Who are we and what makes us different?
We are a team of speech-language pathologists with extensive experience in the area of speech sound disorders, including motor speech impairments, such as childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). Our clinicians are trained in the PROMPT system (Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets), which has been found to be an effective tool for the treatment of motor speech disorders.
The Speech and Stuttering Institute has been designated by the Ontario Ministry of Youth and Child Services as a Centre for Training and Development for conducting research and providing evidence based therapy programs.
We consult with other professionals who may be involved with the children, in order to gain a better understanding of their needs.
Program Description
Click here for a printable info sheet on this program
We offer assessments and individualized treatment programs for preschool and school age children (elementary and middle school).
Our speech programs are intensive and motor based. This means that we pay special attention to how a child is moving different parts of the mouth as s/he attempts to produce speech sounds. Treatment considers the physical movements required to produce speech as well as the speech sounds the child needs to develop. Therapy activities are designed to provide children with many opportunities to acquire and practice new speech skills while also supporting language and early literacy development.
Our sessions are tailored to each child’s needs. We encourage parent involvement to support home practice and generalization of new skills to daily activities.
We work on speech skills within language-rich contexts, including games, stories, crafts, and role-playing.
Frequently Asked Questions
This depends on the age of your child and whether he/she can be understood by familiar and unfamiliar people. It also depends on your child’s therapy readiness skills (e.g., ability to attend and participate in adult directed activities, ability to imitate non-verbal or verbal models).
If your child does not show these readiness skills, less direct approaches are used, such as play-based therapy and activities to develop therapy readiness skills.
We recommend starting with an 8 week block of therapy, after which time we can determine with the parent whether additional therapy is needed.
Children can start therapy as early as 2 years of age if they have basic readiness skills. If these skills are not yet developed, intervention can focus on parent training for speech and language stimulation
Observe therapy sessions in order to learn what activities and strategies are used by the clinician to facilitate your child’s success in achieving therapy goals. Practice homework activities on a regular basis to maximize progress. Read age-appropriate stories to your child regularly in order to develop language skills, such as vocabulary, concepts, and grammar.