Speech Therapy

Developing communication skills is one of the most important elements to socializing and creating valuable relationships. Speech-language pathologists help clients overcome barriers to communication and eating. Speech-language therapy consists of specialized interventions to allow the client to gain appropriate communication, language, articulation, feeding and oral motor planning skills.

Speech-language pathologists provide evaluation and treatment for:

• Articulation disorders
• Stuttering/fluency
• Tongue thrust
• Oral motor/feeding
• Augmentative and alternative communication
• Voice
• Cognition (attention, sequencing and problem solving)

Why come to Cutting Edge for Speech?

Our speech therapy model is unique in that we incorporate movement and sensory activities into every session in our state-of-the-art gyms. Sensory regulation and movement are important keys to communication! Group activities, targeting turn-taking, conversation, and collaborative play, naturally take place in our open gyms during treatment. Our facility has been designed with all ages in mind, from toddlers to young adults.

For our teenagers and young adults, the SLP can target functional speech and language skills, such as sequencing and problem solving, through daily living activities (e.g., cooking, laundry, cleaning, making the bed, grocery shopping) in our apartment or grocery store. At our on-site coffee shop, Spencer’s Java Jam, these individuals can gain vocational experience related to on-the-job social interactions and real-world job tasks (e.g., restocking, customer interaction, filling orders, cleaning).

While many clinics schedule 30-minute speech therapy sessions, we go above and beyond to provide 45-minute speech sessions at Cutting Edge. Although we do not receive any additional reimbursement from insurance for providing a longer session, we value this extra time with your child. Seeing your child for 45 minutes not only gives us time to incorporate sensory regulation activities and movement, it also permits us to work on more goals within a session. We also want to take time at the beginning of the session to check in with you on how things are going at home and again at the end of the session to discuss carryover tips to help your child succeed within the home and community environment.

No matter what age your child is, we highly value collaboration. Your child will have the opportunity to work with a collaborative team of therapists. We offer co-treatment across disciplines, if appropriate to your child’s needs, and engage in daily collaboration and consultation across PT, OT, ABA, Counseling, and Speech. We know that by working together in-house, we can not only maximize your child’s success, but also make things easier for you as a family!

A speech and language evaluation will clearly identify areas of weakness and provide an assessment of your child’s skill level and age-based competency. Speech therapy can then address these areas of weakness and close the gap, with the goal of advancing your child’s speech to the age-appropriate range. The CEPT Speech therapy team provides in-depth assessments and one-on-one intervention for all of our clients. We recognize just how important these skills are and provide above industry standard 45-minute treatment sessions to facilitate individual progress.

After doing an initial speech and language evaluation, the evaluating SLP will individualize your child’s treatment plan based on his/her specific needs. In addition, some of the specialized intervention programs we offer are described below. If appropriate, one or more of these programs may be recommended for your child.

Social Cognition

Social cognition skills can be taught and practiced through one of two options:

• Individual therapy sessions –  the patient receives one-on-one intervention with a therapist and participates in groups activities
• Social groups – we offer social cognition groups throughout the year for a variety of ages – these groups offer an opportunity to learn and practice social cognition skills with peers

Our social cognition treatment often incorporates the Social Thinking® Methodology (www.socialthinking.com), which was created by Michelle Garcia-Winner. The Social Thinking Methodology is designed to teach social cognition skills and using one’s “social smarts” in order to facilitate problem solving and decision-making in social situations.

This program is not affiliated with, nor has it been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by Michelle Garcia Winner and Think Social Publishing, Inc.

PROMPT for Articulation

PROMPT© refers to Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets and is a tactile-kinesthetic approach to speech therapy, which means that the SLP uses touch cues on the patient’s face (i.e., throat, jaw, lips, tongue) to support and shape correct movement of the articulators for speech production.

DTTC for Childhood Apraxia of Speech

DTTC refers to Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing and is a systematic approach for childhood apraxia of speech.  Multi-sensory cueing (i.e., saying the word/phrase together, touch-based cues, gestural cues, visual modeling, verbal feedback) is provided in order to assist the child in improving the motor planning system.  A highly motivating, individualized set of target words are selected and targeted through multiple repetitions and use of the DTTC cueing system.

AAC Evaluations and Parent Training

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) refers to aided communication options, such as a tool or device to help one communicate. If your child has difficulty speaking, we can conduct an evaluation to determine the best system for your child.  Research has shown that AAC may also facilitate use of spoken language and can decrease frustration. Our SLPs and partner vendors can also work with your insurance provider to obtain funding of an AAC device.  We also provide individualized parent training to facilitate success in the home environment. If your child already has an AAC system in place, we can also provide individualized treatment to help your child obtain proficiency in using the device to communicate.

SOS Approach to Feeding

The SOS (Sequential Oral Sensory) Approach to Feeding focuses on increasing a child’s comfort level by exploring and learning about the different properties of food.  The program allows a child to interact with food in a playful, non-stressful way, beginning with the ability to tolerate the food in the room and in front of him/her, then moving on to managing the smell of the food, learning how food feels on the body and in one’s mouth, and then enjoying tasting and eating new foods following the 32 Steps to Eating.

Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation for Feeding/Swallowing (VitalStim)

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation involves the administration of small, electrical impulses to the swallowing muscles in the throat through electrodes attached to the skin overlaying the musculature.  Once the electrodes are placed and current intensity has been increased to a satisfactory level, the therapist begins traditional oral motor, feeding, and swallowing exercises with the patient.   The VitalStim Therapy System is utilized to administer NMES. A specialty certified speech-language pathologist administers NMES. It is a non-invasive therapy.