Are you worried that your children might have trouble communicating? Maybe they don't use as many words as you feel they should be using at their age, or perhaps other kids often don’t understand what they’re trying to say? Are they facing some learning difficulties at school or having problems with mathematics? If you’re noticing any of these concerns, you might want to consult with a speech therapist that can help you assess, diagnose and treat these difficulties. 

Who do speech therapists work with? 

• Newborns
• Infants
• Toddlers
• School-age children
• Adults
• Geriatrics

The areas of practice of a Pediatric Speech and Language Pathology (SLP) are:

Fluency

• Stuttering
• Cluttering

Speech Production

• Motor planning and execution
• Articulation
• Phonological

Language

Spoken and written language (listening, processing, speaking, reading, writing, pragmatics)

• Phonology.
• Morphology.
• Syntax.
• Semantics.
• Pragmatics (language use and social aspects of communication).
• Prelinguistic communication (e.g., joint attention, intentionality, communicative signaling).
• Paralinguistic communication (e.g., gestures, signs, body language).
• Literacy (reading, writing, spelling).

Cognition

• Attention.
• Memory.
• Problem-solving.
• Executive functioning.

Voice

• Phonation quality.
• Pitch.
• Loudness.
• Alaryngeal voice.

Feeding and Swallowing

• Oral phase.
• Pharyngeal phase.
• Esophageal phase.
• Atypical eating (e.g., food selectivity/refusal, negative physiologic response).

Auditory Habilitation/Rehabilitation

• Speech, language, communication, and listening skills impacted by hearing loss, deafness.
• Auditory processing.

Potential etiologies of communication and swallowing disorders include

• Cleft lip/palate.
• Neonatal problems (e.g., prematurity, low birth weight, substance exposure).
• Developmental disabilities (e.g., specific language impairment, autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, learning disabilities, attention-deficit disorder, intellectual disabilities, unspecified neurodevelopmental disorders).
• Neurological disease/dysfunction (e.g., traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, cerebrovascular accident, dementia, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).
• genetic disorders (e.g., Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, Rett syndrome, velocardiofacial syndrome).

Speech therapists who work with adults diagnose and treat:

• Stuttering.
• Voice disorders.
• Articulation disorders.
• Swallowing disorders (dysphagia).
• Cognitive communication skills.
• Speech and language difficulties caused by strokes, traumatic brain injuries, dementia, degenerative diseases, etc. 

A speech therapist’s role is to prevent, assess, diagnose, treat, and offer training for parents/caregivers, teachers, and specialists. 

Speech therapists work jointly with psychomotor therapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, psychotherapists, pediatric neurologists, pediatric psychiatrists, and other specialists. 

If you have any doubt concerning your child’s development, consult a specialist as soon as possible. There’s no reason to wait; your child might never grow out of it!