Young children with receptive, and expressive language disorders exhibit difficulties with following directions, understanding language concepts, answering questions, telling stories, and using age-appropriate grammar and sentence structure. This may also impact early reading and writing skills, and should therefore be addressed as soon as possible.
Our team uses child-directed, play-based therapy to engage children and create communication opportunities, as well as, systematically guide caregivers in providing language stimulation throughout the child's day.

At Spring Speech, our team of therapists understands that autism is a neurodevelopmental difference that impacts how individuals perceive, interact with, and interpret the world. Rather than viewing autism as a deficit, we embrace the neurodiversity-affirming perspective, celebrating the unique strengths and perspectives of autistic individuals while emphasizing acceptance and support. Our approach values diverse ways of thinking, learning, and communicating, including Gestalt Language Processing—a natural way some autistic individuals acquire and use language. Honoring these differences and focusing on creating supportive environments, allows us to empower autistic individuals to thrive as their authentic selves.

Individuals with stuttering may present with disfluencies such as part-word repetition (e.g., "wh-wh-wh-what is your name?"), prolongations (e.g., "sssssssomeone is coming"), and blocks (silent pauses with difficulty initiating the sound). These disfluencies can sometimes be accompanied by secondary characteristics, such as body movements or head jerks. Our team is committed to supporting individuals who stutter by fostering an understanding of stuttering, teaching effective communication strategies, and, above all, empowering them to become confident communicators. For younger children, our therapists may use evidence-based approaches like the Lidcombe Program to address early childhood stuttering. With school-age children and teens, our interventions focus on setting meaningful goals, addressing thoughts and feelings about stuttering, and building self-advocacy skills. By creating a supportive environment, we aim to help individuals who stutter communicate with confidence and ease.

Children are likely to present with difficulties in producing certain sounds or groups of sounds that impact their speech intelligibility. They may be substituting one sound for another, or omitting sounds/syllables within words. 

A detailed evaluation can determine the sounds errors that must be addressed, in order to improve speech intelligibility. Therapy involves systematically addressing those errors in isolation, words, sentences and conversation.

Children are likely to experience difficulties with producing sounds, syllables and words in sentences, in the absence of muscular weakness. The child may know what they want to say, but their brain has difficulty coordinating muscle movements to produce sound sequences. Errors patterns differ from children with articulation disorders, in that, they are inconsistent across syllables, and words. 

Our team uses a high intensity, multisensory approach to allow for several opportunities to practice sound and syllable sequences.

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Children with language-based learning disabilities can experience significant academic difficulties with reading decoding, reading comprehension, writing, spelling, and processing auditory information, despite average or above-average cognitive abilities.
Our team has extensive experience helping students diagnosed with dyslexia, dysgraphia, ADHD, and childhood auditory processing disorder. We utilize multisensory, structured, and evidence-based programs tailored to each child’s unique needs. These programs include Orton-Gillingham-based approaches like Wired for Reading (http://wiredforreading.com/), Wilson Reading System (https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/the-wilson-way/), as well as other research-backed methods such as Lindamood-Bell's Visualizing and Verbalizing, Handwriting Without Tears, and Read Live Naturally. By integrating these strategies, we aim to support students’ academic success while building their confidence as learners.

Individuals with severe expressive communication disorders may use alternative methods or devices to augment speech or, in some cases, to replace speech. For some children, this may be a temporary solution, while for others a more long-term one. Either way, use of AAC can be powerful in decreasing frustration that can arise for difficulties in sharing one's wants, needs, thoughts, and ideas.
Our team has extensive experience using both low-tech (e.g. picture exchange, communication boards) and high tech (e.g. LAMP, TouchChat, Proloquo2Go App) AAC solutions.

MYOFUNCTIONAL DISORDERS

Myofunctional disorders refer to disruptions in the proper function of oral and facial muscles, which can impact breathing, swallowing, feeding, and speech intelligibility. Our team is trained in addressing these disorders by focusing on accurate tongue placement, correct swallowing techniques, and resolving challenging speech sound errors. We also collaborate closely with dentists, orthodontists, and other professionals to ensure comprehensive care. By targeting these foundational skills, we aim to improve not only speech clarity but also overall oral function and health.