Our pediatric speech-language program at the Center for Physical Rehabilitation supports a wide variety of children who struggle with communication. Below describes a few of the things we address in our speech-language program.
An important part of our program is improving the clarity of a child’s speech by teaching them how to say specific sounds correctly. This can be an issue if they are demonstrating speech sound errors that are not considered to be developmentally appropriate for a child of their age. We also serve children who have difficulty with receptive language (understanding/comprehension of language), expressive language (language output), and pragmatic language (social use of language). This includes a range of skills such as understanding and following directions, understanding and answering questions, retelling stories, using correct grammatical structures, verbally explaining and describing with detailed vocabulary, engaging in reciprocal conversations, and so on. Language skills are foundational to academic and social success later in life.
Additionally, we support children who are nonverbal and benefit from being taught to communicate by using picture communication or AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication). Finally, we work with children who exhibit disfluencies (stuttering) in their speech by teaching them tools and strategies that can make talking easier.
For all of our clients, we have the ability to work closely with families to develop home programs to ensure that strategies and practice can be implemented in the home setting in order to increase generalization of skills learned in therapy. The ability to communicate effectively with others is such an important part of our life and as a speech-language pathologist I have the opportunity to help children with that. Seeing my clients make noticeable progress on their speech and language is incredible.
I started seeing a four-year-old for speech therapy this past fall. Before starting therapy, parents stated that unfamiliar listeners were unable to understand any of their child’s speech which caused immense frustration for both the child and the parents. Fast forward to Christmas time after the child had been receiving speech therapy. Parents reported that family members and friends were able to understand most of his speech at their holiday gatherings.
Another young child I started seeing for speech-language therapy this past year was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder prior to beginning therapy. His verbal communication was very limited. He exhibited frequent behavioral outburst as he was unable to communicate even his basic wants and needs. In our past few months together, this child has learned how to communicate by pointing at pictures in a communication book. Parents are thrilled that their child is now able to indicate his wants and needs even though verbal communication is challenging for him at this time.
These success stories are what continue to drive our speech-language program forward every day. We love to be a part of positive changes in the families of our community.