At Silver Linings, we provide speech therapy and evaluations for children of any age with a variety of difficulties: speech sound errors, language delays, social communication struggles, voice issues, feeding difficulties, swallowing difficulties, alternative communication needs…
If you have not previously been exposed to speech disorders, then you may have difficulty determining if your child or teen is at risk. Please see the following links for more detailed information on the various types of disorders that we offer treatment for in our clinic.
Not every child uses verbal communication alone! AAC devices and options are highly beneficial for those building their functional communication skills. AAC devices may often be recommended for children who are somewhat verbal and needing something additional to allow them to communicate.
Apraxia is a motor speech disorder that primarily affects the motor center in the brain. It disrupts the coordination of oral motor structures involved in producing specific sounds.
Children may have difficulties with their fluency of speech, which presents as stuttering or cluttering. Children typically develop this at a young age, and it may persist through school age, leading to difficulties expressing themselves and anxiety surrounding speaking. Click here for more details.
Auditory processing disorder (APD) is a condition that affects the way the brain processes sound and background noise. Auditory processing difficulties can present as issues with following directions without visuals, recalling information when visuals are not provided, and understanding and hearing words correctly.
Services to address feeding and early language are also available to you if your child falls between the ages of birth to 3 years. We have screenings, evaluations, and treatment for early language and feeding!
Some children may have difficulties with daily tasks, such as organizing information, initiating or completing tasks, remembering important information, and more. We can work with your child to give them strategies to increase their success at completing tasks and practice using them, so they can carry over those skills at home and school.
Children are often picky eaters, but sometimes it goes beyond picky eating! Children may drool excessively, have difficulty chewing appropriately, and gag during feeding. If your child is having difficulties with eating foods, or you need support with trying new foods, reach out to us! Click here for more details.
FEES is an instrumental evaluation used for swallowing and voicing difficulties or issues. A small camera is inserted through the nose and looks over the throat; clients may be asked to drink, eat, or speak while the clinician views their throat through the camera feed. This is often highly beneficial for swallowing and feeding issues, as well as voicing difficulties. It can be used as an evaluation or treatment tool.
Children may have difficulties with their fluency of speech, which presents as stuttering or cluttering. Children typically develop this at a young age, and it may persist through school age, leading to difficulties expressing themselves and anxiety surrounding speaking. Click here for more details.
Children may have difficulties comprehending or expressing language that can contribute further to difficulties with daily tasks, reading, academic tasks, and social situations. Language delays may be at the root of your child’s struggles with a variety of skills. Language delay therapy focuses on building up language comprehension and expression skills. To see a chart to determine skills your child may be expected to perform at his/her age, Click here.
As children learn to read, they have to learn the sounds that words make and be able to blend sounds, break words apart, and tell differences between words they hear. These are some of the skills we consider important before your child starts reading! If your child is having reading difficulties, it may help to rule out phonological awareness issues! Click here for more.
Children may experience seizures, strokes, or traumatic brain injuries that can affect their speech, language, feeding, voice, and a variety of other things. If you have concerns about your child’s skills after experiencing an injury, please contact us!
Project ImPACT is a program that we use to train parents and caregivers of children who present with speech, language, and play delays! The program covers important topics regarding new and different ways to engage with your child, create language opportunities, and teach new language skills. This program puts tools in the caregiver’s toolbox to help them learn how to help and support language and speech at home!
A social communication disorder is an impairment in the ability to interact and communicate appropriately with others. Individuals with this disorder may have difficulty initiating or maintaining conversations, interpreting verbal and non-verbal cues, understanding jokes or non-literal language, and maintaining back-and-forth conversation.
Children may have difficulties interacting with peers and adults appropriately, such as understanding others’ perspectives, turn-taking, sharing, appropriate/expected behaviors depending on the situation, and more! Children with social skills difficulties often benefit from direct lessons as well as social group practice!
Children reach developmental milestones at different times, but they are expected to perform certain skills by certain ages. The average child begins using real words around 12 to 15 months; if your child isn’t speaking yet, and you have concerns, reach out to us! To see a chart to determine skills your child may be expected to perform at his/her age, Click here.
Children may have difficulties consuming foods or drinks easily and often cough, choke, or gag during meals. Coughing, choking, or gagging during eating may indicate unsafe eating or swallowing habits that can lead to further complications. Click here for more details.
Voice disorders commonly manifest as difficulties with loudness, voice quality, or speech rate. If you notice your voice sounding raspy, strained, breathy, unusually low or high, or hoarse, it could be indicative of a voice disorder.
Workshops are meant to support clients and their families. These are a great way to learn more about how to support friends and family outside of therapy rooms and clinic walls.