Services We Offer
Screenings | $20
Screenings are conducted by a certified Speech-Language Pathologist. Screenings take anywhere from 15-30 minutes and will identify any speech deficits that are present. When the screening is complete, information will be provided covering recommendations and next steps.
Evaluations | $280-$450
Depending on area(s) of concern, an evaluation is completed by a skilled Speech-Language Pathologist to gain a comprehensive view of your child’s current strengths and weaknesses. Comfort uses a variety of assessment tools to diagnose the presence of a speech or language deficit.
1:1 Therapy | $72
Comfort works collaboratively with children and families to maximize their communication potential across all environments! Therapy is individualized to clients specific needs and based on up-to-date research. Speech-Language Pathologist will recommend frequency and duration after initial evaluation.
Comfort specializes in assessment and treatment of Speech Sound Disorders and Early Language Development.
Speech sound
disorders (SSD)
Speech Sound Disorders
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association identifies ​speech sound disorders as an umbrella term referring to any difficulty or combination of difficulties with perception, motor production, or phonological representation of speech sounds and speech segments.
Speech sound disorders can be organic or functional in nature. Organic speech sound disorders result from an underlying motor/neurological (childhood apraxia of speech and dysarthria), structural (cleft lip/palate), or sensory/perceptual (hearing impairment) cause. Functional speech sound disorders include those related to the motor production of speech sounds (articulation) and those related to the linguistic aspects of speech production (phonology). Functional speech sound disorders are idiopathic—they have no known cause.
Gestalt Language Processors (GLP)
Gestalt Language Processing
Gestalt Language Processing: Analytic language development and gestalt language development are two ways to process and develop language. Both analytic language development and gestalt language development are normal and natural! Children who use gestalt language development process language in whole chunks instead of processing single words... at first. Further, echolalia communicates! While everyone uses some echolalia, echolalia is the essential part of language development for gestalt language processors. Gestalt language processors' language development does not need to be "fixed" it needs to be supported naturally through the stages of Natural Language Acquisition (NLA). NLA embraces the child’s own level of natural language development and supports further development toward self-generated grammar (Blanc, 2012). To learn more on Gestalt Language Processing, visit www.meaningfulspeech.com.
AREAS OF ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT
Early Language Development
Children grow and develop at their own rate. If you have any concerns about your child’s development, the earlier you seek help, the better. If you are concerned about your child’s development, you may contact your local early intervention program directly to ask for an evaluation. Families do not have to wait for a referral from professionals. However, if your child does not qualify for services through the state, but you feel they still need help, Comfort is here to support you and your family. Please refer to this handout to gain a better understanding of what skills you should be expecting from you child!
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Articulation
Articulation refers to how we produce specific sounds. An articulation disorder commonly involves sound substitutions (i.e. /w/ for /r/ as in "wock" for "rock") or sound distortions (i.e. lisp). Most children can say almost all sounds correctly by the age of 5. View average ages children learn to produce speech sounds.
Phonology
Phonology refers to how we use individual sound patterns in the context of language. Children with phonological delays/disorders commonly exhibit consistent patterns of sound substitutions or omissions. For example, children with the phonological pattern of "fronting" consistently produce sounds made with the back of the tongue, such as /k/ and /g/, with the front of the tongue. This would sound like "tat" for "cat" or "doe" for "go". The more phonological patterns a child produces the more difficult they are to understand. If a 3-year-old isn't able to be understood by strangers about 75% of the time then a speech assessment should be recommended.
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Echolalia and Gestalt Language Processing
Is your child not responding well to a "traditional" therapy approach? Do they use single words, long scripts, rich intonation, and unintelligible strings of language? Your child may be a Gestalt Language Processor (GLP). Analytic language development and gestalt language development are two ways to process and develop language. Both analytic language development and gestalt language development are normal and natural! While everyone uses some echolalia, echolalia is the essential part of language development for gestalt language processors.
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