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Speech and language
therapy is provided at Bridges in order to address a child’s overall
ability to communicate and interact with others. The speech and
language pathologists use affect and engagement with pleasurable
back and forth interactions as the foundation for the development of
imitation, oral motor awareness, articulation, pragmatic, receptive
and expressive language. Various forms of support such as pictures,
augmentative communication, gestures and sign language are used to
help a child take in and understand information, as well as to
express their own ideas.
The goals of speech
and language therapy at Bridges are to:
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Build on a child’s
ability to participate in back and forth interaction by supporting
various modes of communication such as eye gaze, gestures,
pictures and augmentative communication, sounds, words and
sentences;
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Help the child to
find ways to communicate within daily activities and different
environments such as schools, therapy sessions and snack time with
other children;
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Help parents to
better understand individual differences that may affect the way a
child communicates such as difficulty with motor planning,
decreased oral motor awareness, and challenges with auditory
processing;
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Help children to
expand their abilities to communicate
— from simple back and forth
eye gaze or smiles to higher level language concepts such as
describing similarities and differences;
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Meet
children at their level and challenge them to use language
to problem solve and negotiate with others; and
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Help other team
members to better understand the child’s individual differences so
that they can provide the appropriate support during interactions.
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