How to Build Your Child’s Confidence With Speech Therapy

Parents want the best for their children, and that often means helping them to overcome any obstacles they may face. Speech therapy is one way to help children overcome difficulties with speech, but many parents are unsure of what speech therapy is or how it can help their child. The benefits of speech therapy, including speech teletherapy for children, are clear, and every parent should be aware of them.

What is Speech Therapy?

Speech therapy, also called speech-language pathology, is the treatment of speech and language disorders. Speech therapists work with children who have problems with articulation, fluency, voice, and receptive or expressive language skills. They also work with children who have feeding or swallowing disorders.

What Can Speech Therapy Help With?

Speech therapy can help children with a variety of speech and language disorders. Articulation disorders involve difficulty making certain sounds, such as lisps and other speech sound production errors. Fluency disorders involve difficulty with the flow of speech, such as stuttering. Voice disorders involve problems with pitch, volume, or quality of the voice. Receptive language disorders involve difficulty understanding spoken language, while expressive language disorders involve difficulty using spoken language. feeding and swallowing disorders involve difficulty with eating or drinking without choking or coughing.

How to Know If Your Child Needs Speech Therapy?

If you’re concerned that your child may have a speech or language disorder, the best thing to do is to talk to your child’s doctor. Your child’s doctor will be able to refer you to a speech therapist for an evaluation. Boys are more likely than girls to receive speech therapy for voice, speech, language, or swallowing disorders. For boys aged 3 to 17, 59.4 percent receive services, compared to 47.8 percent of girls.

How to Find a Speech Therapist for Your Child?

If your child has been referred to a speech therapist, the next step is to find a qualified speech therapist. You can search for speech therapists in your area by using the ASHA Find a Provider tool. You should also consider speech teletherapy in case there is not a provider near you.

The benefits of speech therapy for children are clear. If you think your child may benefit from speech teletherapy, don’t hesitate to talk to your child’s doctor and find a qualified speech therapist.