We offer speech-language therapy services for children including:
Articulation/ Pronunciation Difficulties
Articulation difficulties refer to errors (distortions or substitutions) in the production of individual speech sounds e.g. “wed” for “red”. Some children may also present with phonological process disorders which are predictable, rule-based errors e.g. fronting – “bag” becomes “bad”, and “lake” becomes “late”. Phonological process errors therefore affect more than one sound.
Language Delays and Difficulties
Language difficulties are related to not understanding and/ or expressing oneself appropriately. This is observed in a child’s vocabulary, and/ or sentence structure, and/ or use of language socially.
Early Intervention
Early intervention is for children ages birth to 3 years of age. Young children develop most of their speech and language skills in the first three years of their life, and it influences how the brain develops. If there is a problem, therapy should start as soon as possible to take advantage of this period where the brain is still developing.
Communication difficulties
Communication difficulties as a result of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Down Syndrome, and Cerebral Palsy
Stuttering
People who stutter present with different types of disfluencies. They may repeat parts of words (repetitions), stretch a sound out (prolongations), or cannot get a word out (blocks). Stuttering may also include negative feelings about one’s speech.
Auditory Processing Difficulties
This service is necessary for children who have remembering or following instructions. Children with auditory processing difficulties usually have normal hearing, but cannot process the information they hear in the same way as others do. This leads to difficulties in following instructions and listening in the classroom.
Reading and Writing Difficulties
Reading and writing disorders can occur alone but often present together. Building blocks for fluent reading include letter knowledge, phonological awareness (rhyming, manipulating letters in words, and awareness of sounds and syllables in words etc.), sight word knowledge, and decoding. Spelling requires letter-sound knowledge, and understanding phonological, morphological, and orthographic aspects of regular and irregular spellings, and correcting spelling errors.
Feeding Difficulties
The term feeding difficulties is a broad term used to describe a variety of feeding or mealtime behaviours perceived as problematic for a child or family. This may include behaviours such as fussy eating. If your child has difficulty chewing, swallowing or if there is a lot of spillage when they drink they could also benefit from feeding therapy.
School Speech Screenings
Preschoolers with speech and language delays are at a greater risk for learning disabilities, reading and writing difficulties and overall academic problems. A screening determines if further evaluation is necessary.
Teletherapy
Considering the Covid-19 pandemic, we are incorporating videoconferencing to create convenience for both our patients and therapists. There is a large body of research suggesting that teletherapy works just as well as in-person counselling.