A speech-language pathologist, sometimes referred to as a speech therapist, is a professional healthcare provider who has at least a Master level degree in Speech-Language Pathology. SLPs have extensive training and experience in diagnosing and treating speech sound disorders, developmental language disorders, stuttering, voice disorders, feeding and swallowing disorders, and cognitive-linguistic disorders.

A comprehensive evaluation may be needed if your child is not meeting, or is slowly meeting, speech and language milestones, is at risk for a speech/language disorder due to the presence of another condition such as Down Syndrome or Autism, or if there is a family history of speech and language disorders.

This depends on the speech-language needs of the child. Frequency and time of therapy is typically determined at the evaluation. Depending on the needs of the child, he or she may attend once to twice weekly for 30 to 60 minute sessions. Therapy is only increased if needed.

The length of therapy cannot be predicted. Children may show immediate improvement, or it may be very gradual. The rate and pattern of improvement is different for every child. Progress is evaluated in three to six month intervals.

It is important for parents to participate in their child’s therapy for success over time. Parent participation may include: in-room therapy participation, out of room observation (through observation rooms), and completion of home activities.

A skilled speech-language pathologist can usually identify children who are more at risk for persistent delays, or who are showing signs of more deviant speech language development. The earlier these children are identified, the sooner they can take advantage of intensive early intervention programs.