Speech disorders include:

• Articulation disorders: difficulties producing sounds in syllables or saying words incorrectly to the point that listeners can’t understand what’s being said.
• Fluency disorders: problems such as stuttering, in which the flow of speech is interrupted by abnormal stoppages, partial-word repetitions (“b-b-boy”), or prolonging sounds and syllables (sssssnake).
• Resonance or voice disorders: 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.

Language disorders can be either receptive or expressive:

• Receptive disorders: difficulties understanding or processing language.
• Expressive disorders: difficulty putting words together, limited vocabulary, or inability to use language in a socially appropriate way.
• Cognitive-communication disorders: difficulty with communication skills that involve memory, attention, perception, organization, regulation, and problem solving.

Dysphagia/oral feeding disorders are disorders in the way someone eats or drinks, including problems with chewing, swallowing, coughing, gagging, and refusing foods.

Specialists in Speech-Language Therapy

Dynamedics Healthcare Services’ SLPs assess speech, language, cognitive-communication, and oral/feeding/swallowing skills to identify types of communication problems (articulation; fluency; voice; receptive and expressive language disorders, etc.) and the best way to treat them.

Remediation

In speech-language therapy, our SLP will work with a child one-on-one, in a small group, or directly in a classroom to overcome difficulties involved with a specific disorder.

Dynamedics Healthcare Services’ Therapists use a variety of strategies, including:

• Language intervention activities: Our SLP will interact with a child by playing and talking, using pictures, books, objects, or ongoing events to stimulate language development. The therapist may also model correct vocabulary and grammar and use repetition exercises to build language skills.
• Articulation therapy: Articulation, or sound production, exercises involve having our therapist model correct sounds and syllables in words and sentences for a child, often during play activities. The level of play is age-appropriate and related to the child’s specific needs. Our SLP will physically show the child how to make certain sounds, such as the “r” sound, and may demonstrate how to move the tongue to produce specific sounds.
• Oral-motor/feeding and swallowing therapy: Our SLP may use a variety of oral exercises — including facial massage and various tongue, lip, and jaw exercises — to strengthen the muscles of the mouth for eating, drinking, and swallowing. Our SLP may also introduce different food textures and temperatures to increase a child’s oral awareness during eating and swallowing.

When Is Therapy Needed?

Kids might need speech-language therapy for a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to:

• hearing impairments
• cognitive (intellectual, thinking) or other developmental delays
• weak oral muscles
• chronic hoarseness
• birth defects such as cleft lip or cleft palate
• autism
• motor planning problems
• articulation problems
• fluency disorders
• respiratory problems (breathing disorders)
• feeding and swallowing disorders
• traumatic brain injury

Therapy should begin as soon as possible. Children enrolled in therapy early (before they’re 5 years old) tend to have better outcomes than those who begin therapy later.

This does not mean that older kids can’t make progress in therapy; they may progress at a slower rate because they often have learned patterns that need to be changed.