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Speech Therapy

Speech
Therapy

Speech therapy

We work with children to improve their speech, understand language, and connect with others.

Treatment : Speech-Language Therapy

Speech-Language therapy is the practice of using strategies, specialized treatment methods, and supports (e.g., verbal, visual, physical cues/prompts) to help a child's communication, speech, and/or language skills. 

What is Speech Therapy? 

Language therapy: 

  • Therapy to help when a child has difficulty learning new words or saying sentences. Melissa will work with your child to improve their understanding and talking.

Speech Therapy / Articulation therapy: 

  • Articulation Therapy to help your child say sounds correctly and clearly. 

  • For Phonological Therapy, your child will learn how and when to use the correct speech sound in different contexts.

  • For Childhood Apraxia of Speech, your child will learn how to plan the movements needed to say sounds and make those movements the right way at the right time.

Social Skills Therapy: 

  • Therapy to build your child's communication and social skills in different settings like home, school, and work

Stuttering / Fluency Therapy : 

  • Therapy to help you learn more about how to respond when your child stutters and what to do to improve how your child feels about talking. Treatment may include the use of direct or indirect strategies.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC): 

  • AAC means your child may learn sign language or may learn to use picture boards or computers that talk. Therapy will help find the right AAC system for your child. Melissa will also help your child and the people your child talks with learn how to use AAC to communicate.

  • Language Delay/Disorder ​​

  • Speech Delay/Disorder

  • Articulation Disorder

  • Phonological Disorder

  • Motor Speech Disorder​​s

    • Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)

  • Social Communication Disorder

  • Fluency Disorders

    • Stuttering / Cluttering​

Melissa evaluates and treats the following disorders:

Melissa has extensive experience working with children with the following medical diagnoses and backgrounds:

  • Developmental Delay

  • Prematurity

  • Autism Spectrum Disorders ​​

  • Genetic / Chromosomal Disorders

  • Cerebral Palsy 

  • Vision Impairment 

  • Hearing Impairment 

  • Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

  • ADHD / ADD

  • Learning Disability 

  • Intellectual Disability

Child Counseling

Treatment Methods and Specialities....

Melissa's treatment specialities are....

Parent and Caregiver 

Coaching and Education 

Working with

Complex Cases &

Medically Fragile Children

Tracheostomy and

Mechanical Ventilation Experience

Passy Muir® Tracheostomy & Ventilator Swallowing and Speaking Valve Training and Application 

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Multidisciplinary Background

Experience working and collaborating

 with OT, PT, MD, Nursing, RT's

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Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)

Picture Exchange Communication System

(PECS) Level 1 Trained

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Play-based Therapy,

Child-led Therapy

Prelinguistic Skills,

Early Intervention

Social Skills Therapy

Professional PEERS® for Adolescents Certified Trained

Stacking Blocks

Treatment : Speech-Language Therapy

Eat Speak Breathe believes in

1-on-1 treatment sessions
Clinician to client therapy sessions

Partnership with Families

Parent participation and involvement in therapy is key. I train caregivers too! 

Play-based, child-led therapy

Play is a child's work, Children learn through play.

Therapy in a Child's Natural Environment

Therapy at home, at daycare,

in the community (park, supermarket, library)

Melissa comes to you!

Holistic approach to understand your child 

developmental skills like cognition (thinking), gross motor (whole-body movement), fine motor (precise movement), social-emotional, and play skills

Multidisciplinary collaboration

Melissa understands the importance of working with occupational therapists, physical therapists, and other allied health professionals to create the best therapy experience for your child.

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Evaluations : Speech-Language Assessments

Evaluation and Assessment both mean comprehensive testing in a given subject. Evaluations help the speech-language therapist learn and understand your child's unique speech and language abilities. Every child has strengths and weaknesses in their speech and language skills. When an evaluation is complete, a therapist knows how to best support your child's speech, language, and/or communication skills. 

Evaluations can include: 

  • parent interview, questionnaires

  • clinical observation 

  • standardized testing (formal testing)

  • criterion referenced testing (informal testing)

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A Speech-language assessment includes

one or more of the following: 

Language Evaluation: 

  • Language evaluation tests a child's receptive language skills and expressive language skills. A receptive language looks at the understanding of words, sentences, questions, directions and more. A expressive language test looks at the use (talking) of words, phrases, sentences, questions and more.

Articulation Evaluation: 

  • Articulation test will determine if your child says speech sounds (like the /r/ sound or the /p/ sound) correct or incorrectly. The therapist also will look at how your child moves his lips, jaw, and tongue.

Phonological Evaluation: 

  • Phonological testing determines if your child uses different speech patterns for certain speech sounds. For example, if you child says the /t/ sound for the /k/ sound in the beginning of words, like 'tootie' for 'cookie.'  

Social Skills Evaluation: 

  • Social Skills testing looks at how your child uses social communication skills, communicates in different settings (home, school in the community), understanding of non-verbal communication, and understanding of how to build meaningful friendships. 

Stuttering / Fluency Evaluation: 

  • A fluency evaluation looks at the types of disfluencies (typical and stutter-like), the number of disfluencies, reactions to stuttering, and coping mechanisms of stuttering.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication

(AAC) Evaluation : 

  • AAC evaluation determines the type of AAC system your child will benefit from depending on their cognition, gross motor skills, fine motor skills and prelinguistic abilities. There is low tech AAC or high tech AAC. This requires working closely with a child's occupational therapist and physical therapist. 

Melissa evaluates the following disorders:

  • Language Delay/Disorder ​​

  • Speech Delay/Disorder

  • Articulation Disorder

  • Phonological Disorder

  • Motor Speech Disorder​​s

    • Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)

  • Social Communication Disorder

  • Fluency Disorders

    • Stuttering / Cluttering​

Let's Connect

Contact Us

Book a phone consultation with us today. We offer a complimentary speech-language screening. Contact us by phone or email and reach out with any questions and comments.

complimentary screening
phone consultation
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