Pediatric Speech Therapy

The Goals

What is Pediatric Speech Therapy?

Pediatric speech therapy is a specialized therapy designed to assist children to improve their speech and language skills (comprehension & communication).

Therapists who provide pediatric speech therapy are known as speech-language pathologists, SLPs, or speech therapists. They treat conditions such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and other disorders that cause deficits in speech, articulation, and language acquisition.

Understanding Speech Disorders vs. Language Disorders

A speech disorder relates to issues with the actual production of speech sounds. In contrast, a language disorder can be receptive (a deficit in understanding written, spoken, or gestured language) or expressive (a delay in speaking or writing thoughts/ideas).

Types of Language Disorders

Types of Speech Disorders​

Therapy Tools We Use​

Social Thinking provides evidence-based strategies to help people ages four through adult develop social competencies. Tools are used to break down complex social concepts and navigate the social world. Concepts addressed include: conversation and social connections, friendship and relationship development, executive functioning, perspective taking, self-regulation, and Social Thinking vocabulary.
AAC

AAC is short for Augmentative and Alternative Communication, and includes communication devices, systems, strategies and tools that replace or support natural speech. These tools support a person who has difficulties communicating using speech.

Kaufman Speech Praxis Program

This teaches children to combine consonants and vowels to form words while controlling for oral-motor difficulty. Treatment methods employ a systematic and progressive approach of simplifying word pronunciation patterns to shape and expand verbal expression and make communication easier for children with childhood apraxia of speech and other speech sound disorders.

Beckman Oral Motor Protocol

This uses assisted movement and stretch reflexes to quantify response to pressure and movement, range, strength, variety and control of movement for the lips, cheeks, jaw, tongue and soft palate. The assessment is based on clinically defined functional parameters of minimal competence and does not require the cognitive participation of the individual. Because these components of movement are functional, not age specific, the protocol is useful with a wide range of ages and diagnostic categories.

Lindamood-Bell Reading and Comprehension Programs

These are programs that help improve reading, spelling, and comprehension for individuals of all ages with diagnoses such as dyslexia.

Jaw Strengthening and Stability Programs

Various oral motor programs are utilized to increase jaw strength and stability. Jaw strength and stability is a basis for chewing and speaking.

Moving Across Syllables

Training Articulatory Sound Sequences is a therapy tool to help children with apraxia. It trains sequencing skills within and across syllables. It is designed to help with sequenced movements as changes occur in placement of the tongue. These skills are vital for intelligibility and accuracy in conversational speech.

PROMPT

PROMPT© stands for PROMPTS for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets. It is a tactile-kinesthetic approach to speech therapy, which means that the speech-language pathologist uses touch cues on the client’s face (vocal folds, jaw, lips, tongue), to support and shape correct movement of these articulators. Through these specialized touch cues, the speech-language pathologist is able to guide the client through a series of syllables, words or phrases.

TalkTools® Programs

Sara Rosenfeld-Johnson’s Programs are designed to normalize oral musculature, correct articulation errors, improve abdominal grading and speech clarity, and also serves as a prerequisite for working on oral-nasal contrasts.

Horns Program

The Horns Program is designed to normalize oral musculature, correct articulation errors, improve abdominal grading and speech clarity.

Straw Program

Used in conjunction with therapy, this program promotes tongue retraction and controlled tongue movements through twelve stages of development.​

The Horns Program is designed to normalize oral musculature, correct articulation errors, improve abdominal grading and speech clarity.

Used in conjunction with therapy, this program promotes tongue retraction and controlled tongue movements through twelve stages of development.​

What People Say

Thanks for what you are doing for our son. He loves coming to therapy, and we truly appreciate the compassion and support you are showing him. My husband and I love the home idea you provide which reinforces the great work you are doing. Thank you, Foundations!
Mother
Parent of Child Attending Therapy
Foundations Therapy has been a game changer for our family. Our son has been working with two therapists and we've been seeing noticeable progressions. They are always friendly and welcoming and make my child feel comfortable. We can't recommend Foundations enough!
Adam Cheise
Head Of Sales , Intel

Unlock Your Child's Potential with Pediatric Speech Therapy

Our mission goes beyond treating disorders. We’re committed to unlocking your child’s potential, empowering them to find their voice, and fostering a confident participation in all aspects of life. Schedule your child’s initial consultation with us and let’s embark on this journey to unleash their full potential together.