Services

We offer the following services: 
Speech Therapy

Length of sessions may be 30 or 60 minutes with the last five to ten minutes devoted to parent/ caregiver discussion, homework and transition. 

Speech-Language Pathologists at our clinic can assess and treat the following disorders but are not limited to: articulation/phonological disorders, receptive/expressive language disorders, fluency disorders, cognitive-communication disorders, feeding disorders, oral-myofunctional disorders, autism spectrum disorders, apraxia and oral-motor disorders, selective mutism, voice disorders, social language disorders, and literacy disorders.
Feeding Disorders 
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What Speech Therapists can do to help with feeding? 
According to American Speech and Hearing Association, your child may have a feeding or swallowing problem if she:
  • Arches her back or stiffens when feeding
  • Cries or fusses when feeding
  • Falls asleep when feeding
  • Has problems breast feeding
  • Has trouble breathing while eating and drinking
  • Refuses to eat or drink
  • Eats only certain textures, such as soft food or crunchy food
  • Takes a long time to eat
  • Has problems chewing
  • Coughs or gags during meals
  • Drools a lot or has liquid come out her mouth or nose
  • Gets stuffy during meals
  • Has a gurgly, hoarse, or breathy voice during or after meals
  • Spits up or throws up a lot
  • Is not gaining weight or growing
  • Constipation

There are many possible causes for feeding and swallowing problems, including:
  • Nervous system disorders, like cerebral palsy or meningitis
  • Reflux or other stomach problems
  • Being premature or having a low birth weight
  • Cleft lip or palate
  • Autism
  • Head and neck problems
  • Muscle weakness in the face and neck
  • Sensory issues
  • Behavior problems
Voice Disorders
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Symptoms
Voice disorders in children can often go unnoticed or be confused with a child’s natural speech. There are several signs that a child may have a voice disorder if they occur often, including:
  • Hoarseness, roughness, breathiness or strain
  • Difficulty speaking loudly or speaking too loudly
  • Loss of voice
  • Pitch that is too high or low for age
  • Vocal fatigue
  • Often sounding "nasally" (e.g. hypernasality, hyponasality, or mixed resonance)​​


The American Speech and Hearing Association defines a voice disorder as being “characterized by the abnormal production and/or absences of vocal quality, pitch, loudness, resonance, and/or duration, which is inappropriate for an individual’s age and/or sex.”
Oral Myofunctional Disorders
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Symptoms
  • Does your infant have difficulty feeding? Is your child a picky eater?
  • Has your dentist pointed out an overbite caused by “tongue thrust”?
  • Has your child been diagnosed with reflux, sleep apnea, or etc?
 
There are a multitude of symptoms or signs that may be present if you have a deviated swallow. Some of the most common symptoms to look for are: misalignment of the teeth, articulation problems; tongue protruding in the mouth when speaking, eating or at rest; dry, chapped lips or mouth breathing; poor facial tone; excessive belching or stomach aches; poor eating and feeding mechanics; sleep apnea; and reflux.

 
A Myofunctional Evaluation includes observation of a patient’s breathing, eating, drinking, speech, facial symmetry and posture. The therapist takes several specific measurements to learn the baseline strength of the patient’s tongue, lips, and masseters. The evaluation also includes a focused observation of the starting swallow pattern, which is recorded for future comparison.



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Augmentative & Alternative Communication (AAC) 

Speech Therapy of Forsyth provides comprehensive support for use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication.
We will assist in providing strategies and methods to assist children in meeting their communication needs. 

AAC strategies may include guidance in utilizing low-tech options (such as letter boards or communication books) or high technology devices that produce speech.  We may provide direction and support to help customize devices to help meet the individual's communication needs at home, at school, and in the community. Our goal is to assist in providing communication skills that extend beyond simply conveying of basic wants and needs, and provides the means to allow each individual to be heard, and to express emotions. 
 




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AAC includes the use of objects and equipment that encourage independence, such as:

  • Picture boards
  • Communication books
  • AAC software 
  • Speech-generating devices
  • Switches, joysticks and eye-gaze accessories