Therapy Services

Speech and Language Therapy

What is a speech language pathologist?

Speech Language Pathologists (SLP) work to prevent, assess, diagnose and treat speech, language, social communication, cognitive-communication, and swallowing disorders.  Shine Speech Language Pathology, llc provides speech and language therapy to children ages birth to 12.

SPEECH DISORDERS

A child may have a speech disorder if they are unable to make speech sounds correctly or fluently.  Difficulty pronouncing sounds, articulation disorders, voice disorders and stuttering are examples of speech disorders.

LANGUAGE DISORDERS

A receptive language disorder is when a person has difficulty understanding others.  An expressive language disorder is when a person has difficulty sharing thoughts, ideas or feelings completely.  Language disorders can have no known cause, or they can also be the result of a medical problem.

SOCIAL COMMUNICATION

Social communication is the interaction with communication partners, such as parents, siblings, providers, teachers or peers.  Social communication disorders can include difficulty with social interaction, social cognition and pragmatics.  It can be a diagnosis, or it can occur with diagnosis such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), specific language impairment (SLI), learning disabilities (LD, language learning disabilities (LLD),  intellectual disabilities (ID), developmental disabilities (DD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and traumatic brain injury (TBI).

COGNITIVE-COMMUNICATION DISORDERS

Cognitive-Communication disorders involve difficulty with communication that has an underlying cause in a cognitive deficit rather than a primary language or speech deficit.  A cognitive-communication disorder results from impaired functioning of one or more cognitive processes including:  Attention, memory, perception, insight and judgement, organization, language, processing speed, problem solving, reasoning, executive functioning or metacognition.

SWALLOWING DISORDERS

Feeding and swallowing disorders include difficulty gathering food and getting ready to suck, chew, or swallow.  Also called dysphagia, it can occur at different stages in the process of swallowing:  Oral phase, Pharyngeal phase, or esophageal phase.

For more information about speech and language disorders, cognitive-communication disorders or swallowing disorders, visit www.asha.org

To have a conversation with Charlene directly about the best services for your child, please contact us here.

Hanen Programs:

Hanen-It Takes Two to Talk

The It Takes Two to Talk Program is designed specifically for parents of young children (birth to 5 years of age) who have been identified as having a language delay. Parents learn practical strategies to help their children learn language naturally throughout their day together.

The It Takes Two to Talk Program teaches you, step-by-step, how to become your child’s most important language teacher. The program shows you how to:

• Recognize your child’s stage and style of communication so that you know which steps to take next

• Identify what motivates your child to interact with you so you’ll know how to get conversations started

• Adjust everyday routines to help your child take turns and keep interactions going

• Follow your child’s lead to build his confidence and encourage him to communicate

• Add language to interactions with your child to help him understand language and then use it when he is ready

• Tweak the way you play and read books with your child to help him learn language

• Change the way you speak to your child so that he’ll understand and learn new words

www.hanen.org

Hanen - More Than Words

As a parent, you know how challenging it can be for your child with Autism Spectrum Disorder or other social communication difficulties to interact meaningfully with others and connect with the world around him.

The More Than Words Program was designed specifically for parents of children ages 5 and under on the autism spectrum and with other social communication difficulties. Addressing the unique needs of these children, the program provides parents with the tools, strategies and support they need to help their children reach their full communication potential.

More Than Words does this by empowering you to help your child reach the following three goals:

1. Improved social communication and back-and-forth interactions
2. Improved play skills
3. Improved imitation skills

Here are some of the valuable things you’ll learn through the More Than Words Program:

• What motivates your child to communicate
• How to use your knowledge about your child to set appropriate and realistic goals
• How to make interactions with your child last longer
• Tips for using pictures and print to help your child’s understanding
• Strategies for how to talk so that your child understands you
• Strategies for developing your child’s play skills
• Ways to help your child make friends

www.hanen.org