Speech Therapy

What Is Speech-Language Therapy?

Speech-language therapy is the treatment for most kids with speech and/or language disorders.

What Are Speech Disorders?

A speech disorder refers to a problem with making sounds. Speech disorders include:

Articulation disorders: These are problems with making sounds in syllables, or saying words incorrectly to the point that listeners can’t understand what’s being said.

Fluency disorders: These include problems such as stuttering, in which the flow of speech is interrupted by unusual stops, partial-word repetitions (“b-b-boy”), or prolonging sounds and syllables (sssssnake).

Resonance or voice disorders: These are problems with the pitch, volume, or quality of the voice that distract listeners from what’s being said. These types of disorders may also cause pain or discomfort for a child when speaking.

WHAT DOES A SPEECH PATHOLOGIST DO?

Paediatric Speech Pathologists are trained to assess and provide therapy for children who may experience communication and speech difficulties. The disorders could be related to language, socialising, communicating with other people, speaking, listening, writing, reading, and even using your voice.

Some of these difficulties may be caused by developmental issues, brain injuries, intellectual disabilities, dementia, or other problems that could be related to speech and language.

WHAT CONDITIONS CAN A SPEECH PATHOLOGIST HELP TREAT?

• The common issues Speech Pathologists can help with are:
• Speech sound disorders
  Language disorders
• Stuttering treatment
• Stammering treatment
• Reading and spelling disorders
• Difficulty with feeding and swallowing
• Lisps
• Receptive language disorders
• Difficulty with repeating what is repeated back to them
• Expressive language
• Language development issues
• Reading comprehension
• Listening and attention
• Apraxia of speech
• Phonological dyslexia
• Producing speech sounds correctly (articulation)
• Using the correct sentence structure