Speech Baby LLC

Speech Baby LLC is now in-network and accepting United Healthcare insurance plans. Other accepted insurance plans include: Amerihealth, Amerihealth Administrators, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Highmark Blue Shield, Independence Blue Cross, Independence Administrators, Keystone Health Plan East. Contact for more information!

Enjoy celebrating and being celebrated, happy Mother’s Day!

Although many self-advocates and allies in the Autistic community are opposed to person-first language, it is important to respect (and not assume) an individual’s preferences for terminology. Unless told otherwise, I use identity-first language. Language is a powerful tool that can help shift societal attitudes towards autism. I listen to autistic voices. For perspective and reference: Brown L. The significance of semantics: Person first language: Why it matters. ... https://www.autistichoya.com//significance-of-semantics-pe Garnder F. The problem with functioning labels. http://www.thinkingautismguide.com//the-problems-with-func #neurodivergent #advocacymatters

Happy Valentine’s Day! A couple of my favorite Valentine’s books for speech therapy are: Never Too Little To Love If You’ll Be My Valentine These books have beautiful illustrations and not many words on the page. I prefer simple and repetitive books when targeting speech and language skills because it provides many opportunities for trials and practice. ... Possible Tx Targets: /l/ initial position /v/ initial and final positions ar productions (heart, card) /s/ clusters initial, medial, final positions Multisyllabic words Rhyming Nouns Verbs WH questions Story Retell/Recall Story Elements

Intelligibility refers to a child’s clarity of speech. Intelligibility is a key characteristic when determining if a speech sound disorder is present. Children with speech sound disorders are often significantly less intelligible than same-aged peers without speech sound disorders. Intelligibility Guide: 22 months50% 37 months75%... 47 months100% By four years of age, a child's spontaneous speech should be intelligible to unfamiliar adults, even though some articulation and phonological differences are likely to be present." Pascoe (2005) Does my child need speech? There are considerable variations among children to keep in mind, along with developmentally appropriate speech errors and patterns. My rule of thumb: If your child is not 100% intelligible by 4 years of age, or if you suspect your child may have a speech disorder, reach out to your local SLP for an evaluation. SLPs will provide insight into your child’s speech sound acquisition and phonological patterns to determine if your child is ‘on track’ or if speech therapy is needed. If you have questions about your child’s speech or language skills, don’t hesitate to reach out to your local SLP. Sources below: Pascoe, M. (2005 May). What is intelligibility? How do SLP's evaluate and address children's intelligibility intervention? The Apraxia-Kids Monthly, 6, 5. Flipsen, P., Jr. (2006). Measuring the intelligibility of conversational speech in children. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics. 20(4), 202-312. Gordon-Brannan, M., & Hodson, B. (2000). Intelligibility/Severity Measurements of Prekindergarten Children's Speech. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 9, 141-150.

Saying say ___ when teaching a child new words is less than ideal simply because it isn’t a natural or effective approach to facilitating language. Here are two evidence-based, highly natural indirect language approaches that I encourage using instead: Parallel talk: Use this approach to take the on-the-spot pressure to say ___ off of your child and provide a meaningful language model instead. In this approach, you describe what your child is doing, seeing, and feeling ...in that moment. In this simple and effective approach, you’ll use language that matches or is slightly above your child’s current language skill level. A child who is pointing and vocalizing would benefit from one and two word utterances modeled continuously and naturally throughout an activity. Expansion: Use this technique to expand on what your child is saying by filling in the blanks. For this approach, add a pivot word or two to expand on the utterances your child is saying. By using this approach you increase meaning and exposure to new vocabulary while increasing the chances your child will imitate the expansion naturally. Instead of ball, we now have throw ball, red ball, etc., and for children with two words, big ball is now big ball is bouncing. Being responsive to your child in more unstructured ways on their skill level will provide natural, language rich, meaningful models which are more effective (and more fun) than prompting your child to say___ after you. Don’t hesitate to reach out to your local SLP if you have questions about your child’s current language skills. *Sources: *Finestack, L. and Fey, M. (2013). Evidence-Based Language Intervention Approaches for Young Talkers. In Rescorla & Dale, Eds. (2013). Late Talkers: Language Development, Interventions, and Outcomes* #speechtherapy #speechbabyllc #thespeechbaby #slp #speechlanguagepathologist #evidencebasedpractice #privatepracticeslp #languagedevelopment