Children’s Speech Therapy in Illinois
Speech and language skills develop throughout childhood. A baby’s earliest oral-motor skills are needed for efficient feeding and first sounds. Their social and communication skills also begin very early as they make eye contact, cry for assistance and respond to voices. As a child develops and grows, so should their oral-motor, cognitive and communication skills. If you have any questions about your child’s speech and language development you should contact a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist.
Why Speech-Language Therapy?
Speech-Language therapy facilitates and improves language, oral-motor and cognitive skills, including the following:
- Oral-motor / speech skills
- Respiration
- Expressive / Receptive Language
- Pragmatics
- Augmentative Communication Systems
- Participation in Complex Two-Way Communication
- Processing and Using Pictures/Signs, Vocalizations, Words, Phrases and Sentences
- Engagement in Symbolic Play to Support Abstract Language Skills
Does My Child Need Speech-Language Therapy?
A Speech-Language evaluation may be appropriate if any of the following are noted:
- A parent is concerned about speech or language development
- A child is not talking at all by age 18 months
- There are medical or developmental concerns that may affect speech
- A child is embarrassed by his or her speech at any age
Additionally, below are some common benchmarks to observe. If any of these benchmarks are not being met, it may be indicative of the need for an evaluation:
Age 2
- A child is hearing impaired and/or does not respond to quiet sounds or voices
- A child has a cleft palate or excessive nasal quality in his or her voice
- A child does not begin combining words by age 2
- A child exhibits limited vocabulary development
- A child is not responding to conversational speech
Age 3
- A child is not fluent or thought to stutter
- There is an absence of sentence structure in a child’s speech
- A child’s family has difficulty understanding their speech
- A child’s speech contains many omissions of initial and final consonants
- A child’s speech is limited to echoing others statements, songs, rhymes, etc.
Age 4
- Word endings are consistently dropped or used inconsistently
- A child’s communication skills are inadequate for interaction in the school environment
- Sentence structure is noticeably faulty
Age 5
- A child is noticeably not fluent or parents express a concern about fluency
- A child has hoarse, harsh or unusual voice quality
- A child mispronounces any sounds
Age 6
- A speech or language problem is present and speech therapy is unavailable or inadequate in the school system
- The child has a learning disability
Speech-Language Therapy Can Help Children Who:
- Have difficulty with pre-language skills, including making eye contact or facial expressions, gesturing, babbling or imitating sounds.
- Exhibit weakness or lack of coordination in facial and oral muscles necessary for speech by drooling or having unclear verbal language.
- Have difficulty producing understandable sounds, letters, or words needed to communicate with others.
- Exhibit problems with receptive language such as understanding and following directions or expressive language such as putting words together or naming objects and family members.
- Have difficulty using appropriate behavior and language within social situations or understanding indirect requests and facial expression from others.
- Have difficulty with thinking skills such as remembering homework assignments, organization and problem solving.
- Have difficulty with speech including articulation (clarity of speech) and stuttering.
Contact Us
Please feel free to reach out to Kids Therapy if you have any questions about your child’s development or if you need further information about speech-language therapy.