primary Service Areas

Speech therapy & Evaluation

Speech, or articulation therapy, addresses an individual's sound production.  As younger children are developing speech and language skills, listeners may perceive speech "errors" that are actually developmentally appropriate.

Articulation problems can arise from muscle incoordination or structural (i.e. cleft palate) problem in the lips, tongue, and palate. Articulation difficulties can also be caused by motor planning and sequencing problem (apraxia of speech). In this case, the speech muscles do not get the proper signal from the brain to produce speech and do not work in the correct order.  Articulation disorders can also be due to muscle weakness.  A licensed speech-language pathologist can help determine whether an articulation disorder is present and a possible underlying cause.

language therapy & Evaluation

The term "language therapy" actually covers multiple areas.  A basic breakdown of language can be between production (expressive language) of words and comprehension  (receptive language) of spoken or written language. Language consists of vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, and pragmatics. Pragmatics is the way that language is used socially. It includes the unspoken rules of language such as taking turns in a conversation, eye contact, and social interaction. Children with autism have difficulty with using language in a social context. 

feeding therapy & Evaluation

Natalie has participated in certified workshops to service children who are problem eaters, those who demonstrate sensory-motor oral deficits, and children who have oral sensory aversions.  

Our goal is to expand your child’s food intake at their own pace, in a low-stress atmosphere. We work with you to determine which foods you would like to introduce or re-introduce into your child’s diet.  Feeding intervention is carefully planned based on your child's individual nutritional needs, oral motor skill set, and sensory tolerance for textures, temperatures and appearance of foods. 

Please note: we do not believe in force-feeding any child.

We will give family members tools to empower them to take the stress out of mealtime and have successful meals at home.  

General therapy and Evaluation session information

Therapy sessions are available in 30, 45, and 60 minute lengths with the last 5-10 minutes used for parent follow-up and discussion of home program. 

For feeding therapy, a minimum session length of 45 minutes is recommended due to the nature of feeding difficulties and the amount of parent involvement/education necessary to progress with skills.

Parents/caregivers are welcome in the therapy room for all sessions.

Evaluations are scheduled in one and a half hour blocks.

All therapy services are provided 1:1 (unless you've signed up for a group) and individualized to meet your child's therapy needs.

screenings

PlayWorks happily provides free speech-language screening by appointment.  Screenings can help determine whether an in-depth evaluation is recommended.  Please call us today to set up your free, 30 minute screening.