Speech-Language Therapy Services

Language disorders affect how people understand and use words. A receptive language disorder means a person may have trouble following directions, understanding questions, or grasping the meaning of what others say. An expressive language disorder means they may have difficulty using words to express their thoughts, needs, or feelings. Some people experience challenges with both expressive and receptive language.

Articulation refers to how a a person moves their mouth, lips, and tongue to produce sounds. If they have trouble with specific sounds like “r” or “s,” it may be an articulation challenge. Phonology is about patterns of sound — for example, if a child always leaves off the ends of words or consistently switches sounds around (e.g. /r/ and /l/ into a /w/) it could be a phonological disorder. Both articulation and phonological disorders can make speech more difficult to understand.

Fluency refers to the natural flow of speech production. Some people may stutter, leading to sound, word repetitions and/or stoppages. Stuttering may include repetition of sounds (e.g."b-b-ball") or words (e.g. That-that-that ball), stretching out speech sounds, or getting “stuck” when trying to speak.

Cognition refers to how we think, learn, remember, and problem-solve. Executive function is a set of mental skills that helps us manage time, stay organized, control impulses, and shift between tasks. People with difficulties in this area might struggle with planning, staying focused, or remembering instructions. These challenges can affect learning, behavior, and communication.

Social communication is how we use language to connect with others (e.g. taking turns in conversation, understanding tone of voice, knowing what to say and when, etc.). People with social communication challenges may have trouble reading social cues, staying on topic, or adapting their language depending on who they’re talking to. Supporting these skills helps individual's build friendships and navigate the social world more confidently.

While many of us acquire language one word at a time, some people learn language in chunks or scripts instead of word-by-word. This is called gestalt language processing. For example, a child might say a whole phrase they've heard (e.g. “Let’s get out of here!”) without yet understanding or using the individual words in other contexts. Over time, gestalt processors learn to break these scripts down and build flexible language. This is a natural style of language development for some people, especially those who are neurodivergent. Speech-therapy can be useful in helping an individual move through the stages of language acquisition faster and achieve more complexity and flexibility when using language. A speech-therapist can also help conversation partners learn how to model and teach language in a way that is more approachable for gestalt langauge processors to learn.