Empowering Your Child with Communication For Connection
PEDIATRIC SPEECH THERAPY IN NORTH LIBERTY IOWA
Everyone needs a way to communicate needs, wants, and likes in a way that feels comfortable and accessible.
When communication isn’t happening smoothly, frustration quickly follows for everyone involved.
More than just speaking clearly, your child’s time in speech therapy can improve their confidence, play skills, ability to make friends, and academic performance. What looks like play is actually setting your child up for life-long confidence, connection, and success.
SPEECH THERAPY BENEFITS KIDS WITH:
Difficulty understanding directions
Difficulty understanding and expressing emotions
Stuttering
Narrow ways of play
Limited interactions with others
A raspy, loud, or soft voice
Speech that’s difficult to understand
Difficulty expressing needs or wants
Biting and chewing of inappropriate objects
Speech delays
Limited vocabulary
Learning disabilities
Dyslexia
Autism
Auditory Processing Disorders
ADHD
Brain Injury
SPEECH THERAPY WORKS ON:
Speaking clearly & vocal quality
Understanding spoken words
Alternative ways of communication
Expressing emotions and needs
Following directions
Letter sounds
Responding to what others are saying
Expanded play skills
Making friends
Expanded vocabulary
Caregiver education
Executive Function Skills
Task initiation
Impulse control & self-regulation
Focus & time management
Working memory
Accepting change
Organization & task completion
From early language development or early concerns about autism, to high-level social, communication, and academic skills – we’re here with expertise and compassionate support.
Understanding the Areas of Speech Therapy
We provide personalized care with strategies based on up-to-date research. No matter what your child is working on, you’ll see us playing our way to results with kids and empowering caregivers with support and strategies.
Expressive, Receptive, and Written Language
Is it that your child doesn’t understand what others are saying? Or do they understand but can’t figure out how to respond?
Our job is to figure out what underlying skills are making communication a challenge for your child. Then, we work on improving or adapting so your child is better able to interpret and express themselves through pictures, written, or spoken language.
Auditory and Language Processing
Some children have difficulty interpreting meaning from what they hear. This looks like not understanding words or being under-reactive or over-reactive to noise. We’re able to use a variety of techniques to improve your child’s ability to process auditory information.
Augmentative and Alternative Communication
When your child is unable to communicate needs or wants, it’s hard on everyone. Sometimes an alternative way of communication is the answer. Ranging from simple low-tech options such as picture boards to customized speech-generating technology, the right solution can make a world of difference for a child who can’t communicate through spoken words.
We’re experts in evaluating whether your child needs a communication device and which one best fits their needs. We work with outside companies that not only supply the devices but assist with insurance approval. From there, we help you and your child learn how to use the communication device and make adjustments as needed.
Articulation of Speech Sounds
Some children struggle to make one or more speech sounds. This leads to a range of struggles – from speech that simply sounds different to speech that's very difficult to understand. Clarity and the full range of speech sounds is a developmental process that occurs at different rates for different children.
We’re able to assess and address articulation of speech sounds, taking into account developmental patterns, so you know if something really is a problem and when is the best time to address it.
Stuttering and Fluency of Speech
Up to 5% of kids go through a period of stuttering which can vary from situation to situation or go away on its own. Ongoing stuttering can result in social anxiety and decreased confidence, but education and early intervention can go a long way.
We provide stuttering and fluency treatment therapy from a holistic approach. This includes information on stuttering, proactive strategies, and reducing the anxiety and stress that influence stuttering.
And just a heads up, BlueCross does not cover speech therapy for stuttering. This doesn’t mean it’s not a valid treatment, it just means you’ll need to plan on self-pay to address this problem with your child.
Voice Therapy
If your child has a high-pitched voice, baby voice, or raspy voice, speech therapy might be needed. Voice therapy is also helpful for children who speak too loudly or too softly.
More than just sounding different, addressing vocal quality can improve classroom participation, social relationships, and long-term vocal strain. We address these challenges taking into account auditory processing, airway anatomy, and self-awareness.
Social Skills
Positive peer and family relationships are one of the most important areas we address in speech therapy. Social skills are where language, cognition, and relationships come together so your child can understand others, express themself, learn appropriate play, and many other important skills.
We work on social skills in both individual and group sessions in a way that honors differences and helps each child better connect with others through play-based activities.
Interactive Metronome
The interactive metronome is a research-supported program that uses sound and an interactive screen to exercise the brain. What you’ll see is your child wearing headphones and interacting with beats, rhythm, and sounds while playing interactive computer games. What you can’t see are the complex brain processes this program is addressing with each dynamic activity.
With the interactive Metronome and our trained speech therapy staff, your child will work towards a range of speech and academic goals including word fluency, concentration, attention, timing, coordination, and auditory processing.
Oral Motor Skills
A range of challenges including excessive object chewing, speech difficulty, or feeding challenges are related to the coordination of the mouth, tongue, or swallow. We make addressing the coordination, strength, and sensory aspects of the mouth and tongue fun and comfortable so your child will make progress towards their functional goals.
What to Expect during Speech Therapy
Initial Visit
During the first visit, we complete the initial evaluation. This is when we assess the struggles your child is facing and develop a plan for moving forward. We usually start the initial evaluation in a private treatment room without distractions, then move to the fun of the big gym before wrapping up our first session.
The initial evaluation includes a standardized assessment to get an idea of where your child is compared to milestones and similar peers. The assessment also includes discussing the concerns from caregivers and spending time playing together. Through play, we’re able to gather lots of useful information.
Beyond just meeting milestones, we want to select a plan that is realistic and meaningful for your everyday life.
Ongoing Sessions
Don’t be surprised if therapy looks a lot like play. Underneath the fun of play, your child is doing all sorts of learning. There is always a reason behind what we’re doing, and we love sharing those with you during our parent debriefs.
We have both private rooms and the sensory gym available for speech therapy sessions and use the spaces that work best for your child’s unique needs and goals.
Parents are an important part of our work together. Some parents attend all of the sessions and some parents hang out in the waiting room. Even this depends on how your child learns best. Whether you sit in on sessions or not, we always leave time for a parent debrief at the end of each session to answer your questions and ensure you know what to do to help your child at home.
