Speech Therapy Services for Children with:

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is an umbrella term for Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PPD-NOS). Children with ASD may have difficulty with communication including social communication.
Our speech therapists meet the child where they are and encourage all forms of communication through everyday activities. We harness a child’s interest to engage them in therapy such as by using toy trains to teach a child interested in trains prepositions or by using animals to teach categories. Additionally, we understand the unique sensory needs of each child and encourage movement and kinesthetic learning.

Speech involves the production of sounds. For instance, a child facing speech challenges may struggle with pronouncing the R sound or being understood by others.

Our speech therapists employ PROMPT therapy to help a child learn how to accurately produce sounds. PROMPT stands for PROMPTS for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets. It is an evidence-based therapy technique in which the therapist uses their hands to gently guide the child’s mouth (i.e., lips, jaw, tongue) to articulate words. For example, the therapist for a child who has a difficult time with their R sound would choose target words (e.g., run, art) and use tactile support to guide the child‘s mouth when practicing each word.

At West Village Speech Therapy, we believe in Total Communication which means that all forms of communication is encouraged. This includes gestures (e.g., pointing, signing), vocalizations, word approximations, speaking, and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).

AAC is the use of pictures or technology to communicate. A picture communication board or an app on a tablet Are both examples of AAC. Research has proven that AAC can be beneficial to children who have difficulty communicating verbally. Our speech therapists are AAC experts and use AAC to promote speech and language development when appropriate.

Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is a motor speech disorder characterized by a child having difficulty producing accurate movements when speaking. It occurs when there is a disconnect between the brain and the mouth muscles during the formation of speech. 

Our speech therapists use evidence-based practices including using a motor-based approach to focus on the movement necessary to produce sounds and starting at the syllable level instead of the sound level (e.g., “me” instead of “m”) to help a child with CAS develop clearer speech.

Expressive language is the ability to share thoughts, ideas and needs. It includes vocabulary, sentence formation and organization of thoughts.

Our speech therapists use research-based approaches such as “recasting”. During “recasting“ the therapist recasts what the child has said to make a longer and complete sentence. For example if a child playing said, “Car fast” the therapist would say, “ That‘s right, the big red car is going really fast!” 

Additional approaches used include expanding vocabulary through describing activities such as Eye Spy and organizing story ideas through use of graphic organizers.

Receptive language is the ability to understand what is being said such as the ability to understand questions and stories. 

Our speech therapists use engaging visuals, games, and activities to target receptive language goals. Some examples include playing a game of Go Fish to target answering “yes/no” questions, reading a book to target “who“ questions or putting stickers on a picture scene to target answering “where” questions. Other receptive language sessions may include learning how to make a predictions first using pictures, then using books of increasing difficulty.