The Areas of Speech-Language Therapy
Speech-language pathologists, or SLPs, support much more than speech sounds. They are trained to evaluate and treat nine core areas that affect how children communicate, learn, eat, build relationships, and participate in everyday life.By looking at the whole child, SLPs can create therapy plans that support your child’s unique strengths and needs.
Articulation
Articulation is how your child produces speech sounds clearly.
A child with an articulation disorder may leave sounds out, replace one sound with another, or have difficulty saying certain sounds. For example, they may say “tat” instead of “cat.”
Speech therapy can help your child become easier to understand and feel more confident when communicating.
Fluency
Fluency is the smoothness and flow of speech.
Children with fluency concerns may repeat sounds or words, stretch out sounds, or feel “stuck” when trying to speak. This may be a sign of stuttering.
Therapy focuses on reducing tension, supporting comfortable communication, and helping your child feel confident sharing their thoughts.
Voice and Resonance
Voice and resonance include the pitch, loudness, quality, and nasal sound of your child’s voice.
You may notice that your child sounds hoarse, speaks very loudly or softly, has a strained voice, or sounds overly nasal. These differences may be related to voice use, illness, medical concerns, or structural differences.
An SLP can help determine what may be affecting your child’s voice and whether additional medical support is needed.
Receptive & Expressive Language
Receptive language skills help your child:
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Follow directions
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Answer questions
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Understand new vocabulary
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Listen to stories
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Comprehend classroom instructions
Expressive language skills help your child:
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Use words and sentences
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Ask and answer questions
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Tell stories
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Share ideas and feelings
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Participate in conversations
When children have difficulty understanding or using language, it can affect learning, friendships, behavior, and confidence.
Hearing
Hearing plays an important role in speech and language development.
Frequent ear infections, hearing loss, or difficulty hearing certain sounds can affect how a child learns speech and language. SLPs can help support children whose communication has been impacted by hearing differences and may collaborate with audiologists, physicians, teachers, and families.
Feeding and Swallowing
Feeding and swallowing concerns may include difficulty chewing, managing certain textures, drinking from a cup, trying new foods, or swallowing safely.
Some children may cough or choke during meals, avoid entire food groups, hold food in their cheeks, or become upset around eating.
SLPs help children develop safe and functional feeding skills, often in collaboration with occupational therapists, physicians, dietitians, and other members of the child’s care team.
Cognitive Communication
Cognitive communication connects thinking skills with communication.
This includes:
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Attention
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Memory
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Problem-solving
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Planning and organization
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Following routines
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Telling a story in order
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Staying on topic
These skills help children communicate successfully at home, at school, and in everyday activities.
Social Communication
Social communication, also called pragmatics, is how a child communicates and connects with other people.
This may include taking turns in conversation, understanding emotions, recognizing tone of voice, staying on topic, asking for help, and adjusting communication for different situations.
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SLPs support children in developing meaningful and authentic ways to communicate while respecting each child’s personality, comfort, and communication style.