Speech Services

What is speech-language pathology?
In a nutshell, speech-language pathologists serve clients from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds while applying the best available research, expert clinical judgment, and client preferences and values. Speech-language pathologists provide assessment, progress monitoring, and treatment for a variety of speech and language disorders.

Speech-language pathologists serve clients with the following needs:

  • Speech sound production
  • Resonance
  • Voice
  • Fluency
  • Language comprehension and expression
  • Pragmatic (social) language
  • Cognition
  • Feeding and swallowing

What might difficulties with speech and/or language look like?
Speech and language issues can vary widely based on a child's age and own unique developmental trajectory. Errors that might be considered normal at an earlier age could be considered part of a disorder at a later age if the issues do not resolve as the child develops. Please note that this is not an exhaustive list of all speech and language difficulties. Expressively, a student with speech and/or language issues may be hard to understand due to a speech sound disorder (e.g., substituting or omitting speech sounds), have issues with expressive language (e.g., mixing up verb tenses, difficulty producing complex sentences, difficulty telling stories), or exhibit dysfluencies (e.g., prolonging sounds, repeating sounds, speaking too quickly with decreased clarity). Students may also have issues with voice, for example being too harsh, breathy, or nasal. Receptively, a student with speech and/or language issues may have difficulty understanding more complex grammar (e.g., longer sentences, different verb tenses) and directions (e.g., "put the blue ball on top of the orange block"). Students might also have difficulty with pragmatic language, which is social communication (e.g., maintaining eye contact, conversational turn-taking). In more severe cases, students may need other means of communication, whether as a supplement to or replacement for verbal speech (e.g., communication devices, communication books, picture supports). Speech-language pathologists can help develop and implement these systems for students.

 

If you are a parent or guardian who is concerned about your child's speech and language development, contact the school to learn more about how to initiate the referral process.

 

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