What is a Pediatric

SPEECH THERAPIST?

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Pediatric Speech Therapists (also called Speech-Language Pathologists) evaluate, diagnose, and treat communication disorders that cause children to have difficulty understanding others or expressing themselves. Speech Therapists also treat challenges relating to chewing and swallowing. The 9 areas they evaluate and treat are listed below.

Listed below are some of the areas a pediatric speech therapist may aide in your child’s development.

1. Articulation

An articulation disorder is characterized in a child by their difficulty making speech sounds. Sounds may be replaced or substituted by another sound, left off, or changed, or a different sound may be added. These changes may make it difficult for others to understand the speaker.

2. Receptive and Expressive Language

Language includes the ability to understand others and express oneself using spoken, written, or symbol systems. SLPs (or STs) also treat auditory processing disorders (APD), which are also known as central auditory processing disorders.

3. Feeding and Swallowing

Feeding disorders are characterized by difficulty getting food and liquid to the mouth and preparing to chew, suck or swallow it. Swallowing disorders, also called dysphagia, include difficulty manipulating the food or liquid in the mouth or successfully moving it to the stomach.

4. Communication Modalities

Communication modalities include augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). AAC can include different systems, such as picture systems, gestures, manual signs, or speech-generating devices. These systems may be used to support existing speech and language or as a replacement for non-functional speech.

 

5. Fluency

A fluency disorder is any interruption in the forward flow of speech and language. Interruptions can include repetitions, blocks, prolongations, and interjections. There are two types of fluency disorders. They are stuttering or cluttering.

6. Voice and Resonance

A voice disorder includes any disturbances in loudness, pitch or quality. A resonance disorder is a disturbance in how the airflow is shaped as it moves through the mouth and through the nose.

7. Hearing

Speech Therapists (Speech Language Pathologists) treat communication deficits related to hearing disorders. Hearing disorders may impact the development, comprehension, or production of speech.

8. Cognition

Cognitive communication disorders can include difficulty with attention, problem solving, speed of thinking, verbal and visuospatial working memory, organization, executive functions or declarative learning.

9. Social Aspects of communication

Social aspects of communication may include difficulty with social interaction, social cognition, or pragmatics. Pragmatics involve using language in social situations, including for different purposes, changing language based on the listener’s needs, and for following conversational rules.

 

Your child may be in need of Pediatric Speech Therapy if they are experiencing any of the following:

  • You or other people have difficulty understanding your child.

  • Your infant/toddler is not babbling/playing with sounds or trying to imitate you.

  • People think your child is younger than they actually are because of the way they speak.

  • Your child is being teased or shows frustration because of the way they talk.

  • Your child uses fewer words than other children their age.

  • Your child stutters or produces speech with many stops and starts.

  • Your child's interactions or play seem unusual or inappropriate when compared with their peers.

  • Your child struggles with reading, writing, and/or spelling.

  • There is a diagnosis that could affect speech or language such as hearing loss, auditory processing disorder, autism spectrum disorder, or developmental delay.

 

Common Diagnoses for Pediatric Speech Therapists to Treat

  • ADD

  • ADHD

  • Apraxia of Speech

  • Asperger Syndrome

  • Aspiration of Foods/Liquids

  • Auditory Processing Disorder

  • Augmentative/Alternative Communication (AAC)

  • Autism Spectrum Disorders

  • Cerebral Palsy

  • Cluttering

  • Childhood Stroke

  • Choking

  • Cleft Lip

  • Cleft Palate

  • Cochlear Implant

  • Cognitive Disorders

  • Cognitive-Communication Deficits

  • Cri-Du-Chat Syndrome

  • Delayed Milestones

  • Developmental Articulation Disorder

  • Developmental Delays

  • DiGeorges Syndrome

  • Doose Syndrome

  • Down Syndrome

  • Dravet Syndrome

  • Dysarthria

  • Dysfluency

  • Dyslexia

  • Dysphagia (oral preparation, oral, pharyngeal, and esophageal phases)

  • Epilepsy

  • Expressive Language Disorder

  • Failure to Thrive

  • Feeding Difficulties

  • Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

  • Genetic/Chromosomal Disorders

  • Global Developmental Delays

  • Hemiparesis

  • Language Delay due to Hearing Loss

  • Late Talkers

  • Learning Disabilities

  • Lisping

  • Mitochondrial Disorder

  • Neurofibromatosis Type 1

  • Oppositional Defiant Disorder

  • Oral-Motor Weakness

  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

  • Prader-Willi Syndrome

  • Prematurity

  • Pervasive Developmental Disorder

  • Reading Disorders

  • Receptive Language Disorder

  • Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome

  • Schizencephaly

  • Seizure Disorders

  • Selective Mutism

  • Social Language/Pragmatic Delays

  • Specific Learning Impairments (SLI)

  • Speech Sound Disorders

  • Spina Bifida

  • Spinal Cord Injury

  • Static Encephalopathy

  • Stroke/Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA)

  • Stuttering

  • Swallowing

  • Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

  • Voice Disorders

  • Williams Syndrome

  • Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome

 
 

In-Home and telehealth Pediatric Speech Therapists serving Northern Colorado.