• what is a pediatric speech-language pathologist?

  A speech-language pathologist (SLP) is an educated and highly-trained professional holding at least a Master’s degree who specializes in preventing, assessing, diagnosing, and treating the areas of speech, language, social-communication, cognitive-communication, literacy, and swallowing disorders for children.

• what is the difference between speech and language?

Speech and language are often confused to be the same thing, but they are not. If your child has trouble with speech, he/ she struggles with the “how-to” of talking—the coordination of the muscles and movements necessary to produce speech. If your child has trouble with language, he/she struggles with understanding what he/she hears or sees. Your child may struggle to find the right words and/or organize those words in a meaningful way to communicate a message or hold a conversation.

• Is there a difference between a speech-language pathologist vs. speech therapist?

No, there’s no difference between the variety of names. The official title is a speech-language pathologist but many commonly shorten their title to be referenced as a speech therapist. You can ask if they are licensed and credentialed with their CCC’s to be extra sure!

• How do I know if my child needs therapy?

I am happy to chat with you about your concerns and determine if speech and language therapy might be a good fit for your child. Most commonly an informal observation or evaluation is needed to fully determine if speech therapy services are needed.

• How often will my child need therapy and how long are the sessions?

Sessions are either 30 minutes or 50 minutes which includes time to debrief with you about your child’s progress and ideas for home practice. The length of therapy can be adjusted depending on your child’s response to sessions. The intensity of therapy is based on a child’s needs with consideration of family situation. Typically children receive 1-2 sessions per week.

• What do sessions look like?

Every child’s needs and learning styles are different so therapy is too! Some children learn best through play while other children benefit from more structured tasks. I often ask parents how their child learns best and go from there. Most importantly I believe that the best approach to therapy is to remain flexible and evolve pending a child’s response.

• Do I join therapy sessions? and what about siblings?

Parents are encouraged to join part or all of the therapy sessions. My goal is to give you strategies to work with your child. Siblings can be very motivating in sessions and often it is beneficial to have them participate in part or all of a session. Every family and child is different though so we can figure out the best system pending your child’s response to therapy.

• Do you take my insurance?

  I am considered “Out of Network” with all insurance plans. However, most families can still pursue insurance reimbursement where the family will submit the bill to their insurance company. Please note that families are responsible for familiarizing themselves with their insurance benefits, as well as reimbursement policies as they vary widely. I am happy to provide additional documentation as required by insurance companies upon request.

• What Disorders or areas of function do you treat?

• Below is a list of the speech and language disorders I specialize in and a brief explanation of each.

  Speech Disorders

  • Articulation - the way we say our speech sounds

  • Phonology - the speech patterns we use

  • Apraxia - difficulty planning and coordinating the movements needed to make speech sounds

  • Oral-Motor Disorders - weak tongue and/or lip muscles

  Language Disorders

  • Pre-linguistic skills

  • Pre-literacy skills

  • Literacy skills

  • Play development

  • Receptive Language - difficulty understanding language

  • Expressive Language - difficulty using language

  • Language Processing (Auditory Processing) Disorder

  • Pragmatic Language - aka Social Skills

• I have more questions before we get started…

I am happy to answer any questions /concerns you may have. Please don’t hesitate to contact me and send any questions my way!