Speech Therapy
Giving Your Child a Voice
If your child is experiencing speech, language, literacy, fluency and/or social language delays, Learning Tree Therapy is here to help!
Does your child need speech therapy?
Parents often seek out speech therapy when it seems their child has either regressed in their speech, or is not progressing similarly to their peers. Your child’s pediatrician may refer you to a Regional Center for early intervention, assessment, and diagnosis if your child is under the age of 3. The Regional Center will help you determine the services your child needs to address their speech-language delay, including coordinating with speech-language pathologists like us!
If you’re a parent navigating these difficult waters, we are so glad you’re here. We’re honored to walk alongside you and your child during this time, and we’re here to help keep hope alive that a bright future awaits!
Types of Speech-Language Delays
Expressive / Receptive Language Delay
Language disorders are defined as either receptive or expressive. Receptive language refers to how your child understands language. Expressive language refers to how your child uses words to express himself or herself.
Pragmatic / Social Language Delay
A Pragmatic Language Impairment is a delay in the ability to appropriately use language (e.g., greeting, stating, requesting, etc.), change a language (e.g., talking to a teacher versus talking to a baby), and follow conversational rules (e.g., taking turns while talking, staying on topic, respecting personal space, etc.). These all affect a child’s ability to appropriately and effectively interact with others in a variety of settings.
Stuttering / Fluency Delays
Fluency refers to the smoothness, rate, and effort of speech. Stuttering, or Fluency Delay, is an interruption in the smooth flow of speech. It is characterized by involuntary repetitions of sounds and syllables, prolongations of sounds, and broken words.
Getting Started with Speech Therapy
- One of our amazing licensed and certified Speech-Language Pathologists will conduct a thorough assessment to evaluate your child’s expressive and receptive language skills, pragmatic language skills, articulation, and oral-motor skills.
- Based on our assessment, we’ll develop a customized plan for your child’s therapy and how we can best support you as a family. Our goal is to maximize your child’s potential by working collaboratively with our families and other professionals.
- We’ll carry out our plan, and we’ll reassess and adjust it as needed to evolve with your child’s changing needs. Eventually, we hope you won’t need us anymore — but we’re happy to be here as long as you do!