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Articulation & Language Disorders

Articulation disorders (difficulty producing speech sounds) and Language Disorders   ( difficulty understanding language and /or expressing thoughts, feelings and experiences) usually begin in early childhood and if not corrected can affect school performance and become life long challenges.

An evaluation is conducted to determine the particular needs of a child so that goals can be established along with the parents/caregivers.
  
Therapy sessions for articulation and language are one-on-one private sessions.  Group sessions may be recommended for working on social language skills.  


Business Communication/Voice Improvement
 
Effective communication is essential for people of all walks of life.  Video feedback is used to help individuals develop and maintain a "winning" voice and successful business communication skills.  An accent reduction program is available to those who wish to minimize or reduce an accent.
The first step is evaluation to determine a client's needs and goals.  Private, one-on-one therapy sessions focus on helping an individual meet his/her particular goals.  Clients are also encouraged to call our phone "practice line" daily in order to practice specific speech or voice patterns.  



Auditory Processing Disorders

Centeral Auditory Processing disorders include difficulty processing spoken 
messages in the absence of a hearing losss.  Individualized therapy and family
 training provides useful strategies to assist the student in 
overcoming difficulties which can adversely affect academic performance.
Stuttering


Comprehensive Stuttering Program
 
Comprehensive programs are available for all ages.  The goal of therapy is to establish natural sounding speech patterns which allow a person to maintain fluency in everyday speaking situations- including stressful or previously difficult situations.  For older children and adults, computer and video feedback is utilized to shape speech.  For young children, speech is modified through play therapy.  Intensive Fluency Training Classes are conducted in the summer months.  Transfer- Maintenance Groups for Preteens, Teens and Adults meet weekly year round.  



Stuttering is a very complex speech disorder which usually begins between the ages of 2 and 5.  Early identification of At Risk Stuttering signs is important before a child begins to view speaking as difficult and himself as a "stutterer."  Although there is no cure for chronic stuttering, adults can learn to successfully control stuttering through the use of fluency targets.

WHAT IS STUTTERING?

Stuttering is a perplexing and often misunderstood problem.   Most definitions involve dispruptions in speech flow such as repetitions, prolongations, and blocks.  However, there are distinct differences between these disruptions and the normal disfluencies that all speakers experience.

Stuttering may be accompanied by associated behaviors (grimacing & physical tension) and emotional reactions (anticipating a problem, substituting a less desirable word, avoiding speaking situations, feeling embarrassed).

The degree to which people stutter varies widely.  The degree of stuttering will also vary within the individual- often depending on a variety of factors such as the specific speaking situation, particular words the person finds difficult, and how he or she is feeling that day just to name a few.


WHAT CAUSES STUTTERING?

Despite much research, no single theory satisfactorily explains its cause.  We do know it is not a nervous or personality disorder.  Most experts believe there is a physiological basis- or at least a predisposition to stutter.  Certainly, a child growing up with an unreliable speech system may develop emotional reactions and beliefs about his ability to speak.  He begins to expect himself to stutter and view himself as a "stutterer".  Early intervention can help prevent a lifelong problem.  


​WHY SEE A FLUENCY SPECIALIST?

There are many important reasons to see a Board Certified Fluency Specialist for stuttering and other fluency disorders.  

  • Specialization in a particular area of speech pathology (just as in the medical world) promotes successful treatment.
  • More experience with a particular problem helps the clinician focus on solutions
  • Studies show that many Speech-Language Pathologists in general practice, for example in schools, say they "feel uncomfortable or even inadequate treating fluency disorders."
  • Most Speech-Language Pathologists graduate with minimal experience working with people who stutter.
  • Stuttering is NOT just about the overt behavior but also about reactions, fears, beliefs.  It is often these underlying thoughts, feelings and behaviors that are of major concern and also the areas that general practice SLPs feel least comfortable with.
  • Another advantage of a specialized program is the ability to share the experiences of on individual or family with another and to enable people to share directly.