Speech sound production is our specialty at Growing Together. We are trained to understand the way sounds are made, when they should be developing and how to make your speech sound more like you want it to sound. We also teach adjustments in the prosodic elements of speech such as changes in rate, pitch, rhythm, volume and intonation. All of which can drastically improve or change your overall speech clarity and verbal expression.
We will assess your child’s speech sound system using formal and informal measures and based on the results of that information, determine which type of therapy approach will be best for them.
Speech Therapy Approaches:
Traditional Articulation Therapy is used when the child has a speech error with one or two sounds. They may be substituting a sound, distorting it or omitting it completely. The target sound is then taught in a hierarchical way, starting with the accurate sound produced in isolation and building up to accuracy within conversations.
Therapy for a Phonological Process Disorder is used when the child presents with a rule-based, pattern of speech errors. For example, when a child is dropping all the sounds at the ends of words, that pattern is called, “Final Consonant Deletion”. In this case, the child has developed a pattern of errors as opposed to just a single sound that is produced in error. There are a variety of patterns of errors that we classify and are able to treat in specific ways.
Therapy specific to Speech Apraxia is appropriate when the child presents with no speech production at all, has inconsistent speech errors, distorts sounds across the board and or struggles with longer, multisyllabic words. Therapy for a child with apraxia requires improvement in the motor skills (movement) necessary for speech production using multi-sensory input from the therapist. With speech apraxia, it is important that therapy be delivered frequently, about 3-5 times per week. It is also important that the therapist be trained specifically in motor speech therapy techniques. The therapists at Growing Together are trained to provide speech therapy specific to kids with speech apraxia.