The Speech Language Pathologist will complete an evaluation of your child’s speech and language skills. Based on the results and information provided by the caregiver the SLP will help the child with understanding spoken language, improving use of words to communicate, and assisting the caregiver in working on these skills within the home.

The Speech Language Pathologist will complete an evaluation of the child’s articulation skills – which is their ability to produce certain sounds. Once the information is collected goals will be established to target any error sounds the child should have mastered by his/her age. The treatment approaches include oral motor exercises to strengthen and increase coordination as well as assisting the child with proper placement of the tongue/lips for correct sound production. 

Fluency Therapy is for those who may “stutter” or repeat parts of words (repetitions), stretch out parts of words (prolongations), or have a hard time getting words out (blocks). Stuttering is also linked to tension in the muscles of the face and neck as well as fear of speaking. The SLP will complete an evaluation and develop a plan that will depend on the amount of stuttering, how the patient reacts when stuttering, how stuttering impacts the patient’s daily life, how others react to the patient’s stuttering, and the patient’s age. Often treatment will include direct and indirect strategies as well as resources provided to the patient and/or caregiver. 

Following evaluation and discussion with the patient and/or family members regarding their goals, the SLP can assist in developing routines and reminders for use in the home, enhance problem solving/reasoning skills, and develop compensatory strategies to increase the patient’s overall functional independence level and participation in daily tasks.

The Speech Language Pathologist will complete an evaluation of your swallowing function and will then address swallow function through a variety of techniques depending on the type of deficits noted. Exercises are designed to retrain your swallowing muscles to work together for a safe and efficient swallow. Compensatory strategies may also be utilized to assist your body in efficiently swallowing a variety of foods

Modified Barium Swallow Study is a video fluoroscopic swallowing examination that looks at the patient’s ability to swallow safely and effectively. It is non-invasive and uses a “moving x-ray” to help identify aspiration of foods/liquids as well as identify the consistency of food and liquid the patient is most able to safely consume. This tool is also a great asset in guiding swallowing therapy as the entire swallow is able to be visualized and treatment focused on areas of weakness.