Services

Evaluations

Evaluations usually include a combination of standardized testing, clinical observations, and parent interview. When appropriate, reviews of other evaluation reports and interviews with teachers and other professionals can help provide a more thorough assessment. Once completed, a report is generated which includes a description of the child’s skills and areas of need, recommended goals, a treatment plan, and referrals if needed.

Treatment

A treatment plan typically includes 1-3 sessions per week of direct one-on-one treatment, focusing on individualized and measurable goals.  Parent education is an integral part of the process and may be done through direct involvement during therapy sessions, observation, conversations following sessions, and/or written notes. 

About CAS and Pediatric Speech and Language Development

Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)

Messages need to go from your brain to your mouth to speak. These messages tell the muscles how and when to move to make sounds. If your child has apraxia of speech, the messages do not get through correctly. Your child might not be able to move his lips or tongue to the right place to say sounds, even though his muscles are not weak. Sometimes, he might not be able to say much at all.

A child with CAS knows what she wants to say. CAS is a problem with her brain getting her mouth muscles to move, not with how well she thinks. You may hear CAS called verbal dyspraxia or developmental apraxia.

Even though you may hear the term "developmental," CAS is not a problem that children simply outgrow. A child with a developmental speech disorder learns sounds in a typical order, just at a slower pace. If your child has CAS, he will not follow typical patterns and will not make progress without treatment. It will take a lot of work, but your child’s speech can improve.

For more information about CAS visit the Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America (CASANA) at www.apraxia-kids.org.

Pediatric Language Disorders 

Some children have problems understanding, called receptive language. They may have trouble following directions, answering questions, pointing to objects and pictures, and knowing how to take turns when talking  Children may also have problems talking, called expressive language. They may have difficulty asking questions, naming objects, combining words to form sentences, and using correct grammar (ex. pronouns, verbs).

Pediatric Speech Sound Disorders

Speech sound disorders may involve substitution of another sound, leaving sounds out, adding sounds, or changing the sound. It can be hard for others to understand children with speech sound disorders.  It is sometimes normal for young children to say the wrong sounds. For example, children may make a "w" sound for an "r" and say "wabbit" for "rabbit." They may leave sounds out of words, such as "nana" for "banana." This is okay when children are young, but it may be a problem if they keep making these mistakes as they get older.