1
Why does speech therapy look like play?
During a session, your child's speech and language pathologist is focusing on a multitude of essential communication building blocks (ex: imitation, imaginary play, cooperative skills, labeling, requesting, following directions, etc...) Encouraging these skills through play creates a natural, stress-free learning experience that motivates and encourages children to learn through what the enjoy most - play!
2
Does being bilingual negatively impact my child's speech development?
Absolutely not, this is a common misconception. You may notice language mixing or uneven skills between languages, but this is a normal part of bilingual development. Children who speak multiple languages at once oftentimes have an increased vocabulary, working-memory, and in-time language processing compared to their peers!
3
When will I see progress?
Every child shows progress differently and at different times, there is no guaranteed timeline. Progression is a process of repetition, practice, and ongoing support to help your child gain confidence and foundational skills needed to express themselves. You can help excel their pace by carrying over of strategies outside of sessions.
4
Won't my child eventually outgrow their speech delay on their own?
Children learn language through interactions with others, repetitive actions or songs, modeling of speech, novel experiences, and more! Language does not develop on it's own in most cases; support is beneficial and needed in most cases for children with speech and language delays. Waiting to see if a child will “catch up” to others their age means missing a valuable window for growth. Still not sure if they need speech? Schedule and evaluation and our therapist will help navigate their needs with you!
5
Isn't speech therapy just about teaching my child how to speak?
No, speech therapy is much more than teaching your child "how to talk" - here are just a few examples of other common difficulties speech therapy addresses
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Answering "wh"-questions appropriately
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Maintaining joint-attention during conversations
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Executive functioning (working memory, organization, etc...)
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Speech sound errors
