Speech therapy, also called speech-language therapy, helps children improve their speech, language, and communication skills. Here's our complete guide to everything you need to know about speech therapy.
The goal of speech therapy is to help your child communicate effectively with other people across all environments. This may take the form of using gestures, simple signs, verbal speech, and Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).
Some other common things speech therapists can help with:
Speech therapy is almost always recommended for autistic children since many people with autism have difficulty with social communication. Even if a child is very verbal and says a lot of words, they might need to work on communication skills like:
Speech therapy is a big focus in early intervention for autistic children and is usually the starting place for recently diagnosed kids. There is a critical period in the brain for language development and so, it's really important to teach language and communication skills as early as possible, especially if there are any delays in that area. Your child will learn effective ways to communicate which will help them grow into more independent and confident individuals.
It might be obvious when a child struggles with speaking —they are very quiet, say only a few words, or don't speak at all.
Spot speech and language delays like a doctor here.
Our speech, occupational and physical therapists serve families across the U.S. in-home, in-clinic, and virtually. Top-rated care, covered by insurance.