Speech Therapy Baton Rouge

When will my child be discharged from therapy?

Speech-language therapy is based upon individualized goals and objectives. Each child’s learning rate is different and therefore, a specific time period of therapy cannot be predicted.

You and your speech-language pathologist will communicate closely about your child’s progress, and will plan carefully for his or her timely discharge

Is it a good idea to take a break from speech therapy?

Each child’s intervention program is uniquely designed for his or her particular needs. The more consistently the child attends speech therapy Baton Rouge, the more rapidly progress will be seen. However, your child’s speech-language pathologist may suggest to you when and if a short break in the program would be beneficial.

Although the summer months seem like a natural time to take a break, children may regress or require lengthier intervention programs overall as a result of this time off.

The summer can actually be a great time to make more rapid changes as fewer academic demands are placed on children during that time.

What is Auditory Processing Disorder (APD)?

APD may be associated with difficulties in listening, speech understanding, language development and learning. In its pure form, however, it is conceptualized as a deficit in the processing of auditory input. In other words, it is “what we do with what we hear.” APD occurs in 2-3% of children.

Some characteristics include: has difficulty understanding spoken language in competing noise, often misunderstands messages, frequently requests repetitions, says “what” and “huh” frequently, exhibits difficulty paying attention, has poor auditory memory, may have poor receptive and expressive language,

confuses words that sound alike, exhibits behavior problems, difficulty following complex auditory directions, difficulty localizing sounds, associated learning problems, is easily distracted, gives inconsistent responses to auditory stimuli,(often delayed), has difficulty with phonics and speech sound discrimination and has reading, spelling or other academic problems.

The diagnosis of APD should include a language assessment by a speech-language pathologist and an audiological assessment by a licensed and certified audiologist.

What is “Disfluency”?A disfluency is any interruption in the

normal flow of speech. If you child has difficulty speaking, in that he hesitates or repeats certain syllables, words or phrases, he may have a fluency or stuttering disorder.

Although some children experience normal disfluencies as they develop, a speech language pathologist can determine if your child could  benefit from therapy.

For more information on stuttering, visit the Stuttering Foundation of America’s website at: http://www.stuttersfa.org.

Will my insurance pay for speech therapy?

You may have a health care plan that has coverage for evaluation and treatment of communication and related disorders. Because each health care plan is different, it is suggested that you check your health care plan policy by looking for coverage of all health related services under the major medical section.

If you are in doubt about coverage for speech-language pathology services, you may call, visit or send a letter to your employee benefits manager, HMO office, PPO office, or insurance company.

If possible, request clarification of your coverage in writing.

When making your initial appointment with Access to Better Communication, our office manager will be glad to assist you in understanding this process. It is suggested that you review any questions regarding your health plan coverage with the office manager at that time There may be deductibles and co-payments to pay even if most charges are covered.

If services are not covered by your health care plan the fees services rendered become your responsibility.

How long does it take to schedule an evaluation? And how long after the evaluation does it take to make the first appointment?

An evaluation can usually be scheduled within a two week period upon your first contact with our office. However, if insurance pre-authorization is required, a slight delay may occur while awaiting insurance confirmation.

If the results of the evaluation indicate that your child would benefit from speech-language therapy, the first therapy appointment is most often discussed at the end of the evaluation session and scheduled within the next one to two weeks.

What is the difference between speech and language disorders?

A language disorder is the ability to use and/or understand words and their meanings properly. Children may exhibit inappropriate grammatical patterns, difficulty with word retrieval, language organization difficulties, difficulty formulating or recalling sentences, or difficulty following directions.

A language disorder can lead to a reading disability characterized by poor reading comprehension, poor decoding skills, or difficulty with the knowledge of the sound system.

A speech disorder is characterized by difficulty producing sounds (articulation), dysfluent speech (stuttering) or voice difficulties.

My child speaks just fine, so why does he need speech therapy?

Speech-language pathologists evaluate and treat many disorders other than articulation (how sounds are produced).

These include language, fluency (stuttering), reading, writing, auditory processing, phonemic awareness, social skills, voice, and resonance.

For speech, language and hearing development milestones, visit the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s website at:

http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/chart.htm

What do Speech-Language pathologists do?

A clinical speech-language pathologist conducts comprehensive evaluations and formulates specific individualized goals based on the testing results.

These goals are then implemented in a speech-language therapy program involving the child, speech-language pathologist, family, school and often other related professionals.

Read more about dyslexia treatment baton rouge here:

http://www.batonrougespeechtherapy.com/