Our speech-language pathologist (SLP) Elizabeth “Liz” Christman specializes in evaluation and treatment of children with autism and developmental delays.  Liz is trained in principles of behavior and learning, which serves to maximize the team approach with other professionals. Additionally, Liz participates in Emerge’s multi-disciplinary evaluation process providing a comprehensive assessment of each child’s current level of communication and recommendations for next steps.  Families and individuals seeking speech-language services can choose weekly individual sessions or consultation with parents and/or other professionals. 

About Speech-Language Pathology (Speech therapy)

There are two main components within communication: speech and language. Speech is essentially how you talk, including the sounds you use, your voice, and how easily words come out.  Language involves the understanding and production of words along with the meaning behind what is communicated.  A Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) is a professional focusing on all aspects of communication.  An SLP can concentrate on increasing variety and use of sounds in speech, a child’s ability to communicate verbally, complexity and specificity in language, understanding of language, and use of communication in social situations.  Individual treatment sessions use play-based strategies to engage children and enhance their desire to learn. Language and communication skills are taught and practiced within activities that are focused on the individual child’s interests and skill level. The activities that occur in a child’s life, both in school and within his/her family are valuable in teaching meaningful skills. Possessing an understanding of typical development leads to language modeling that promotes the most meaningful targets for increasing communication skills. The SLP teaches skills in a developmental sequence, from easier to more complex, with clear rationale for each target.  This step-by-step approach to teaching language provides a strong foundation for later, more advanced goals.  Data is collected for evidence of progress towards mastery of each new skill. 

Areas of concern

My child is not talking.
Children usually say their first words around their first birthday and use 50-100 words by 18 months.  An SLP can provide strategies to parents for maximizing opportunities for talking and give recommendations on appropriate beginning sounds to model.  Depending on the child, the therapist may also use a child’s strength in another area, such as visual skills, to help support development of talking and communicating.

My child is difficult to understand.
Children are usually understood 50% of the time by 2 years old and 75% of the time by 3 years old. An SLP can identify the patterns a child uses to change sounds in words, which can make them hard to understand.  Some patterns are seen in typical speech development, yet do not change by the expected age. Other patterns would require teaching the child the correct way to make a sound. An SLP may identify other factors that make it hard for the child to be understood, such as talking too fast or trying to imitate long sentences.  

My child has trouble following directions.
At 24 months, children are able to understand words for objects not present.  We would expect a child to understand spatial concepts (in, on, under) by 3 years old.  A difficulty in following direction may involve limited understanding of language as well as contributing factors in attention, motivation, and motor abilities.  Speech therapy can provide teaching concepts and practice those concepts by following directions that are increasingly more complex. The SLP may work with other professionals to fully understand all the reasons a child may have a hard time following directions.

My child has trouble putting thoughts into words.
Children begin using two-word combinations from 1 ½ to 2 years old.  An SLP can give strategies for modeling language that will help a child progress in putting words together in a systematic way that builds the appropriate foundational skills.

Other ways a Speech Language Pathologist can help:

• Working on grammar
• Using language with peers
• Increasing an understanding of vocabulary
• Increasing reading comprehension
• Building foundational reading skills
• Learning/Improving non-verbal communication skills
• Increasing functional communication (requesting, rejecting, commenting,  asking and answering questions)
• Improving language memory
• Reintroducing and improving communication after head injuries