Speech Therapy

Speech-language pathologists are professionals who have expertise in typical development and disorders of communication and swallowing, as well as assessment and intervention for these areas.

Parents often wonder how well their child’s speech and language skills are developing. Communication skills are extremely important to a child’s future well being. Discovering any problems early gives a child a better chance to learn how to communicate successfully.

Speech-language pathologists are involved in a number of different activities to promote effective communication and swallowing for the individuals they serve.
Some of the most common communication problems in children may be:

• Articulation problems (pronunciation, annunciation errors)
• Language problems (issues with what the child says and what the child understands)
• Voice disorders (hoarseness of the voice, excessive softness of voice)
• Fluency disorders (stuttering)

A Speech-Language Pathologist should be sought out if your child exhibits any of the following:
Shows no reaction to sound in the first three months of life

• Is not babbling and making sounds by 10 months
• Doesn’t gesture, show, give or point to get something by 12 months
• Doesn’t understand simple commands like “See your ball? Get your ball!” by 18 months
• Doesn’t pretend play, like feeding a stuffed toy, by 18 months
• Is not using single words by 21 months
• Doesn’t understand a variety of simple concepts like “big-little, up-down” by 24 or 36 months
• Is not joining two or three words by 27 months
• Is extremely difficult to understand at age three – the listener has to guess extensively about what the child is saying
• Doesn’t understand or is unable to reason questions like “What do you do when you’re hungry/cold” by the age of three or four
• Continues to make numerous grammatical errors at age five so that the communication burden falls to the adult to figure out what’s been said
• Shows other communication problems, or you have a sense that something is just not quite right with the child’s way of communicating or interacting

Unfortunately, many parents are given misguided assurances from well-meaning friends and family that their child will “outgrow” their difficulty or delay. As a parent, you need to trust your instincts. If you have any question at all regarding your child’s speech or language development, it is almost always best to pursue a professional opinion.

We are proud to be the first office to combine Speech-Therapy along with Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics. This has allowed us to comprehensively look at all the issues related to speech and language problems and be able to accurately treat these issues successfully. We are conveniently located in Maple, Vaughan, and Brampton, Ontario but also provide treatment to individuals within the greater Toronto area.