Services

One-to-one assessment and therapy with a qualified Speech-Language Pathologist to target needed speech and language goals using motivating, enjoyable research-driven activities to optimize student progress in a virtual format.

Speech Language Pathology professional services are covered by most extended health care plans - see FAQs for more details

IMPROVE YOUR CHILD’S READING AND SPELLING

In school, learning to reading is taught until Grade 3. Then, students are expected to read in order to learn. If your child isn't meeting grade expectations in reading and/or spelling, a language based literacy assessment directs literacy acquisition that matches your child's individual needs.

As a speech-language pathologist, I am trained to assess and remediate the language foundations of literacy acquisition and use a research driven, structured literacy approach (also called Orton-Gillingham):

Phonemic Awareness is a critical foundational skill needed for reading and spelling acquisition. It involves the ability to mentally manipulate individual speech sounds within words and predicts ease of learning to read and spell. Examples of phonemic awareness include rhyming, breaking words apart to identify the component sounds, blending individual sounds together to form a word and substituting sounds within words. When reading/spelling difficulties stem from poor phonological awareness skills, remediation through direct instruction builds the needed foundation for easier reading and spelling acquisition.

Decoding is the ability to associate letters with sounds to read familiar and new words accurately. Students with decoding deficits may try to compensate by guessing words based on the first letter/sound or by relying on pictures, which is not a strong approach the moment there are no pictures available. Structured literacy therapy teaches students how to analyze words to recognize spelling conventions and syllable patterns instead of guessing. This builds both skill and confidence.

Reading Comprehension is the ability to show understanding of what is read. Students with comprehension difficulties benefit from remediation to build their vocabulary knowledge and language therapy to identify the main idea and details of what they read so that they more successfully access knowledge through reading.

Reading Fluency is the ability to read texts accurately at an appropriate rate. Slow and/or effortful reading typically reduces a student’s ability to undertand the text. Therapy to increase the speed of accurate reading increases ease of learning.

Spelling and Morphology - children who struggle to read are particularly helped by learning the rules and patterns of spelling in an explicit, structured, multisensory and cumulative way. Taking the guesswork out of spelling is more efficient and effective than trial and error. Morphology instruction (i.e. increasing knowledge of root words, prefixes, suffixes and common letter groupings with meaning) is also a critical part of acquiring literacy and academic success.

PLAN FOR SUCCESS

If any of the above difficulties currently describe your child, a literacy assessment is the first step to creating an individualized remediation plan to help bridge the gap towards your child's improved proficiency in reading and spelling.

IMPROVE YOUR CHILD'S SPEECH

Producing speech is a complex action which is why young children simplify the sounds of speech in predictable patterns. As a child’s movement and language systems mature, their speech sounds become clearer. However, some children maintain their early movement patterns past the expected time that 'toddler speech' usually resolves. When a child continues to produce speech that is consistently less mature than their age would predict, they are said to have a speech delay or a phonological disorder.

PLAN FOR SUCCESS

If your child is having trouble being understood by others or sounds younger than they are, a speech assessment will identify their speech errors and misproduction patterns. Speech therapy is a play-based, engaging and fun process of therapy to guide your child on the path to clearer speech.

IMPROVE YOUR CHILD'S LANGUAGE

Receptive Language is to the ability to understand language. Understanding language is essential to a child’s capability to learn. Some signs of a possible receptive language delay include: making errors when following instructions, not seeming to listen when being spoken to and appearing to lack interest when being spoken or read to.

Expressive Language is to the ability to use speech and writing to successfully convey messages according to the rules of language. Some signs of a delay in expressive language may include: difficulty generating the right word for what they're thinking of, difficulty retelling stories or reporting experiences, trouble getting to the point, errors of grammar or word order in sentences, using predominantly short, simple sentences, and at the higher levels, struggle to produce written responses in assignments and essays.

PLAN FOR SUCCESS

If your child is having difficulties with some aspects of language development, a language assessment to pinpoint the specific areas needing support is the first step. Receptive language therapy supports students to expand their word knowledge and sentence understanding. Expressive language therapy raises the calibre of vocabulary use, sentence production, paragraph creation and essay writing by systematically, explicitly expanding students' expressive language skills.

Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. You may use the form here on the website or email me directly. I appreciate your interest and look forward to hearing from you.