Speech Therapy
What to expect
Avashni’s approach to therapy is to view the individual holistically, and she strives to enable each individual to reach their full potential. The therapy programme is tailored to the specific needs of the individual. Therapy is supplemented with home programmes.
“Your words matter” is her motto in therapy.
ASSESSMENT:
When is a speech and language assessment needed?
An assessment is typically recommended when an individual is not acquiring skills appropriate for their age and grade level.
An assessment is an essential part of Speech-Language Therapy process. It enables the therapist to obtain information about the individual’s skills with reference to their strengths and the challenges they are experiencing.
The assessment results guide the therapy process.
Assessments mat be formal or informal in nature.
A formal assessment uses standardised assessment tools. It provides information on how how the individual performs as compared to that expected for their age or grade.
An informal assessment is more flexible and done by parent interview, observation of the individual and play / interaction with the individual.
THERAPY
How can Speech Therapy assist myself or my child?
Speech-Language Therapy enables the individual to communicate effectively, thus allowing for better interaction with others.
The benefits from Speech -Language Therapy are:
Intelligible speech, with good articulation
Fluent speech
Appropriate use of voice
Improved understanding and use of language in oral communication
Improved understanding and use of language in written communication
Improved reading ability
Improved spelling ability
Speech-Language Therapy and Literacy Development
When does my child need to attend remedial therapy/intervention?
Additional academic support is often indicated when a child is not currently meeting academic requirements or when recommended by a psycho-educational report or the school to assist in bridging any academic gaps or to provide additional support for the learner.
Speech-Language Therapists play a key role in literacy, collaborating with teachers, providing instruction on phonological awareness and related literacy skills, to assessing and providing intervention for students with reading and writing disorders.
Spoken language provides the foundation for the development of reading and writing Spoken and written language have a reciprocal relationship, such that each builds on the other to result in general language competence. Children with spoken language challenges often have difficulty with learning to read and write, and children with reading and writing problems often have difficulty with spoken language. Therapy for spoken language can result in growth in written language; and therapy for written language can result in growth in spoken language.
What does literacy based Speech-Language Therapy assist with?
- Assessing: assessment of pre-literacy and literacy based skills
- Identifying at-risk learners
- Providing intervention to support literacy
- Support learning difficulties such as Dyslexia
- Provide additional study skills
