We provide the following services:

* Therapy ­ sessions are scheduled on a regular, on-going basis. Sessions are typically one-half hour to one hour in length and can be scheduled from one to five times per week, depending on the child's attention skills, severity of the disorder and type of disorder.

* Evaluations ­ we provide a limited and complete evaluation. A complete evaluation assesses speech, language, oral motor, processing skills, etc. and a full written report is provided. A limited evaluation is focused on assessing one specific area of communication; a written report is also provided.

* Consultations ­ are provided for a variety of reasons: attendance/consultation at your child's I.E.P. meeting, review of reports from other professionals, assessment of programs, etc.

* Screenings ­ ­ a screening is completed when it is not clear whether a child has a speech and language problem. A screening usually is one-half hour and will determine whether or not the child needs a complete evaluation.

DEFINITIONS OF SPEECH AND LANGUAGE DISORDERS:

PHONOLOGICAL/ARTICULATION DISORDERS OR DELAYS
A child who has a phonological or articulation delay is not able to say speech sounds correctly at an age appropriate level (see chart for a table of when sounds develop). The child may substitute sounds, omit sounds or add sounds. By age 3, the child should be understood about 75% of the time. By 7 years of age the child should be using all sounds appropriately.

DELAYED OR DISORDERED LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
This includes difficulty in the following areas:
Semantics- problems with understanding words, word definitions, how words are similar and different.
Syntax- how words are put together in sentences (grammar).
Morphology- word endings and word roots.

CENTRAL AUDITORY PROCESSING DISORDERS
Difficulty following directions, problems hearing small differences between words (fan vs. than), understanding that sentences are composed of phrases, phrases are made of words and words have individual sounds. This also includes difficulty in what is called phonological awareness which includes the ability to rhyme, to make sound substitutions, to change sounds in words to make new words, etc.

CHILDREN'S VOICE DISORDERS
This is an area that should be checked by a doctor first to determine whether there is something wrong with the vocal chords. It includes poor quality-hoarseness or harshness, inappropriate volume, nasality, or a pitch that is not age appropriate.

FLUENCY DISORDERS
Stuttering in children.

HEARING IMPAIRMENT
Speech and language disorders associated with hearing loss. It can include any of the above mentioned disorders or delays.

OROFACIAL MYOFUNCTIONAL DISORDERS
Tongue thrust and reverse swallow.

PRAGMATIC DISORDERS
Difficulty with social language skills. Children with pragmatic disorders often have difficulty making and keep friends, don't know what to say or how to say things in social situations.

ORAL MOTOR DISORDERS
Difficulty with oral motor skills affecting speech production and speech intelligibility. These children have problems with using the muscles of the mouth to make speech sounds and to sequence the sounds to make words and sentences.