School-Age Children
New York Neurogenic Speech-Language Pathology. P.C., offers comprehensive speech therapy services for school-aged children. We understand that children require individual attention, therefore, we typically deliver therapeutic services in an individual one-to-one setting. Convenient schedules are available afterschool in order to ensure your child does not miss academic time in order to participate in speech therapy.
Evaluations
Pediatric assessments include an in-depth intake interview, an informal behavioral observation, as well as a combination of both standardized and non-standardized testing tools. Initial evaluations range in length from 1-2 hours and can be divided over multiple sessions depending on the age of the child and the severity of their disorder.
The following is a list of speech and language disorders typically observed in school- aged children.
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Articulation (Speech) Disorder
The inability to correctly produce speech sounds (phonemes) because of the imprecise placement, timing, pressure, speed, or flow of movement of the lips, tongue, or throat.
With an articulation disorder, there is difficulty producing and using age-appropriate speech sounds.
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Central Auditory Processing Disorder
Central auditory processing disorder (CAPD) is a complex problem affecting approximately 5% of school-aged children. Auditory processing refers to the brain’s ability to recognize and interpret speech and non-speech sounds. Auditory processing disorders occur when the brain is unable to processing/interpret information. Children with CAPD may demonstrate difficulty with the following skills: attention, academic performance, behavior, spelling, following simple and complex directions, listening, reading, processing information, sentence structure (syntax), vocabulary acquisition and writing.
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Expressive Language Disorder
Children with an expressive language disorder may understand spoken communication, but demonstrate difficulty expressing their thoughts and ideas. They may demonstrate difficulty making a connection between words and ideas.
Expressive language symptoms include reduce sentence length, poor story recall, improper sentence structure, poor word choice, difficulty retrieving words and poor use of grammatical rules.
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Receptive Language Delay
Children with receptive language delays demonstrate difficulty understanding language. Disordered skills can include following simple and complex directions, understanding grammatical rules, sustaining attention, and following details of a story.
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Oral Motor
Children with oral motor deficits demonstrate difficulty chewing, blowing, and sucking due to muscle tone and reduced mouth movements. Children with oral motor disorder frequently drool, have a flaccid facial appearance, breath with their mouth open, have slurred speech and difficulty swallowing or using a straw.
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Stuttering (Fluency)
Stuttering or dysfluent speech is characterized by the disruptions in normal speech flow. Speech is often halting and can include repetitions (“My, my, my, dog Bailey”), fillers (“Um”) and prolongation of speech sounds (H-h-h-h-h-h-is shoes are under the sofa). In severe cases, secondary physical characteristics may be observed (laryngeal tension, eye blinking, foot stomping).