Kindergarten speech and language readiness means a child can be understood by unfamiliar adults, follow multi-step spoken directions, use complete sentences to explain and ask, and hear the sounds inside words well enough to begin learning to read. Those four abilities carry more of the kindergarten day than most parents realize, because nearly everything in […]
Screen time affects speech development primarily by displacing the back-and-forth conversation that young children need to learn language, and research links higher-than-recommended screen use in the earliest years to measurable delays in communication. This is one of the most common questions I hear from parents, and the honest answer is that screens are not automatically
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A late talker is a toddler between about 18 and 30 months who understands language and develops normally in every other way, but has a noticeably small spoken vocabulary for their age. The reassuring part is that being a late talker is common, and many late talkers catch up on their own. The harder part
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Raising a child with two languages does not cause speech or language disorders, and bilingualism is not a reason a child would need speech therapy. This is the single most important thing for parents to understand, because the worry that “too many languages” is confusing a child is one of the most common – and
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Supporting speech therapy at home means weaving short, intentional practice into your child’s everyday routines so the skills they build in therapy carry over into real life. A child typically spends less than an hour a week with a speech-language pathologist and the rest of the week with you, which is why what happens at
An articulation disorder is trouble making one or a few specific speech sounds the right way – a “lispy s,” a “w” for “r,” or a “th” that does not sound like a “th.” A phonological disorder is trouble with the patterns of how sounds are organized, where a child consistently simplifies whole groups of
Language milestones describe what a child says and understands – how many words they use, how they put words together, how they follow directions, and how they ask questions. Speech sound milestones describe how clearly a child produces the sounds of their language – whether a stranger can understand them, and which consonants and vowels
Stuttering in young children is a disruption in the smooth flow of speech — most often appearing as repetitions of sounds, syllables, or short words (“b-b-ball,” “I-I-I want”), prolongations (“sssssnake”), or audible blocks where the child seems “stuck” mid-word. It is common, it is not the parent’s fault, and most preschool-age children who briefly stutter
Summer speech regression is the measurable loss of speech, language, and communication skills that some children experience when the structure of the school year, school-based therapy, and daily language-rich routines suddenly disappears in June. For children with articulation disorders, language delays, fluency concerns, or Autism Spectrum Disorder, a 10-to-12-week summer break without continued practice can
Understanding Speech Therapy in Vero Beach, FL Speech therapy in Vero Beach, FL focuses on helping children develop strong communication skills, including speaking, understanding language, and interacting with others. For many families in Vero Beach and throughout Indian River County, speech therapy provides the support children need to communicate more clearly and confidently. Whether a
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