Articulation Therapy - Cumming GA

Posted on November 15, 2008

An articulation disorder involves mispronouncing speech sounds by omitting, distorting, substituting, or adding sounds which can make speech difficult to understand. Children may have a couple of sounds in error, but will consistently make these errors on the same sounds in words.

When a child has a simple lisp (producing [th] instead of [s], like “thing” instead of “sing” or “yeth” instead of “yes”), substitutes [w] for [l] or [r], or other similar errors, he/she is demonstrating an articulation disorder. Articulation refers to the manner in which a child produces a sound and the placement of the tongue, lips, and teeth. Common articulation errors are those listed above, in addition to [f] for [th] (“fum” for “thumb”), [l] for [y] (“lelo” for ‘yellow”).

Many articulation errors are developmental in nature; that is some sounds are later developing, and many children will produce these sounds incorrectly until they mature. One example is the [th] sound, as in “thumb”. This is one of the latest sounds to develop (between the ages of 6 an 8). Therefore, if a 7-year-old can not yet say this sound, it is not reason to be concerned.

The most common error sounds are [s], [l] and [r]. Some school therapists will not treat children with these errors until they are 6 or 7; however, if a child shows that he/she can be stimulated for these sounds, therapy can be successful when children are younger. A child with articulation errors should always be evaluated when they are young (3 or 4); if an SLP feels that therapy is not appropriate at the time of the evaluation, at least the child will be monitored on a regular basis until they are ready for therapy. In addition, the earlier therapy begins, the more successful it will be.

Articulation therapy consists of drill exercises and various cues to help the child correct his/her sound productions. These cues may be verbal (e.g. tell the child where to place his /her tongue) or visual (having the child look at the therapist’s mouth or in the mirror) or tactile (i.e. touch; having the child slide her finger down her arm when making the [s] sound. The PROMPT tactile-kinesthetic cueing system may also be used to promote correct sound production. Frequent practice is essential for articulation therapy to be successful.

Cumming GA Speech Therapy

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Child Language Therapy - Cumming GA - Ixcel for Children

Posted on November 15, 2008

Speech and Language is a private practice providing speech, language, and learning therapy to children throughout the Cumming, Alpharetta, and Suwanee areas of metro Atlanta.

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Speech Pathologist - Cumming GA - Allyson Jacobi

Posted on November 15, 2008

I-xcel offers professional speech therapy in the Cumming, Suwanee, and Alpharetta Georgia area.

Speech Therapy - Cumming GA - Allyson Jacobi

Posted on November 15, 2008

Speech Therapy Cumming GA - I-xcel for Children

Posted on November 15, 2008

Speech Therapy Cumming GA - I-xcel for Children

I-xcel Speech and Language for Children offers a full range of programs and services for children, not only in speech and language but in areas of learning, and reading as well.

Screenings: Screenings are available to individuals, schools, and organizations.  Please contact I-xcel for a complete screening packet.

Evaluations: A speech and language evaluation includes a variety of standardized tests, a detailed case history, parent and teacher report, and observation of your child.  This provides an accurate description of your child’s speech and language strengths and areas of improvement.

The standardized tests include articulation or phonology, vocabulary, grammar/syntax, expressive/receptive language, auditory processing, phonological awareness, reading comprehension, and pragmatic language.  These assessments compare your child’s skills to typical peers.

Parents/legal guardian will receive a written report with recommendations and a consultation to review the results.

Speech-Language Therapy: Individualized therapy sessions are provided one-on-one in 30, 45, or 60 minute increments.  Sessions are held at your child’s school, daycare, or home.

Programs: In addition to traditional speech-language therapy, I-xcel offers a variety of special programs to enhance your child’s speech, language, learning, and reading skills.  These programs include:

Fast ForWord®  family of programs - www.scilearn.com
Brainbuilder www.brainbuilder.com
Sound Reading Solutions www.soundreading.com
Earobics®  www.earobics.com

Speech Therapy News - Nationwide

Posted on November 15, 2008

Speech and Language Therapy - Language Delay - Cumming GA

Posted on November 14, 2008

I-xcel offers professional speech therapy in the Cumming, Suwanee, and Alpharetta Georgia area.

Language delay is a failure to develop language abilities on the usual developmental timetable. Language delay is distinct from speech delay, in which the speech mechanism itself is the focus of delay. Thus, language delay refers specifically to a delay in the development of the underlying knowledge of language, rather than its implementation.

The difference between language and speech can be understood by considering the relationship between a computer program and an output device like a printer. The software running on the computer (a word processing program, for example) is designed to allow a user to create content that is stored in the computer. In order to actually create a physical copy of the file, the computer requires another device: a printer. The printer takes the file and transforms it into a series of commands which control the movement of a print head, thereby making marks on paper.

This two-stage process is something like the distinction between language (computer program) and speech (printer). When we want to communicate something, the first stage is to encode the message into a set of words and sentence structures that convey our meaning. These processes are collectively what we refer to as language. In the second stage, language is translated into motor commands that control the articulators, thereby creating speech. Speech refers to the actual process of making sounds, using such organs and structures as the lungs, vocal cords, mouth, tongue, teeth, etc.

Because language and speech are two independent stages, they may be individually delayed. For example, a child may be delayed in speech (i.e., unable to produce intelligible speech sounds), but not delayed in language. In this case, the child would be attempting to produce an age-appropriate amount of language, but that language would be difficult or impossible to understand. Conversely, a child with a language delay typically has not yet had the opportunity to produce speech sounds; it is therefore likely to have a delay in speech as well.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Speech and Language Therapy - Specific Language Impairment

Posted on November 14, 2008

I-xcel offers professional speech therapy in the Cumming, Suwanee, and Alpharetta Georgia area.

Specific language impairment (SLI) is a developmental language disorder that can affect both expressive and receptive language. SLI is defined as a “pure” language impairment, meaning that is not related to or caused by other developmental disorders, hearing loss or acquired brain injury.

However, the term specific language impairment is typically used in research literature, while other equivalent terms include: language impairment, language disability, language disorder, language delay, and language deviance. All of these terms belie assumptions about the nature of normal development, and some have been dropped as new perspectives on language development arise.

An SLI therefore is a general marker meaning language disorder, and not a specific disorder or disease.

Overview: SLI is used to refer to problems in the acquisition and use of language, typically in the context of normal development. Whether it refers to individuals with normal overall cognitive development is controversial. - Individuals with SLI exhibit problems in combining and selecting speech sounds of language into meaningful units (phonological awareness). These problems are different to speech impairments that arise from difficulties in coordination of oral-motor musculature. - Symptoms include the use of short sentences, have problems producing and understanding syntactically complex sentences. It is also associated with an impoverished vocabulary, word finding problems, and difficulty learning new words, whereas the basic tasks for development of phonology and syntax are completed in childhood, vocabulary continues to grow in adulthood.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Speech and Language Therapy - Motor Neurone Diseases

Posted on November 14, 2008

I-xcel offers professional speech therapy in the Cumming, Suwanee, and Alpharetta Georgia area.

The motor neurone diseases (or motor neuron diseases) (MND) are a group of progressive neurological disorders that destroy motor neurones, the cells that control voluntary muscle activity including speaking, walking, breathing, swallowing and general movement of the body.

Speech and Language Therapy - Communication and Autism

Posted on November 14, 2008

Communication and Autism

About a third to a half of individuals with autism do not develop enough natural speech to meet their daily communication needs. Differences in communication may be present from the first year of life, and may include delayed onset of babbling, unusual gestures, diminished responsiveness, and the desynchronization of vocal patterns with the caregiver. In the second and third years, autistic children have less frequent and less diverse babbling, consonants, words, and word combinations; their gestures are less often integrated with words. Autistic children are less likely to make requests or share experiences, and are more likely to simply repeat others’ words (echolalia) or reverse pronouns.Joint attention seems to be necessary for functional speech, and deficits in joint attention seem to distinguish infants with ASD:for example, they may look at a pointing hand instead of the pointed-at object,and they consistently fail to point at objects in order to comment on or share an experience. Autistic children may have difficulty with imaginative play and with developing symbols into language.

In a pair of studies, high-functioning autistic children aged 8–15 performed equally well, and adults better than individually matched controls at basic language tasks involving vocabulary and spelling. Both autistic groups performed worse than controls at complex language tasks such as figurative language, comprehension and inference. As people are often sized up initially from their basic language skills, these studies suggest that people speaking to autistic individuals are more likely to overestimate what their audience comprehends.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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