Speech Therapy Services
Language Delay & Disorder • Articulation • Stuttering • Social Skills • Reading & Dyslexia• Apraxia of Speech• Early Language
Evaluations
Sunshine Speech Services provides comprehensive diagnostic evaluations, parent coaching and discussions, and treatment of children with speech, language, and social communication disorders and delays. The process includes:
1-3 hour long extensive evaluation
Full case and medical history review and questionnaire
Clinical observation of your child in a naturalistic environment
Once an evaluation is complete, the speech therapist will work with you to create and discuss a plan of care that includes long-term and short-term goals as well as any referrals and recommendations that may need to be addressed.
Approach to Therapy
The goal of treatment is to help your child improve their communication skills. With that being said, treatment sessions are tailored to each specific child and their needs. A therapy session could look like:
Playing with turn-taking toys to teach social reciprocity
Drilling articulation cards to target and teach the /k/ sound
Practicing breath control and slow onsets to facilitate fluent speech
In general, each session will target child-specific goals that are created by the speech therapist based on the initial evaluation. Families will also be given weekly home programs to practice communication skills outside of therapy.
our specialties
Speech sound Disorders
Does your child have trouble saying certain words and sounds past an expected age? Do you question what they are telling you and/or are they hard to understand? Your child may have a speech sound disorder if:
They add or leave off sounds in words and phrases (ex: “coo” for school or “puhlay” for play)
They swap sounds in a word or phrase (ex: “tat” for cat)
They distort sounds in a word or phrase (ex: “kith” for kiss)
Pragmatics & Social Skills
Does your child struggle with daily communicative interactions? Are they able to hold a conversation and establish eye contact? Pragmatics refer to the social aspect of language and some children struggle with this. They may need help if:
They have difficulties with nonverbal language (ex: eye contact, facial expressions, hand gestures)
They have difficulties understanding figurative language (ex: sarcasm, inferences, idioms, metaphors)
They have difficulties initiating and following a conversation with another person
Language Delays & disorders
Do you wonder why your child is not talking yet? Or are they talking but only using one or two words? How about questions whether your child understands you or not? Some children are diagnosed with an expressive and/or receptive language delay/disorder. Common signs include:
Limited vocabulary repertoire (ex: only using a few words, no two word phrases)
Unable to follow simple directions or verbal requests
No independent productions of words (child can only imitate what they hear)
Stuttering
Do you ever hear your child stuttering or feel that their speech is not smooth? Stuttering usually starts between 2-6 years of age. Some children grow out of a stutter, however, early help can reduce the chances that your child will continue stuttering. Common signs include:
Part word and one syllable repetitions (ex: “I w-w-w-want a cookie”, “Go-go-go over there”)
Prolonged sounds (ex: “Ssssssssay it again” )
Tenseness, avoidance, and reports that “it is too hard to talk/speak”
We Are Accepting New Clients for Therapy!
If you are unsure whether your child is in need of services, the best thing to do is to talk with a speech therapist and decide what the next steps would be. Being proactive and advocating for your child is an important aspect of identifying speech and language delays and disorders early.
Therapy will be provided at the most beneficial location for each child.
Tele-health (Sessions over the computer)
Your child’s school or daycare
Naturalistic public spots (library, park, etc.).