Speech-Language Pathologists assess a child’s ability to communicate and offer treatment approaches designed to improve communication, utilizing augmentative and alternative communication when necessary. Communication includes speech (articulation, rate, fluency), receptive and expressive language (understanding and expressing language) from non-verbal communication such as gestures and facial expression to building words to sentences, to conversational discourse as well as increasing grammar and reading and writing. Speech-Language Pathologists also assist children with feeding and swallowing disorders by strengthening the child’s oral musculature and decreasing sensory aversions to foods. Physicians may recommend speech and language therapy for children diagnosed with:

• Autism spectrum disorders
• Receptive/Expressive Language Disorders
• Cerebral palsy
• Hearing impairments
• Articulation disorders
• Fluency disorders (stuttering)
• Apraxia
• Feeding and swallowing disorders
• Oral-motor weakness