SPEECH THERAPY for KIDS!
Early Intervention • Late Talkers • Speech Sound Disorders • Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)
Articulation • Phonological Delays & Disorders • Stuttering/Fluency
Augmentative & Alternative Communication (AAC) • Language Disorders • Social Skills
Children acquire many new skills throughout childhood, and all children learn and develop at their own rate. When children have a hard time communicating, it can be frustrating for both the child and caregivers. If you have concerns with your child’s language development, it is important to receive help as early as possible. Speech and language therapy will target communication skills in a fun, playful way that incorporates your child’s interests.
EARLY INTERVENTION & LATE TALKERS/
Early intervention is for children, birth to 3 years old, and their families. Speech and language therapy will engage your child in the learning process through play to help your child develop skills to increase their ability to communicate and decrease frustration.
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Caregiver participation is also an important part of early intervention, where you will be coached on strategies to continue practice at home.
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We are a provider with the Tennessee Early Intervention System (TEIS), a program that offers therapy to families of infants and young children at no cost to families. Click here to learn more.
SPEECH THERAPY
If a speech sound disorder is present, your child’s speech may be hard to understand. Speech therapy will address the underlying cause of your child's speech disorder to help them learn how to say age-appropriate sounds and words more clearly.
During our sessions, we will build practice into games and interactive activities so your child is motivated and having fun! We will also provide home practice so you can continue making progress between sessions.
LANGUAGE
Speech and language therapy for language delays or disorders will address the specific areas your child is having difficulty with, whether it be following directions, asking and answering questions, understanding spatial concepts, using correct grammar, telling a story, etc.
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Therapy will help your child build developmentally-appropriate skills to increase their overall communication and participation in daily life at home, school, and socially.
SOCIAL SKILLS
Although there is no right or wrong way to communicate, for children who have difficulty with social skills, it can be helpful to understand the unique ways that our families, friends, and communities communicate with one another. Your speech therapist can help your child practice social communication skills such as reading facial expressions and body language, understanding sarcasm or humor, and engaging in a conversation or play with others.
FLUENCY
Everybody has moments when their speech is not smooth. It is especially common for children (ages 2-5) to go through periods of disfluency. In some cases, your child may experience persistent stuttering that can also coincide with negative feelings about talking. Speech therapy for stuttering can equip your child with tools to manage their stuttering. Our Speech therapists will help your child use these tools, coach parents on supporting their child at home, and also help your child navigate feeling about their speech so they can become effective and confident communicators.
AUGMENTATIVE & ALTERNATIVE COMMUNICATION (AAC)
Augmentative and alternative communication refers to forms of communication that support minimally-verbal or non-verbal communicators. AAC can be low-tech, such as pictures, gestures, or writing. AAC can also be high-tech, such as a speech-generating device. Children may require or benefit from short-term or long-term use of AAC when spoken language is hard for them and their speech is not currently meeting their needs. Your child’s speech therapist will help you find the best AAC system for your child and help you both learn how to use it to communicate.