As the speech language pathologist serving your child’s school, I would like to share some information with you about communication disorders. I would also like to tell you what we can do together if your child needs help with speech and language development.

The ability to communicate is perhaps the most important skill your child will acquire. Communication skills permit young children to make sense of their world, to express themselves and to learn. Because these skills are central to success in school, early identification of the problem is crucial. Once a child with a communication disorder is identified, the appropriate treatment and the involvement of the parents often make the difference between failure or frustration in school and a successful school experience.

Just as a reminder, here is an overview of typical speech and language services:

Articulation/Oral Motor Therapy:

Children who experience difficulty producing speech sounds. Additionally, some children experience weak tongue or lip muscles, as well as, some difficulties coordinating movements of structures in the mouth during speech.

Voice/Fluency Therapy:

Children who experience hoarse or raspy vocal quality. Children who experience repetition or prolongation of sounds, words or phrases during speech.

Language Therapy:

Children who have difficulty understanding or using language such as delayed vocabulary, delayed syntax/grammar, or difficulty answering/asking questions.

Auditory Processing Therapy:

Children who experience difficulty distinguishing and discriminating speech, sounds, difficulty understanding speech in background noise, difficulty comprehending word meaning, poor sequencing skills, and/or difficulty with problem solving skills.

Pragmatic Language Therapy:

Children who experience difficulty using language in social contexts such as greeting others, introducing conversations, making eye contact and/or using proper body language.

Hearing Impairment and the Hearing Handicapped:

Children who experience hearing loss may receive therapy for articulation, voice or language.

I look forward to meeting you and working with you to help your child develop better communication skills.

Sincerely,

Jillian Larned, MS, CCC/SLP
Speech Language Specialist