Speech therapy for your child in Charlotte, NC and surrounding areas: Pineville, Matthews, Mint Hill, Rock Hill, Tega Cay
Services
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How we can help your child’s speech
All of our speech-language pathologists (more commonly known as “speech therapists”), are nationally certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and hold licensure in North Carolina and South Carolina. This ensures that your child receives the highest quality of service from trained professionals. It also lets you know that you, as a parent, are receiving the latest information about speech and language problems in children. Each one of our speech-language pathologists (SLPs) specializes in working with children, from infants to teenagers.
Whether your child has autism, apraxia, dyslexia, or a diagnosed (or undiagnosed) language-based learning disability, we’re here to help your child reach his or her fullest potential.
How do I know if my child needs an evaluation?
All of our speech-language pathologists (more commonly known as “speech therapists”), are nationally certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and hold licensure in North Carolina and South Carolina. This ensures that your child receives the highest quality of service from trained professionals. It also lets you know that you, as a parent, are receiving the latest information about speech and language problems in children. Each one of our speech-language pathologists (SLPs) specializes in working with children, from infants to teenagers.
Whether your child has autism, apraxia, dyslexia, or a diagnosed (or undiagnosed) language-based learning disability, we’re here to help your child reach his or her fullest potential.
All of our therapy services, screenings, evaluations, and services for your children are offered in the privacy, comfort and convenience of your home. In those cases where your child attends an independent (i.e., private school), we have experience collaborating with school administrators to coordinate serving your child during school hours, at the child’s school. Our rationale behind offering such services in a home-setting is based on years of research in the concept of natural environment. (insert footnote here)
Several studies show that children who receive therapy
services in a natural environment tend to show more positive
benefits from their therapy, both short and long term, than
children who receive therapy in a clinical setting. This is
especially true for toddlers and preschoolers, who may be
intimidated by “going to the doctor,” and may negatively (and
falsely) associate health care providers with vaccinations,
strep throat tests, and other uncomfortable or painful tests.
For many very young children, such negative associations with
those in health care may exist even if the health care
professional , in this case an SLP, is offering a service that
is completely pain-free.
Because our model is designed to serve children in a setting in which they are already familiar (school or home), the child is much less likely to dread a visit from the speech-language pathologist.
Identifying child speech problems
We offer speech, language, and hearing evaluations to help determine if your child has a language, speech, or communication disorder. Because all children are unique, we customize evaluations according to your child’s individual needs. Also, because some child speech disorders may be symptoms of other health concerns, we may refer you to other specialists, including ear, nose, and throat specialists, learning specialists, or other professionals who specialize in working with children.
After the evaluation, one of our SLPs will speak to you about the results and explain options for your child. If therapy is recommended, our SLP will explain the details including the recommended length of time for therapy for the course of treatment, the length of each therapy session, and the weekly frequency of therapy sessions.
Speech Therapy for Children
As with evaluations, speech therapy sessions are always customized based on your child’s needs and abilities. Depending on the child’s age and needs, therapy sessions may last for 30 minutes up to 60 minutes. Sessions may be once, twice, or three times per week. After every therapy session, parents are given updates regarding the child’s progress.
Instead of us just coming to your home, offering your child
speech therapy, and giving your child assignments to complete,
we use events happening in your child’s home and/or school as
the foundation for our therapy sessions. In short, we attempt
to integrate therapy into the child’s everyday life to make
the experience more “real.” By having your child quickly make
connections between what is learned during therapy and what is
happening in the immediate environment, our goal is to make
your child’s new communication skills a permanent part of his
or her daily life.
In addition to providing therapy sessions, we constantly offer support and guidance to parents, the child’s teacher(s), the classroom curricula, and any of the child’s caregivers to ensure the child’s therapy goals are being incorporated on a daily basis. This concept of “whole child” development, thoroughly involving the key people in the child’s life, is part and parcel of our service model.
Lastly, to further reinforce all of the skills your child acquires during therapy sessions, the SLP assigns the child “homework.” It is VERY important that you complete the brief, yet comprehensive, homework assignments with your child on a regular basis.
Our goal is to help children communicate better, and to involve parents in the process.
Follow-up evaluation
After 3-6 months of therapy sessions (depending on your child’s age and needs), we provide a follow-up evaluation to measure the child’s progress. As with the initial evaluation, our SLP informs parents of the results and recommend the next course of action, which may include decreasing the frequency or duration of therapy sessions, ending the therapy sessions, or increasing therapy sessions altogether. Again, because every child is unique, each reevaluation factors in the child’s age, needs, abilities, and parental concerns.
Have more questions?
Contact us today at 704.845.0561 to schedule your child for a speech evaluation.