What is Speech And Language Therapy?
Speech and Language Therapy can help children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to develop relationships with others, improve their academic capabilities and aid them to function in many aspects of their daily lives.
Building Communication Skills
At Papillon Family Health we work on communication with every child, whether they are pre-verbal, non-verbal, or have some level of verbal ability. Speech and Language Therapy is a wonderful complement to Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA). Our specialists collaborate on the ideal program for each child’s unique needs. The speech and language pathologist (SLP) can aid with identifying any secondary diagnosis of learning disabilities such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and apraxia of speech. They also assist families with techniques to support communication development at home.
What does Speech and Language Therapy involve?
An SLP is trained to work with children from toddlers through to adolescents. Their work involves refining spoken language, improving non-verbal communication, or introducing new communication methods such as sign language, picture communication, or adaptive devices. Our SLPs are also experienced working with Children with ASD can often experience speech and language delays and difficulties.
What Happens at the First Assessment?
Your speech-language pathologist will discuss your concerns and assess your child’s communication skills. Together, you’ll identify priorities and review the recommended next steps.
The assessment helps us understand your child’s strengths, where they need support and which goals to focus on.
Communication And Social Skills
The SLP can help the child with articulation, reading and writing, vocal difficulties, motor speech, phonological awareness and learning disabilities. Communication skills are an important element of social interaction that will benefit interactions at home, at school and reinforce other elements of the therapy plan.
Goals
Every child is different and requires an approach designed to suit their unique needs and the SLP may integrate the following targets into the therapy program:
- Social interactions in a variety of settings
- Appropriate communication responses and behaviours
- Taking turns in conversations
- Transitioning between social settings
- Accepting changes
- Expanding interests
- Improving reading and writing capabilities
