Straws vs Sippy Cups: How Straws Support Speech, Feeding, and Oral Motor Skills Straws are a great tool to help with your child’s oral motor development. They engage the muscles of the mouth and face, aiding in oral motor development, breath control, and feeding. Drinking through a straw can improve a person’s lip seal, tongue…
The Power of Reading: Supporting Language Development in Children Reading to your child is one of the most impactful ways to support their language development, no matter their age. Beyond fostering a love for books, it provides opportunities to expose your child to new vocabulary and creates a special bonding experience between you and your…
What is Pediatric Speech Therapy? Pediatric speech therapy focuses on evaluating and treating children with communication challenges, including speech, language, social communication, and feeding/swallowing disorders. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) work with children from infancy through adolescence, addressing issues such as delayed speech, articulation disorders, stuttering, voice disorders, and difficulties with understanding or using language. Additionally, SLPs…
Speech Therapy in Arizona: When to Seek Help for Your Child As a parent, you’re constantly monitoring your child’s developmental milestones—walking, talking, feeding, and more. Your child is learning new things every day! But sometimes, development doesn’t follow the expected path. If you’re wondering whether your child’s speech or language development is on track, you…
Speech versus Language: Understanding the Key Differences When we think of communication, we often use the terms “speech” and “language” interchangeably. However, these are different areas of development. Speech refers to the physical production of sounds. It involves: Articulation: The clear and accurate production of speech sounds. This includes the movements of the lips, tongue,…
Did you know that a tongue tie can impact your child’s ability to eat, speak, and even sleep? According to the International Affiliation of Tongue-Tie Professionals (IATP), a tongue tie is “an embryological remnant of tissue in the midline between the undersurface of the tongue and the floor of the mouth that restricts normal tongue…
How to Support and Talk to Your Child Who Stutters As parents, it can be stressful not knowing how to support your child who stutters. Stuttering is a complex speech issue influenced by various factors, including environmental, emotional, and communicative dynamics. By understanding these factors and creating a supportive environment, you can help your child…
Understanding How Children Learn Their First Verbs Watching your child learn to talk is one of the most exciting parts of parenting. You may hear your child use their first words around 10-16 months. These first words are typically nouns, such as mama, dada, doggy, and ball. Starting as early as 8 months of age,…
Why Sensory Regulation is Important for Language Development in Pediatric Therapy The Role of Sensory Regulation in Pediatric Therapy Sensory regulation is commonly a goal in occupational therapy, but it is also an important concept in speech-language therapy. Occupational therapy assists in the participation and function of “occupations” and daily activities. A child’s job is…
Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders (OMD) Ever wonder why your child drools? How about why your child’s teeth are crooked? Why your child isn’t able to say the “s,z,ch,r,” or “sh” sounds correctly? If you answered yes to one or all of the questions above, your child might have an orofacial myofunctional disorder. What is an orofacial…
