Milestone Therapy Group Milestone Therapy Group provides best therapy services for kids & toddlers like speech & occupational therapy, early intervention, Pre School, Kids & Evaluation Therapy in Philadelphia & Mainline. 40.0124652,-75.2137202

Tag: children’s speech therapist in Philadelphia

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When Should We Start Speech Therapy for Children?

when to start speech therapy for children
Milestone Therapy Group can provide you, as parents, with strategies and techniques that best meet your child’s needs throughout sessions

Communication skills are an important part of our everyday life. When people have a difficult time understanding you it can be frustrating. When children have difficulties communicating their wants and needs and understanding questions that are asked by parents or teachers, this can be a challenging time for both the child, their family, and educators. Questions such as “what should we do?” or “let’s wait and see?” and possible thoughts of “they are choosing when they want to listen” or “they choose when they want to talk” are common questions and concerns that parents bring up. When we notice and begin to see an increase in frustration or minimal attempts by a child to communicate, this is a starting point to seek out strategies and techniques from a speech language pathologist. Pediatric speech therapy at Milestone Therapy Group can provide you, as parents, with strategies and techniques that best meet your child’s needs throughout sessions and help decrease frustration for both your child and the family.  

What can Speech Language Pathologists work on? 

As speech language pathologists, we can work with the production of sounds, we work with words and how we put them together to communicate with others, and we specialize in the evaluation and treatment of communication & related disorders. So what does this all mean? It means, speech language pathologists can help with: 

  • Fluency: rhythm of our speech, stuttering
  • Voice: too loud, too soft, too high, too low
  • Understanding What words mean
  • Knowing what to say in different social settings
  • How to put words together to make sentences
  • Articulation: how we make speech sounds using our mouth, lips, tongue.
  • Finding alternate ways to communicate through Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). 
  • Swallowing difficulties 

At Milestone Therapy Group, we have the best children’s speech therapists who provide individualized speech therapy sessions to meet the child’s current goal through a play-based approach. Pediatric speech and language services can start in infancy and continue on up to 18 years of age. For our younger early intervention children, this can include gross motor activities mixed into the sessions to elicit language opportunities such as using a slide (i.e., “go down” “climb up” “fast” “wee” “ready, set, go”) or trampoline (i.e., ‘jump”, “jump high”, “let’s jump”, “jump fast”) or other activities of special interests to engage in during the speech therapy session. Games, interactive activities, and conversations are how we target language and articulation goals for our older children to increase their level of engagement, cooperation, and most importantly to encourage them to continue to work towards their goals.  

An important piece of the therapy puzzle, so to speak, is carryover to home. Consistency is important regardless of the goal we have set, which means we want to create a partnership between families and our speech language pathologists to help provide gains in communication skills at home, school, and all environments outside the clinic treatment room. Providing strategies, recommendations and ideas for activities at home and during routine daily activities are an important part to speech therapy. This can include how to continue working on language skills such as “wh” questions, prepositions, listening comprehension, executive functioning; working on requesting and commenting; following directions; communicative intent, and target words such as core language and speech sound productions during daily activities for carryover. The more we can practice the better! 

Milestone Therapy Group is committed to providing a supportive and friendly environment for families and children, and we believe in working closely with families to help them understand their child’s needs and support their child’s progress. A multi-disciplinary approach is used between our speech language pathologists and children’s occupational therapists as these therapies are related to help provide support for the child to their strengths and needs. Our team-based approach provides constant communication with one another and assists each other when parents have questions or concerns. Our team of speech language pathologists are dedicated to helping children achieve and reach their speech and language goals.

For more information about our speech therapy services and to schedule an appointment for your child, please contact us. We would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

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Child Speech and Occupational Therapy FAQ by Milestone Therapy Group

Child speech therapy and occupational therapy
Child speech and occupational therapy

At Milestone Therapy Group, we understand that seeking help for your child can be overwhelming, especially if you’re new to speech and occupational therapy. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of frequently asked questions to help you better understand our approach to pediatric speech therapy and child therapy services we provide in the Main Line and Philadelphia area.

Q: What does child speech therapy and occupational therapy look like?

A: At Milestone Therapy Group our speech therapy sessions and occupational therapy session for children consist of meeting the child where they are currently and building upon their strengths. Our experienced therapists will find engaging activities that are of interest to your child and plan the strategies and goals into the activity. Communication needs, feeding needs, sensory processing needs, fine motor needs, and play skills are just some of the areas targeted that are conducted through a child led approach to engage and encourage children to build upon their skills. Pediatric therapy services can help children reach their full potential and improve their quality of life while providing strategies and recommendations for home practice for carryover.

Q: Who can benefit from child therapy services?

A: Children of all ages and abilities can benefit from speech therapy and occupational therapy services. Whether your child is struggling with language delays, speech sound difficulties, other communication difficulties, fine motor difficulties, gross motor difficulties, sensory processing difficulties, our experienced therapists can provide the support your child needs to help build upon their skills and increase their quality of life.

Q: What can I expect from child therapy services at Milestone Therapy Group?

A: At Milestone Therapy Group, our approach is a child led approach and strengths-based approach to speech therapy and occupational therapy services. Treatment sessions are designed to be interactive and engaging. Our experienced therapists work with children and their families to provide personalized support based on each child’s unique needs. Our goal is to help support children with varying needs and developmental difficulties reach their full potential in a supportive and nurturing environment with therapists that care.

Q: How long will speech therapy and occupational therapy last?

A: Each child is different in acquiring skills, so this is child dependent on an individual basis. With repetition, consistency and carryover of strategies at home, you will be creating an environment to best support progress for your child. Using strategies and recommendations paired with consistent therapy sessions, will provide the best support for your child to thrive and reach their goals. 

Q: How do I know if my child needs child therapy services?

A: If you’re concerned about your child’s development, it’s always best to seek the advice of a speech language pathologist or occupational therapist. If you have concerns about communication, play skills, sensory processing or feeding, our experienced therapists can assess your child’s needs and provide recommendations for future treatment sessions and suggestions for parents to begin implementing at home after your evaluation and answer questions you might have. 

Q: What are the benefits of child led therapy services for my child?

A: Child led therapy services can provide numerous benefits for your child, including increasing communication skills, increasing play skills, increased confidence and independence, and enhanced quality of life. Our experienced therapists work with children and their families to provide the support they need to reach their full potential in the clinic and carryover to home. At Milestone Therapy Group, our whole team is committed to providing the best child led therapy services in the Greater Philadelphia area. Our experienced therapists are dedicated to helping children achieve goals and skills to increase their quality of life and reach their full potential. Whether you are looking for pediatric speech therapy or occupational therapy services for your child, feel free to contact us for therapy services that will change your child’s life!

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Occupational Speech Therapy

How Does Speech Therapy Help a Child’s Development?

Speech Therapy for children's
Best Speech Therapy for childrens

Finding out that your child needs speech therapy can be a confusing experience. Like most parents, you may become anxious about your child’s future and wellbeing. The good news, however, is that speech therapy could be the pathway to your child’s freedom!

So, what exactly does speech therapy entail?

Speech therapy is a set of activities that aim to improve the art of communication. It focuses on speech delays and disorders in oral motor dysfunction, articulation, expressive and receptive language, social language, swallowing, cognitive speech, and feeding. Speech therapy for kids can positively impact a child’s development and make them more comfortable at home and school.

Benefits of Speech Therapy

Improves Communication

A speech therapist will work closely with your child to improve oral/verbal and nonverbal communication. For nonverbal communication our team of therapists will help with(e.g., making eye contact, understanding body language, facial expressions, etc). For oral/verbal communication our therapists will help children strengthen their speech muscles and help them learn to form sounds correctly. This will in turn help with fluency, articulation, volume, and quality of speech. Frequent exercising of oral muscles can further improve the chewing and swallowing processes.

Improves Social Skills

Children with speech disorders, especially those within the autism spectrum, may struggle with social cues or connecting words to emotions. A speech therapist will model correct grammar and vocabulary to help expand your child’s language. The therapist can also use tools such as video modeling, role-playing, books, social stories, and toys to make the language development process fun and enjoyable.

Helps with Reading and Writing Abilities

Speech therapy for children also focuses on the child’s literacy. A speech therapist can identify obstacles that are impacting a child’s reading and writing skills. The therapist can then link speech and verbal programs to help improve your child’s writing.

Improves Cognitive Development

The development of speech and communication is closely linked to cognitive development. Many reasoning processes are closely linked to the use of language, whether through internal thought processes or verbal communication. When speech abilities become enhanced, children get to improve their problem-solving and communication skills to support their cognitive development.

Improves overall quality of life

Speech therapy will reduce the communication frustrations that children experience while trying to communicate with their peers, parents, or teachers. It will also enable children to form and maintain relationships, understand other people, and be understood. Your child’s ability to communicate will undoubtedly improve the quality of his life.

Many people have a misconception that speech therapy for children only focuses on speech. However, speech therapy offers so much more! Our team of children’s speech therapists will work to improve your child’s fluency, articulation, verbal and nonverbal communication, and social skills. If you suspect your child is having speech or related issues, reach out to Milestone Therapy Group through the telephone number 610-753-5695. We will connect you to the best children’s speech therapist in Philadelphia. It doesn’t stop there; we also offer the best speech therapy for toddlers in Philadelphia, which can effectively handle your child’s speech and related disorders. You will not just be saving yourself the anxiety that comes from seeking multiple solutions, but also giving your child an opportunity to communicate effectively.

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