therapist. Patients may also have difficulty with cognitive -linguistic skills, which include: immediate recall, short term, long term memory, working memory, problem solving, self awareness, planning, safety judgment, self monitoring and making appropriate corrections, as well as higher level executive functioning ( actually taking a plan and putting it into action).