Small Talk Rock Music Therapy Services Autism Therapy Services Social Communication Receptive and Expressive Language Services Speech Sound Production Apraxia of Speech AAC Therapy Services Non-Public Agency Telepractice Services
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SPEECH, LANGUAGE & MUSIC THERAPY SERVICES

comprehensive

evaluation & treatment

take a look below to learn more about specific SERVICES WE OFFER

 
 

SPEECH SOUND PRODUCTION

Sometimes a child’s sequence of sound development can be interrupted, delayed, or out of order.  Under the umbrella of speech sound production, some children exhibit challenges in articulating a specific sound or group of sounds, while others present a difference in the way their sound system is developing.  At Small Talk we take a look at a child’s speech production patterns and develop a treatment plan to address specific goals in sequence.

MOTOR-SPEECH DISORDERS

Some children may experience difficulties communicating due to motor speech disorders such as childhood apraxia of speech (CAS).  These disorders affect the signals that travel from the brain to the speech muscles, or affect the muscles themselves, resulting in unclear speech and/or delayed expressive language skills.  At Small Talk we have an in-depth understanding of motor speech anatomy and physiology.  We will provide your child with a comprehensive oral-motor assessment to look at the structures necessary for speech and how they are moving and working together.  

RECEPTIVE & EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE

Under the umbrella of language, we take a look at how a child is understanding the language they hear (receptive) and how they are sharing their wants, ideas and feelings (expressive).

Language delays include delays in using first words, difficulties developing and understanding vocabulary, challenges using appropriate grammar and sentence structure, difficulty understanding concepts or following directions, and challenges processing language. At Small Talk we have the tools to provide your child with a comprehensive language assessment.  We will work with you to set realistic goals that are meaningful, motivating and functional.

TELEPRACTICE- LIVE, ONLINE THERAPY!

Telepractice is a method of delivering speech and language therapy online using a computer and camera set up in a client’s home. At Small Talk, we work face-to-face with children via secure, web-based, interactive video to any location equipped with a computer, high-speed internet, webcam, and microphone.  Telepractice was approved by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) as a valid and ethical means of clinical service delivery in 2005.

AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER

We provide both assessment and treatment services for children who are diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or who present with similar developmental challenges. Such challenges may include delays in preverbal communication skills (e.g., imitation, joint attention, emotional co-regulation, gesture use) and verbal communication skills (e.g., using words and sentences, having conversations, telling stories). Children with ASD often have delays in their understanding of language and in some of these children, their verbal language and reading skills may appear better than their understanding of language.

Our approach to treating children with ASD is developmental in nature – we look to typical developmental processes to guide us when starting our intervention. We use a lot of naturalistic teaching and parent coaching in the early stages of treatment and we feel it is extremely important to form strong working relationships with the children and families that we are involved with. 

SOCIAL COMMUNICATION

Social language difficulties include challenges with play skills, conversations, storytelling, and problem solving.  At Small Talk we believe strongly in the Social Thinking® Methodology.  Our teaching process utilizes peer-reviewed research and client family values to foster the development of social self-awareness, perspective taking/theory of mind, self-regulation, executive functioning, social-emotional understanding, social skills, organization systems, reading comprehension, and written expression. 

We will work with you and your child in individual or group therapy sessions to develop social thinking and related social skills.  We will also work with you to develop ideas to target these skills at home, at preschool, or at school. We are available for occasional home or preschool/daycare consultations to help extend these skills into everyday social settings with siblings and peers.

MUSIC THERAPY

Music therapy is a dynamic method for improving social and communication skills. Music therapy can give children who can’t easily communicate a way of communicating and interacting through a range of musical activities – singing, playing instruments, improvising, songwriting and listening to music.

Therapists can also use musical activities to teach new skills. This happens by pairing new skills with their own musical cues. Once children have learned the skills, they no longer need the cues. The cues are gradually phased out until the skills happen by themselves.

For a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a music therapist might also write lyrics about specific behaviour – for example, turn-taking. The therapist sings the lyrics to the melody of a song the child knows well. The idea is that the child might be better able to focus on sung information than spoken information.