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Frequently Asked Questions: This page contains answers to common questions of students and parents.
- What is speech therapy?
- What is language therapy?
- What is an IEP?
- How often will my child be seen for speech and language therapy?
- What is the normal timeline for developing speech sounds?
- Does my child have appropriate language skills?
- How well should my child be understood by others?
- Does my child stutter?
- What can I do at home to help my child's speech and language skills?
- What can I do to support my child's development of Phonological Awaren
- How does phonological awareness relate to reading?
- How do these speech and language problems impact everyday life for my
What is speech therapy? Speech Therapy addresses: (1)ARTICULATION or how your child says all of
his/her sounds when talking; (2)VOICE or how your child's loudness, pitch,
and quality of the voice sounds; (3)FLUENCY or stuttering.
What is language therapy? Language Therapy addresses: (1)RECEPTIVE LANGUAGE or how well your child
takes information in and understands it; (2)EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE or how well
your child is able to communicate their ideas and feelings to others in
clear sentences that make sense, with correct grammar; (3)PRAGMATIC LANGUAGE
or how well your child uses the social rules of communicating - skills like
turn-taking, using eye contact, using appropriate words, so as not to hurt
someone's feelings.
What is an IEP? Speech and Language Therapy comes under the classification of 'Special
Education'. An I.E.P. or Individualized Education Plan, is a legal document
that outlines the specific special education program, including goals to be
addressed, that will be used to help your child overcome and/or compensate
for any difficulties that he/she is having.
How often will my child be seen for speech and language therapy? I usually see children twice a week for 30 minute sessions. I will
coordinate this time with their regular classroom teacher, to try not to
take the child out of class during a time that is a core curriculum area
that he/she should not miss, or during a lesson time that he/she particulary
enjoys, like art/music/PE. I don't typically take children during recess.
I want them to enjoy coming to Speech and Language Therapy and have it be a
positive experience.
What is the normal timeline for developing speech sounds? Norms are helpful for estimating approximately how well a child's sounds
are developing. The following are general guidelines for when children
develop certain sounds. Most children will develop these skills within six
months of the ages listed; however they are NOT considered delayed until one
year beyond the stated age:
2 years: m, b, p, h, d and all the vowels
3 years: k,g,t,w,n,ng,f
4 years: kw, d (medial), f (final)
5 years: ch, j, l, s, sh, bl, z
6 years: r, v, br, dr, fl, fr, gl, gr, kl, kr, pl, st, tr
7 years: z, sl, sp, sw, unvoiced th
8 years: voiced th
Does my child have appropriate language skills? The list below provides a general summary of the developmental sequence of
language skills in normal children. Because children develop at different
rates, avoid strictly applying the age-approximations.
3-4 years: Understands object function, differences in meaning (stop-go, in-
on, big-little), follows 2-3 step directives, ask/answer (who, what, where,
why, uses language to express emotion, uses 4-5 word sentences
4-5 years: Has a receptive vocabulary of 2,800 words, listens to short,
simple stories, answers questions about function, uses 4-7 word sentences
5-6 years: follows instructions given in a group, asks how questions, uses
past tense and future tense, names opposites, exchanges information and asks
questions, uses appropriate grammer in most cases, reduces sentence length
to 4-6 words
6-7 years: sequences number, understands left and right, uses more complex
descriptions, has a receptive vocabulary of 20,000 words, understands most
concepts of time
How well should my child be understood by others? Some general guidelines are as follows:
2 years 25%
2 1/5 years 60%-65%
3 years 75%-80%
4 years 80%-90%
Does my child stutter? Periods of dysfluency during the preschool years are common. During this
time your child's language skills are developing rapidly. Often this can
result in gentle repetitions of sounds, syllables and whole words while
he/she is speaking. These typically disappear by the age of six. If your
child is bothered by these dysfluencies or they become uneven, forced or
excessive you should contact a speech therapist who can discuss your child's
specific dysfluencies and determine if they need to be addressed.
What can I do at home to help my child's speech and language skills? Our communication skills are INTERACTIVE...they are best practiced during
everyday activities...talk about what you are doing, talk about places you
go, listen to your child, ask your child questions, play games together, and
READ together...all of these activities provide your child with models of
what good sentences/questions sound like, this is the best way to practice.
If he/she is working on ARTICULATION, I will give them a 'key word' to focus
on during the week...make sure you ask 'What is your Key Word this week?'
And then focus on saying it clearly, everytime it comes up. See
the 'HOMEWORK' section on this website for more ideas.
What can I do to support my child's development of Phonological Awaren READ to your child every day! Research proves that reading to your child 15-
20 minutes daily can significantly improve their language skills,vocabulary,
and can promote literacy acquisition.Books with rhyming, like Dr. Suess,
that have that sound pattern, are great. Point out the words that rhyme and
see if your child can name another word that rhymes too. Then point out WHY
we say those words 'rhyme'...'yes, bat/cat, they both sound the same at the
end.' Ask about the beginning and ending sounds...'What sound did that
start with?...bat, starts with 'b' (focus on the SOUND, not the letter).
Then you can point to the letter and talk about how the letter B makes
that 'b' sound. Point out the words as you read them, and your child will
learn that letters make up words, words make up sentences, and sentences
tell a story. Repeated readings of the same book is best. Your child
begins to memorize the phrases, you can leave off a word at the end of the
sentence and he/she can fill it in. This increases their participation.
Direct your child's attention to the printed words, not just the pictures.
Show them how to think about what they are reading by asking
questions: 'What do you think will happen next?' and 'How do you think that
character felt?', etc.
How does phonological awareness relate to reading? Phonological awareness is an underlying skill that research has shown to
underlie reading ability in our alphabetic writing system. English is based
on an alphabet system in which letters or groups of letters represent the
sounds in our spoken language. In order to be able to "crack the code" of
this system, one must develop the ability to segment these sounds
represented by letters.
How do these speech and language problems impact everyday life for my Communication is a critical, innate ability that humans, as social
beings, use to learn about themselves and their environments, and to
express wants, needs, ideas, and feelings. When there is a disorder,
the impact may preclude optimum learning in school: acquiring new
information, following directions, oral expression, and relating to
others.
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