|
3/20/2020 0 Comments Online Therapy Available Phone and Video services available during the COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic.
During these unique times, we can help maintain services for your child with telepractice. Empowered can offer services over the phone or via video conferencing. No need to be a tech expert, we will support you every step of the way. If you would like to schedule an online therapy session, please call our office today. (847) 701-4748. All therapists at Empowered are offering online sessions at this time. We are ready and accepting new clients! 3/14/2020 0 Comments Coronavirus Update for Families Dear Empowered Families:
We understand the growing concern surrounding the spread of Coronavirus, and the impact it is having on our daily lives. We would like to share with you the steps we are taking to ensure the safety of all of our clients and staff.
We will continue to follow updates and protocols provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and other health officials to ensure the health and safety of all of our clients and therapists. Providing support and services to our families in a healthy and safe manner is our top priority. At this time Empowered will continue to do our best to provide services in your home as long as it is safe to do so. We appreciate your support and understanding during this ever changing situation. Sincerely, Kate Eichstadt & Heather Miehl Owners, Empowered  Sound Development and Intelligibility Children make predictable sound errors as they learn to talk. “Baba” for bottle, “Nana” for banana, wabbit for “rabbit.” In some ways it isn’t even fair to call them errors, because they are actually a normal part of speech development called phonological processes. There are a variety of these phonological processes in play as children say their first words and some of these processes may stick around for a few years and still be considered typical. Does that mean it is normal for people to not understand my 2-year-old? That depends. By age two you should understand at least 50% of what your child says. By age three strangers should understand about 75% of what your child says and by age four strangers should understand 100% of what your child says. Your child should start cooing by 3 months, laughter and playful noises can be heard by 5 months, speech-like babbling occurs around 6 months, and by a year parents typically hear longer strings of sounds babbled. Typically the sounds m,n,h,w,p,b,t,k,g, and f are developed by age 3 and y and v come in by age 4. Children may still have errors with s, sh, ch, j, ng, th, z , l, and r. Who has speech disorders? Your child may have difficulty with articulation if he or she is unable to produce certain sounds when developmentally appropriate or your child may have delayed phonological development if phonological processes persist beyond the age they typically disappear or if the processes being used are different than what is expected. Some children have difficulty with motor coordination and may have apraxia. Apraxia of speech is not common, but can cause significant difficulty with speech intelligibility. Some children are prone to speech problems if they have a developmental disorder, autism, a genetic syndrome like Down syndrome, hearing loss from ear infections or other causes, brain damage including cerebral palsy or a head injury and some children have speech sound disorders with no other areas of concern. In other words, anybody can have a speech sound disorder. My child’s school says he/she doesn’t qualify for services Unfortunately, schools often use developmental norms as the one and only determination for services with children who only have speech sound errors. Research shows that developmental norms are not intended to be used to determine an age cutoff, because there is variability across studies in age of acquisition for each sound. Best practice entails the use of more than a single measure and developmental norms have not been found to have diagnostic accuracy. Please be aware that just because your child’s school determines your child does not require speech-therapy does not mean that you should wait to receive services. Contact a certified speech-language pathologist at Empowered if you have any questions about your child’s speech development. Will speech sounds errors get better on their own? Some children do grow out of speech sound errors without any help, but speech sound disorders that are left untreated can persist into adulthood. If you or others have difficulty understanding your child, even if your child is only making errors on one or two sounds, the certified speech-language pathologists at Empowered are here to help. Kate Eichstadt M.S. CCC-SLP  “Why isn’t my child speaking yet?” I don’t think any parent is prepared for the number of worries that come with parenthood and developmental milestones are often at the top of the list. Even though there can be wide variability in skill levels in the first two years of life, all of a sudden hearing an 18-month-old at the library playgroup speaking in sentences may throw you in a tizzy if your 16-month-old child only has a few words or none at all.
The best thing you can do is to not panic. Children start using their first words between the ages of 12-16 months and children develop at their own rate. Just as some children may start walking earlier, some children may start talking earlier. First, think about how your child communicates. Communication is about much more than just using words. How do you know when your child is hungry, thirsty, tired, or wants attention? Does your child look at you to show excitement over a toy or something in a book? Does your child readily understand new words and simple directions? The truth is, you know your child best. Sometimes pediatricians will take a “wait and see” perspective when it comes to talking. There is a wide range of normal, but you do not have to wait to seek professional advice from a speech-language pathologist. If your child is between the ages of 18 and 30 months and you have concerns that your child is not talking as much as he or she should, ease your concerns by contacting Empowered and ask to speak with a certified speech-language pathologist. Our goal is to empower parents with the information and tools you need in order to support your child at any stage of development. Kate Eichstadt M.S. CCC-SLP |
AuthorKate Eichstadt M.S. CCC-SLP Archives
March 2023
Categories |
Search by typing & pressing enter
RSS Feed