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Communication Difficulties
Speech Pathology Assessment and Therapy Services can be provided for Babies, Toddlers, Children & Adolescents in the areas of:
Speech Sound Delays & Disorders
Speech Sound difficulties can be due to articulation errors (difficulty making the speech sound), phonological difficulties (errors in speech sound patterns) or apraxia (motor planning difficulties). This can result in:
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Unclear Speech
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Speech that sounds slushy
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Difficulty pronouncing certain speech sounds
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Replacing certain speech sounds (e.g. ‘r’ is replaced by ‘w’ in words; rabbit à “wabbit”.
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Difficulty being understood by familiar and / or unfamiliar listeners
Early Language Development
Early intervention for children between the ages of 2 - 6 years with language delays is important as research suggests it will have the biggest impact on a child's language development. Early language difficulties may include, but is not limited to:
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A child not communicating by babbling, using sounds, gestures and/or words
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Not imitating sounds or words
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Difficulty following simple instructions
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Not responded to his / her name
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Delayed play skills and eye contact
Expressive Language Disorders
This includes a child’s ability to join words to form sentences using the correct vocabulary, sentence structure and grammar. Some symptoms of expressive language delays can include:
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Poor vocabulary
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Difficulty asking and answering questions
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Incorrect grammar
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Problems formulating clear sentences
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Difficulty putting words together to communicate effectively
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Difficulty retelling stories
Receptive Language Disorders
Receptive Language includes a child's ability to understand what they hear and/or read. Some symptoms for a receptive language delay can be:
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Understanding concepts
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Following instructions
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Understanding a range of questions
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Not being able to follow a story
Stuttering
Stuttering is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is interrupted. Interruptions may occur due to:
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Involuntary repetitions
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Prolongations of sounds, syllables, words or phrases
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Silent pauses or blocks
Auditory Processing Disorder
If a child has Auditory Processing Disorder (APD), you might notice that he / she has difficulties with:
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listening and hearing, especially if there’s a lot of background noise and distractions
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following instructions
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staying focused – for example, he might be easily distracted
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remembering spoken instructions
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telling the difference between letters that sound similar, like ‘k’ and ‘g’, or ‘t’ and ‘d’
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remembering to say the beginning or end sounds of words when he’s reading.
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This means that APD can appear as problems with learning, listening and communication, as well as reading and writing.
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Social and Pragmatic Communication Difficulties
Social skills are the verbal and non-verbal skills that we use to communicate. A child with poor social skills may demonstrate:
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Poor eye contact
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Difficulty taking turns
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Poor joint attention
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Difficulty initiating and maintaining conversations
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Difficulty making and maintaining friendships
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Poor pretend and imaginative play
Literacy (reading, writing & spelling)
Poor literacy skills can be evident in a number of ways and this can impact a child’s reading comprehension. Symptoms include:
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Mispronouncing letters or words
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Difficulty distinguishing between similar sounds
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Skipping over words
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Inability to decode sounds in words
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Guessing a word based on the first sound they see
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Writing unrelated/made up words to those they were thinking of
Reading Comprehension
When children don’t understand what they read, it can impact their ability to succeed in school. Signs of Poor Reading Comprehension are:
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Inability to answer questions about what they just read
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Not understanding the logical sequence of a story
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Inability to tell the story after reading it
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Not being able to connect individual sentences or paragraphs of text together to make sense of what they’ve read.
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Poor understanding of the meaning of individual words
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Losing interest in reading or giving up quickly
Voice Care and Vocal Therapy
The Speech Pathologist will develop an exercise program tailored to a child’s specific voice problem. They will also provide voice care tips to explain how to care for our voice and maintain good vocal health. Voice difficulties can include (but is not limited to):
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hoarse (croaky) voice quality
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Inappropriate volume
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Inappropriate pitch
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Poor intonation (monotone)
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Pain
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as though they are speaking through a blocked nose
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as though too much air is coming down through the nose during speech.
Learning Difficulties
The development of fluent language skills is rooted in complex cognitive processes that include attention, auditory and visual perception and processing, memory, and executive function. Students who have difficulty in any of these areas may also have difficulty acquiring the facility with language that school requires. To understand a reading selection, for example, students must be able to pay attention to the task of reading, decode the words, retrieve vocabulary and related knowledge from memory, and recognize the syntax and structure of discourse.
Language-based learning disability (LBLD) refers to a spectrum of difficulties related to the understanding and use of spoken and written language. LBLD is a common cause of students' academic struggles because weak language skills impede comprehension and communication, which are the basis for most school activity.
Phonological Awareness (Early Reading & Writing Skills)
Phonological Awareness refers to early l...
Accent Modification
Accent reduction, also known as accent modification, is a systematic approach for learning or adopting a new speech accent. Accent reduction training is often requested by clients who do not speak English as first language, so they can communicate more effectively with their colleagues, clients, and customers.
** Please click on any of the above services or visit When should I refer my child to a Speech Pathologist? in our FAQ for a detailed explanation of communication concerns and difficulties a child may experience.