Our Therapies Address:
Articulation
Our therapy will help your child correctly produce speech sounds and make them more easily understood. Some error patterns may include sound distortions, sound substitutions and sound omissions. Some errors are developmental in nature. Your therapist will be able to determine if therapy is warranted.
Auditory Processing
Individuals with APD have normal hearing abilities, but their brains have a hard time receiving, organizing, and making sense of sound. Following an APD diagnosis from an audiologist, your therapist will help your child learn various strategies to help them decipher incoming auditory information.
Decoding
Some children experience challenges mastering the sound/symbol relationship necessary to help them become fluent readers. Our reading therapists will determine your child’s reading level, develop an individualized plan for him/her, and inspire a life-long love of reading.
Dyspraxia (oral and verbal)
Children suspected of having dyspraxia, a motor speech disorder, have difficulty producing and sequencing sounds, syllables and words. This is not because of muscle weakness or paralysis, but is due to the lack of coordination necessary to plan the movement of the speech articulators. Using various approaches, our therapists will teach your child how to correctly produce and sequence individual sounds in connected speech
Expressive Language
Our ability to effectively share our thoughts and feelings through words, gestures, signs, and/or symbols is an essential component of communication. Young children are taught to formulate and express their ideas through play, while therapy for older children utilizes a variety of materials, including games, stories, interactive experiences, computers and academic resources.
Oral Motor Skills
Adequate strength and range-of-motion of the jaw, tongue, lips, and cheeks are necessary for eating and speaking. Your therapist will use a variety of exercises to develop awareness, strength, coordination, and mobility of your child’s oral musculature.
Play Skills
Early play skills are critical for language development and social interaction. According to the American Association of Pediatrics (2007), “play is essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth.” Therapy will focus on developing language within the context of imaginary and symbolic play to build the foundation for successful personal interactions.
Receptive Language
Understanding spoken and written language is essential for both children and adults. Deficits in these areas may result in difficulty functioning optimally in academic, professional and social environments. Our therapy develops improved comprehension skills using a wide range of techniques and resources.
Reading comprehension
Being able to process text, understand its meaning, and integrate that information with what the reader already knows is a necessary skill in all areas of life, from elementary school through adulthood. Our therapy teaches children how to recognize and comprehend the way in which words are put together to convey meaning. This includes building vocabulary, understanding the main idea and details, and determining the effectiveness of the writer’s message. In addition, higher level language skills such as inferencing, predicting, understanding multiple meanings, and developing figurative language are an essential part of therapy.
Social/Pragmatic Language
Pragmatic language involves knowing what, how and when to appropriately communicate messages in a variety of settings. Among the skills the therapist will teach your child are how to take turns, read nonverbal cues, adjust vocal intensity, start and maintain a conversation, stay on topic, and respect personal space. Therapy may be conducted individually or in a small group setting.
Stuttering
When the flow of speech is broken by repetitions (li-li-like this), prolongations (lllllike this), or abnormal stoppages (no sound) of sounds and syllables, this is considered stuttering, or dysfluent speech. Sometimes the dysfluency is accompanied by unusual facial and body movements. There are also developmental dysfluencies which typically occur when a child is between the ages of 2 ½-5. In his/her excitement to share all he/she has started to learn, the child’s speech becomes less “smooth.” Our therapists will assess your child’s stuttering pattern to determine whether or not therapy is necessary. They will also provide you with suggestions for managing your child’s particular speech pattern.
Voice
A voice disorder is a change in how the voice sounds. This can include variations in pitch, volume or hoarseness. After an examination by an ENT, our therapists will conduct a voice evaluation to determine therapy goals and make recommendations to improve vocal hygiene.
Writing Skills
Clear writing is a reflection of effective processing of ideas and expressing those ideas on paper or a screen. Difficulty organizing and expressing thoughts according to the rules of vocabulary, syntax and grammar in order to convey meaning could be part of an overall language disorder. Therapy focuses on planning, formulating, structuring and editing written work. These writing skills should not be confused with handwriting/penmanship.
What People are saying
I don’t think I will ever forget the feeling I had the first time I brought my daughter in to see her therapist. It had been a long and difficult year and a scary time since her diagnosis, and in her office, I felt like I could breathe again. I immediately knew we had found the right person-the person who “got” her and could help her….The last two years have been some of the most challenging and uncertain times we have every experienced, and our therapist’s guidance, advice and encouragement has been a lifeline to us.
They say “it takes a village” to raise a child. Well, we certainly credit our therapist for our son coming so far. Words can never be enough to fully express our gratitude for her guidance, patience and support over the past few years. She will always be a part of our family.
We are so lucky to have found our therapist! She has literally given our daughter a voice over this past year! Through her patience and warmth, she has created a safe space for our daughter to learn and experiment and develop her language. She has instilled confidence in her so that she can use her language in a meaningful and functional way. I am always emotional about this because it’s truly amazing to see the transformation before my eyes, thanks to our therapist’s hard work. I am thankful that our therapist always includes me and teaches me how to help and guide my daughter. She is always thinking of new ideas and offering wisdom and advice about her plan of care. Finally, I am grateful to our therapist for always being a listening ear. She has been a true partner and for that we are so grateful!!
My family and I are indebted to the amazing speech and language team of TSLC. From evaluation to diagnosis and hands-on therapy, my sons have received tremendous individualized speech and language support. The writing and OG support has been invaluable for my fourth grader this year. My boys are thriving now no doubt due to the care and professionalism they’ve received from TS&L.
I have 2 kids utilizing their services and I am very happy with them. They are professional, capable, and caring. Know that if you come to TSLC, you will be in very good hands.
I am writing as the Director of a Learning Center at one of the local elementary schools. I have been very impressed with the results we have been seeing from our students who work with our therapist at Teaneck Speech and Language. We have seen wonderful improvement in their vocabulary, comprehension, and general language skills, and have watched as they confidently apply the skills they have learned towards their school work assignments. In addition, our therapist values the team approach and has always been in constant communication regarding the progress of our students. We feel blessed to have our therapist and the Teaneck Speech and Language Center to partner with us as we work together to help students who can benefit from the language program they provide.
We have been working with Teaneck Speech and Language for almost a year. When we first started, our one and a half year old was saying 2 words. He now has an entire vocabulary and is able to easily communicate with everyone. We still have some work to do, but we are getting there. All of this is entirely because of our therapist- she is absolutely incredible!
“Dear [Therapist],
You are a good friend.”
Although now grown, my son was a client at TSLC for many years. The assistance he was given, for both speech and language, have helped him become the amazing man he is today. Knowing that the therapists at TSLC were on his “team” made the world of a difference for both him and me. Thank you so much, Teaneck Speech & Language Center!
Words cannot express how incredibly grateful we are to our therapist for all that she has done to help our son. Her warmth and care, her incredible expertise and sage advice, her assistance with evaluations and the school issues that popped up along the way-We cannot thank her enough. We have been so lucky to have her on our team!
Our son truly looks forward to his sessions with his wonderful reading therapist. When I asked our son why he likes to go to her, he responded: “It’s fun to read with her!” She is organized, goal oriented, and communicates with us about the session after each visit. She works very well with him and makes the sessions exciting by using games, riddles, and more. Our son’s skills have absolutely improved with her.
Our six year old daughter has been with Teaneck Speech and Language for three years for both articulation and language. She speaks beautifully now and we couldn’t be happier. Our daughter absolutely loves her therapist and can’t wait each week for her session. We are thrilled with our experience!
We are so lucky to have found our therapist! She has literally given our daughter a voice over this past year! Through her patience and warmth, she has created a safe space for our daughter to learn and experiment and develop her language. She has instilled confidence in her so that she can use her language in a meaningful and functional way. I am always emotional about this because it’s truly amazing to see the transformation before my eyes, thanks to our therapist’s hard work. I am thankful that our therapist always includes me and teaches me how to help and guide my daughter. She is always thinking of new ideas and offering wisdom and advice about her plan of care. Finally, I am grateful to our therapist for always being a listening ear. She has been a true partner and for that we are so grateful!!
