Should I Take My Child to Speech Therapy?
Children develop at different rates and in different ways, especially when it comes to speech and language development. For many children, slight delays in mastering language are normal and resolve over time. For some, however, these delays or development issues should be evaluated by a speech therapist. To understand when such a visit is warranted, here is an overview of pediatric speech and language evaluation therapy.
Understanding Speech Therapy
Speech-language pathologists focus on helping people not just with speaking issues but also with language, social communication, writing, or reading issues, like dyslexia. From infancy to older adult years, a speech-language pathologist can help with the issues above. The ages when speech and language development is crucial are from birth to 5 years old.
Red Flags: Signs to Watch For
There are several "red flags" or indicators that a child may be in need of a speech and language evaluation. As a child develops, there are certain broad milestones that most children hit.
鈥淏y three years of age, they should be able to put three to four words together and be intelligible 90% of the time,鈥 says Jori Harris M.S. CCC-SLP, a speech-language pathologist at the 91麻豆天美直播.
Failing to hit this milestone could indicate that the child may have a physical, developmental, hearing, and or speech and language impairment.
鈥淭he most common cases we see at the University Developmental Assessment Clinic (UDAC) are developmental delays, which frequently include children with autism spectrum disorder,鈥 Harris explains.
Besides delays in speech and language development, children with autism spectrum disorder exhibit additional challenges such as social relatedness, unusual behaviors, and or sensory dysfunction.
An evaluation with a speech-language pathologist would involve diagnosing speech and language deficits, a treatment plan for future therapy, and sometimes recommendations for additional testing by other professionals.
The Benefits of Speech Therapy
Working with a speech therapist may mean outpatient therapy visits after an initial diagnosis. Therapy may include targeted lessons, establishing reinforcement and motivation strategies, as well as providing resources and suggestions for caregivers to complete outside the therapy environment.
Understanding why children struggle with speech or language can go a long way toward helping them succeed in school and in life.
鈥淭he earlier children are evaluated and begin intervention, the better the prognosis,鈥 Harris says.
For example, if they can't say their Rs and Ls, it's helpful to get kids in therapy before kindergarten. It will make a difference in how their peers understand them.
鈥淲e want to prevent, reduce or eliminate any additional challenges that children starting kindergarten might have,鈥 Harris explains. 鈥淚f we see these kids early enough, we can detect if there are other factors impacting their development.鈥
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