Children start communicating with us at a young age.  In fact, they are typically expected to use gestures, words, and phrases to communicate all kinds of things by the time they are 2 years old! By age 2, you should also be able to understand at least half of what they are saying. Some kids are just late-talkers, while others have a true delay.  Pediatricians, while extremely knowledgable professionals, are not experts on communication disorders.   If you have concerns about your child's early communication skills, it's best to seek an evaluation with a trained speech-language pathologist to determine if your child needs therapy. 

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In therapy for kiddos under age 3, I provide coaching to parents and caregivers, in addition to directly engaging with the child. I educate families about strategies they can use to support their child’s learning and development during naturally occurring interactions, routines, and activities.  I aim to provide you with the tools you need to help your child communicate with you! Speech-language therapy, especially when provided early, sets children up for success.  Over the years, I have seen, and therefore, strongly believe in, the power of early intervention. 

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I am a vendor with the San Diego Regional Center, which provides early intervention services for free or at a reduced cost for those who are eligible. Contact me for more information. 

Speech sound disorders include articulation disorders, phonological disorders, and motor planning disorders, such as apraxia or dysarthria. There are certain sound errors that are expected when a child is learning to talk and developing their speech skills. However, if a child has numerous, persistent speech sound errors that makes their speech difficult for people to understand, they may have a speech sound disorder.

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Speech sound disorders can cause children frustration and affect their self-esteem, and have been linked to reading difficulties, so its best to seek therapy as soon as possible if you have concerns about your child's speech development.

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I can asses whether a delay or disorder is present, determine the type of speech disorder, and determine the best treatment approach. In therapy, I use multi-sensory cues to teach your child certain sounds, and then we will practice while engaged in play-based, naturally motivating activities.

Receptive language refers to a child’s ability to understand language. Skills include following directions, understanding vocabulary and concepts, and comprehending questions. Expressive language refers to a child’s ability to communicate. Skills include a child’s ability to use vocabulary, form phrases and sentences, use correct grammar, and express themselves for a variety of purposes. They may need support using gestures/signs, spoken words, pictures, or AAC devices. 

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If your child seems to be having difficulty understanding what others are saying and/or expressing themselves, they may have a language delay or disorder. I can assess how they seem to be learning/processing language, as there are two types of language development (see section below for more information on this), and determine the best approach to support them on their language learning journey. 

There are two types of language processing. Many people only know about Analytic Language Processing, which is often considered to be the “typical” way to learn language. This is where babies learn to produce sounds, then begin to use single words, and later combine these words into phrases, and then eventually, sentences.

There is another another type of language development called Gestalt Language Processing. This is where a child initially learns language in “chunks” using echolalia (repeating what they have heard). These “chunks” of language (often phrases, sentences, or series of sentences, but can also be single words) are called gestalts. You may also hear gestalts referred to as scripts. Gestalts often include things a child has heard people around them say, in addition to lines or dialogue from videos and movies they’ve watched, lyrics from songs, or lines from books.

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Gestalt language processors (GLPs) are often musically inclined, and are really keyed into the melody and intonation of language (the way our pitch goes up and down when we speak). The intonation pattern, and not the individual words, is what holds meaning for them, in the early stages of their language development. GLPs often produce their gestalts with the same intonation pattern as the original speaker/ source of the gestalt. There is usually a strong emotion (positive or negative) or specific experience attached to these gestalts. As they move into later stages of language development, they break down these gestalts, or "chunks" into words, and then begin to form their own novel phrases, and sentences, just as an analytic language processor would. GLPs just have a few extra steps to get through initially! 

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If your child is not yet talking, but they hum or sing, and produce long strings of unintelligible speech (may sound like babble or jargon), and like to rewatch certain clips over and over again, they may be a GLP. If your child is speaking and they repeat lines from shows often, use rich intonation patterns, repeat questions/have difficulty answering questions, appear to be "stuck" on using single words, or use pronouns reversals, it’s possible they are a GLP.

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There are many GLPs that develop language without needing support. However, when a GLP does need support, we need to address it differently than we would with an analytic language processor (ALP).  Natural Language Acquisition (NLA) is a framework that outlines the stages of language development for GLPs, and guides adults in supporting GLPs on their language learning journey. If your child primarily uses echolalia to communicate, demonstrates difficulty using flexible, novel language, or doesn’t seem to be responding to more “traditional” language facilitation strategies, they may benefit from working with an NLA trained therapist, like myself.