When is it the Right Time for a Speech Language Evaluation?
Speech Therapy for Your Child
Have you ever wondered if your child is saying their sounds correctly for their age? Does your child leave off the beginning or ending sound of words or substitute one sound for another? Oftentimes children outgrow these issues as their language expands, but this is not always the case.
When problems persist past a certain age or developmental stage, it may indicate an articulation disorder. An articulation disorder occurs when a child makes sounds with incorrect placement, timing, pressure, speed, and/or coordination of the articulators. The result is a mispronounced sound, making it difficult to understand.
Phonological disorders are similar but occur when the child has trouble combining certain sounds used in communication.
A speech-language pathologist not only treats speech and language disorders but can also help with cognitive delays, fluency disorders (stuttering), social skills, and voice disorders (i.e., chronic hoarseness), to name a few.
When is the Right Time to Meet With a Speech-Language Therapist?
Research shows that early intervention is best. By 12-18 months, a child’s first words typically emerge. Your child will begin to intentionally label items at 12 months, and they will use 2-6 words other than “mama” and “dada”. By 18-24 months, children typically use about 50 words and understand 150-300 words.
Your pediatrician might ask you how many words your child is saying, but there are many other developmental milestones that precede first words. Some examples are gesturing, imitating sounds, and vocalizing objects. These are important factors in determining if your child’s language is developing at the age-appropriate stages.
While these are just very broad milestones, if you are still concerned then you should speak to your pediatrician and consult with a speech pathologist about your child’s language development.
How Does It Work?
At Connected Speech Pathology, our online evaluations and treatments are convenient. If your child is very young, our speech-language pathologists are trained in parent coaching.
We can teach you step-by-step how to identify goals for your family and how to teach your toddler to learn language naturally throughout the day together. Since therapy is online, it is done in your child’s natural environment, which helps with the carryover of skills learned during the meetings.
For older children, sessions are one-on-one, live and interactive. Materials are very engaging and children are motivated by the technology to participate in the sessions.
With a click of a button, we can share our screen with your child and we can work on a multitude of goals with the materials that we present. The child can use the mouse to color on the page, highlight, or mark an answer.
We think it is important to have parents involved so that children can practice the skills they have learned in speech therapy in between sessions. During our session, we will share ideas and relevant materials for daily practice with parents.
How Long Does it Take to See Improvement?
With parental involvement and lots of practice, we see a wide range of improvements depending on the severity of the problem.
The process of overcoming this disorder takes time and patience. The more consistent the home practice is, the better the results.
About the Author
Allison Geller is a communication coach, speech-language pathologist, and founder of Connected Speech Pathology, an international online practice providing professional communication coaching and speech therapy for children, teens, and adults. With more than two decades of experience, she has worked in medical and educational settings, published research on aphasia, and leads a team of specialists helping clients improve skills in public speaking, vocal presence, accent clarity, articulation, language, fluency, and interpersonal communication.
Contact us to schedule an evaluation and I can address all of your child’s speech language needs!
