Speech Therapy

Cutting Edge Pediatric and Adult Therapy believes in the comprehensive treatment of the “whole” person. With developmental and learning differences, this may consist of many collaborative units working together to support personal growth at its maximum potential. One of those collaborative units is 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)

Speech-language pathologists Certifications & Specializations:

• Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing (DTTC)
• PROMPT
• LAMP Words for Life
• Supporting Oral Feeding in Fragile Infants (SOFFI)
• Augmentative & Alternative Communication (AAC)
• Autism / Social Communication & Language Training
• DIR/Floortime

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).

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 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.

Gestalt Language Processing & Natural Language Acquisition (NLA)

For clients who are gestalt language processors, we use the Natural Language Acquisition (NLA) framework to guide assessment and treatment. Our speech-language pathologists collect and analyze language samples to determine the percentage of communication that occurs at each NLA stage. This helps us understand how your child currently uses language—whether through echolalia, mixes of gestalts, or self-generated phrases—and allows us to tailor intervention strategies that support natural progression toward self-generated, flexible communication. Therapy is play-based, child-led, and neurodiversity-affirming, focusing on connection first and honoring the way your child naturally learns and uses language.

Pragmatic Skills

Our neurodiversity-affirming, client-led approach to pragmatic skills and social cognition is grounded in respect and value for the unique ways individuals experience and engage in social interactions. Our approach focuses on the following core values: respect for neurodivergent communication styles, building upon strengths, authentic communication, collaboration and consent, function over form, and presumption of competence. We believe that neurological differences, such as autism, ADHD, and other developmental variations, are natural variations of the human experience, not deficits to be fixed.

Our goal is to support clients in building authentic, functional, and self-directed communication. We incorporate neurodiversity-affirming elements of Autism Level Up, the Social Thinking® Methodology, and the Zones of Regulation, to help clients expand emotional regulation skills and navigate social situations in ways that feel authentic and empowering. Rather than focusing on “fixing” behavior, our goal is to support flexible thinking, perspective taking, self-advocacy, and meaningful connection—honoring each person’s communication style and strengths.

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.