Frequently Asked Questions
Research has indicated children demonstrate greater developmental success
with early intervention. Parents are not limited to services offered through
the school system. These services are typically covered under medical insurance
plans.
It is a specialty that focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of speech
disorders. Therapy is implemented to increase the communication skills of
an individual. Speech language pathologists work with both expressive
(what a child says) and receptive (what a child understands) language
skills.
A speech-language pathologist is a professional who is trained in the
assessment, diagnosis and treatment of a variety of communication
disorders including speech, language, voice, fluency and swallowing.
Practicing speech-language pathologists are required to obtain a masters
degree from an accredited college or university in conjunction with the
National Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC).
Communication disorders can be caused by a variety of factors which
include, but are not limited to, brain injuries, neurological disorders,
hearing loss, birth defects, physical impairments and mental retardation.
Speech is the production of sounds, including voice quality, articulation,
and rate of speech. A speech disorder may be present when a person is
dysfluent (stuttering), has a vocal quality that differs from the norm
(i.e. hoarse, breathy etc.) or when a person adds, deletes, distorts, or
substitutes sounds in words.
An impairment in the ability to understand and/or use words in context, both
verbally and nonverbally. Language is a system of symbols (words, gestures,
etc.) that give meaning to speech. A language disorder may be present when a
person uses poor sentence structure, has a limited vocabulary, misunderstands
what people say, has difficulty following directions or does not follow the
social “rules” of our culture (i.e. personal space, eye contact, touch, etc.).
There is no specific underlying cause for the language impairment. Children are
typically developing in other areas of development, demonstrating the impairment
specifically to language/speech development.
Occupational therapy helps people of all ages to be more independent in
activities of daily living, or ADLs. Any task that has meaning to someone is
considered an ADL. Occupational therapy for the pediatric population helps
children from birth through eighteen years of age. ADLs for children include
eating, dressing, buttoning, tying shoes, playing with toys, handwriting, and
using scissors. Occupational therapy also helps children who experience sensory
dysfunction such as a lack of body and space perception or difficulty touching
various textures. Often times, occupational therapy helps children who become
upset in response to every day tasks such as cutting fingernails, washing hair,
or eating different food textures. Children with and without special needs may
experience difficulty with daily tasks and can benefit from occupational
therapy.
An occupational therapist is a licensed healthcare professional with a Masters
degree in occupational therapy. When a child comes to work with an occupational
therapist for the first time, a thorough evaluation of the child’s level of
perform ace in critical developmental areas is performed and then a plan of
treatment is developed. At Aspire Pediatric Therapy, we believe that
parental/caregiver involvement is goal setting and treatment planning is crucial
to successful outcomes. We encourage parents and caregivers to attend therapy
sessions and ask questions. During each treatment we provide modeling and offer
helpful suggestions for carry-over at home. At Aspire Pediatric Therapy we
choose toys and activities appropriate for the child’s age and abilities and
every success is celebrated. At Aspire, we strive to reach success with each
child.
Your child may need occupational therapy if he or she is showing signs of the
following:
- Difficulty with handwriting
- Delay in developmental milestones such as rolling over, sitting
upright, or crawling
- Difficulty with dressing or tying shoes
- Aversion to different textured foods such as crunchy, chunky, or
sticky
- Aversion to getting hands dirty, sticky, or wet
- Crashing into objects such as furniture or other children
- Difficulty with using scissors
- Difficulty holding small objects
- Difficulty writing name or letters
- Decreased attention and direction following
- Placing inappropriate objects in mouth
- Avoidance of gross motor activities such as jumping or skipping
- Difficulty with hand/eye coordination task
