Speech Therapy Helps When Their

Speech Is Hard to Understand

preschoolers and children talking after speech therapy for hard to understand speech near Cherry Hill NJ

Are they having trouble speaking clearly?

Do you understand them, but others don’t?

You might be here because friends or family members are asking you what they said. Or, maybe you’re here because your child is getting frustrated, shutting down or beginning to avoid conversations.

We understand and we can help.

The good news is that they’re learning, thinking, and communicating… They just need a little help figuring out what their mouth should do. As experts in the motor skills that underlie speech, we have the training to work with the most complex cases, including Childhood Apraxia of Speech.

We’ll figure out what is preventing them from being understood, develop an individualized program, and focus on real communication, not just one-word drills. When we focus on overcoming breakdowns and real-world speech tasks, gains show up at home, in school and with friends.

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  • What Is Childhood Apraxia of Speech?

    Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is a neurological speech disorder that impacts a person’s ability to figure out what their mouth should do, how it should do it, and in what order they should complete the movements. They know what they want to say, but their brain has a hard time creating a motor plan to make it happen.

    Many with CAS have average intelligence. In fact, through our work, we’ve seen many children excel beyond their years in reading and spelling… though that may be because we also support those skills in our child-friendly, jungle-themed approach.

  • Tell Me More About Apraxia

    A person with apraxia may say words clearly at one time, but not another. Inconsistency is a hallmark of the disorder. Their speech may also have awkward pauses between sounds, words or phrases.

    Therapy focuses on movement, not sounds. Because we don’t say words one sound at a time, learning how to transition from one sound to the next is a critical part of treatment.

    The prognosis for children with CAS varies. But early and well planned services are a key to achieving maximum success.

  • What is DTTC Therapy?

    DTTC — Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing — is an evidence-based approach designed specifically for children with CAS. Using the principles of motor learning, it helps the brain learn how to plan, program, and refine the motor movements needed for clear speech.

    This approach has allowed countless children to experience overwhelming success. And, since we added a few jungle animals to the process, children are able to celebrate how far they’ve come with each and every goal.

  • What is PROMPT Therapy?

    PROMPT — Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets — is a therapy approach for children with CAS and other speech sound disorders. While it is holistic and supports the whole child, speech skills are supported using physical touch and varying amounts of pressure to guide the lips, tongue and jaw into correct movement patterns.

    At Cheerful Chatter, we prefer to use DTTC as our primary approach for a variety of reasons. If we ever use PROMPTs, it will be with a full explanation and permission from you and your child.

  • What About Telehealth for Apraxia?

    Many automatically think telehealth will not work for children with apraxia, but they couldn’t be more wrong! The only thing that can’t be done remotely is touch… but that’s not the most effective way to help anyway!

    DTTC methods work beautifully over the computer, as we’re able to get up close and personal with the camera… which actually helps little ones focus on what matters most. Additionally, coaching parents in key therapeutic techniques is easily done remotely.

    It’s a win for their services, a win for your parent coaching skills & a win for your schedule!

Here by mistake?

Looking for information because your child isn’t speaking yet? Or maybe support for early reading and spelling skills?