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What is speech therapy?
Speech therapy is a specialized therapy done by speech therapists who treat patients with communication delays, communication deficits or communication disorders. Speech therapy can include one or more of the following communication areas:
- Expressive language: unable to form meaningful messages using age appropriate grammar or word finding difficulties.
- Receptive language: difficulty understanding what is being said to them.
- Articulation/speech: unable to produce age appropriate sounds.
- Social language: difficulties with turn taking, initiating and maintaining a conversation, repairing conversation breakdowns, perspective taking and interpreting non-verbal cues.
- Feeding and swallowing : difficulties swallowing liquids or food.
- Voice: disturbance of pitch, loudness or quality in relation to a individuals age, gender and culture.
- Oral Motor: difficulties with muscle function and/or motor planning that affect the individual's ability to eat, drink, or speak.
- APD(Auditory Processing Disorder): difficulties attending, poor listening skills, following multi-step directions, difficulties processing information, difficulty with reading, spelling and vocabulary.
- Augmentative : assisting non-verbal patient’s communication with a communication device or PECS (Picture Exchange System).
Speech Therapy at PTS:
Speech therapy at PTS, Inc. includes children birth to 18 years old who experience delays in their communication. Diagnoses that are often treated with speech and language therapy may include:
- ADHD/ADA (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder/Attention Deficit Disorder)
- Apraxia of Speech/ Developmental Disorder
- Asperger’s Syndrome
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Cerebral Palsy
- Chromosomal Anamolies
- Developmental Delay
- Down’s Syndrome
- FAS/FAE (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome/ Fetal Alcohol Effects)
- Gastro esophageal Reflux (GER)
- Non verbal learning Disability
- Oral/Pharyngeal Dysphagia
- Prematurity
- Tramatic Brain Injury
Speech Therapy Education/Careers
Speech-language pathologists (SLPs), who are often informally known as speech therapists, are professionals educated in the study of human communication, its development, and its disorders. They hold at least a master's degree and state certification/licensure in the field, as well as a Certificate of Clinical Competency from the American Speech-Hearing-Association(ASHA).
By assessing the speech, language, cognitive-communication, and swallowing skills of children, speech-language pathologists can determine what types of communication problems exist and the best way to treat these challenges.
Speech-language pathologists typically treat problems in the areas of articulation; dysfluency; oral-motor, speech, and voice; and receptive and expressive language disorders
For more information please see www.asha.org.
Where can speech therapists work?
- Colleges and Universities
- Research Laboratories and Institutes
- Private clinics
- Schools
- Hospitals/Nursing homes
For more information on speech topics check out these pages
- 20 Play Time Activities
- Articulation Delay
- Central Auditory Processing Disorders
- Ear Infections
- Home Suggestions for Speech Activities
- It's Play Time
