How can speech and language therapy help my child?
Speech and language therapy can help by providing treatment, support and care for children who have difficulties with communication.
Speech and language therapists are qualified health professionals who can support children with primary speech, language and communication difficulties, such as stammering as well as speech, language and communication difficulties that are secondary to other conditions such as learning difficulties and hearing problems.
Speech and language therapists also support premature babies and infants with conditions such as cerebral palsy, cleft palate and Down’s syndrome from very early in life. They may have difficulties with drinking, swallowing and early play and communication skills.
17 areas speech and language therapists help with
Here are just some of the important ways that speech and language therapists can help your child:
- Pre-school language problems
- Delayed development
- Trouble understanding meanings, gestures, directions or answering questions
- Problems identifying words, objects and pictures
- Problems putting words into sentences or learning new vocabulary, songs or rhymes
- Having difficulty understanding what others say
- Poor pronunciation
- Speech and language delays
- Stammering or speech difficulties
- Falling behind in learning numbers, letters, spelling or telling the time
- Learning disabilities
- Not being able to form words (Apraxia)
- Early play and communication skills
- Autism
- Asperger Syndrome
- ADHD
- Hearing difficulties
The list is not exhaustive - and speech and language therapists can help your child in a range of other ways.
The important thing to remember is that every child is different and that is why a qualified speech and language therapist will assess your exact needs and development goals to come up with a plan to help meet these vital communication needs.
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