_edited.png)
.png)
Services
We offer evaluations and treatment sessions for children with a wide variety of needs and diagnoses from birth through adolescence. Including:
Apraxia of Speech - Your child may have difficulty with planning/controlling movements of their lips, tongue, or jaw. Precision and consistency of movements needed for underlying speech may be impaired due to a problem in the communication between their brain and the muscles used for speech production.
​
Augmentative & Alternative Communication (AAC) - Your child may have difficulty with verbally expressing themselves or being understood by others. AAC is a widely used tool that aids in communication. AAC encompasses all of the ways in which we share our thoughts and feelings without actually talking. Everyone uses forms of AAC daily, including facial expressions, gestures and body language. AAC can also include aided communication systems that further support language delays. We use AAC with gestures, signs, or selecting visuals on a device. You may see us using a picture system with your child in order to assist in language development and reduce frustrations they experience when not able to communicate their message. Use of AAC supports the development of spoken language.
​
Auditory Processing - Your child may have difficulty in understanding spoken language.
Articulation - Your child may have difficulty producing certain speech sounds or words that can easily be understood by others. For example, saying “pish” for “fish” or "wabbit" for "rabbit".
​
Cognitive Communication - Your child may have difficulty with communication skills due to other deficits in their attention, memory, perception, regulation, organization and problem solving skills. Problems in these areas can make it difficult for them to speak, listen, write, read or interact in social situations.
​
Expressive Language - Your child may have difficulty with expressing their thoughts, feelings, wants, or needs. He or she might not be saying many words, might not know the appropriate names for things (vocabulary), or could be having difficulty with putting words together in the right form or order (grammar).
Gestalt Language Processing
- Your child may have a different way of processing language which requires different supports. It is important that those that need support in this area have the approach that best fits their language development.
Analytic language is the type of language acquisition often thought of and learned about. This is language learning that starts at the single word level which builds to phrases and eventually sentences.
​
Gestalt language acquisition is language learned in in larger units or “chunks” of words first, rather than single words at a time. For example, rather than analytic language learning of “car”, to “red car”, then eventually “It’s a red car!”. Gestalt language processors may hear a caregiver say, “Wow, that’s a fast red car!” and perhaps that is what they say every time they see a car (despite its color). There is nothing ‘wrong’ with gestalt language learning, it is just a type of developmental language learning. These kids start out focused on intonation and not words. They hear the melody of the language we use and communicate with using language they hear others (or media) speak often with the same intonation of the original speaker, which also holds the meaning of the experience for them. For example, if someone says "That's a big dog" they might pick that up and use it later whenever they see a dog, an animal or anything that reminds them of that experience. They might use the same intonation the original speaker used. Embracing how a child learns language can help them continue to acquire new language/skills through their own learning type to make more efficient gains toward their ability to self-generate language. Children who are autistic are often gestalt language learners. However, children who are not autistic can also be gestalt language learners.
Fluency - Your child may have difficulty with disruptions in the natural flow of speech. Difficulties with fluency include problems such as stuttering, where the flow of speech is interrupted by unusual stops, partial-word repetitions ("c-c-cat"), entire-word repetitions (“cat, cat cat”), phrase repetitions (“Let's go, let's go, let's go to the park”) or prolonging sounds and syllables (“ssssstop”).
​
Phonology - Your child may have difficulty with patterns of sounds, such as leaving off the beginning or ending sounds in words. For example, saying "og" for "dog" or "po" for "pop". They may also have difficulty in understanding how sounds form words within a language to convey meaning.
​
Pragmatic Language/Social Skills - Your child may have difficulty with how and why language is used within social situations to interact with other people.
​
Receptive Language - Your child may have difficulty with understanding or processing language. He or she may not be able to follow directions, answer questions appropriately, or understand what certain words mean.
Contact
_edited.png)
(910) 987 - 4727
_edited.png)
(910) 500 - 5247
@leapsandsoundspediatric
_edited.png)
727 McGilvary St, Fayetteville, NC 28301