How Do I Know If My Child Needs Speech Therapy?

Therapies and Resources for Children with Autism & Families

“How do I know if my child needs speech therapy?”

This is a question that many parents ask, some when their children are just toddlers, others when their child is preschool age or older.

While every child is unique, we do work with many children at Peak Potential Therapy who share similar challenges with speech. However, many parents do not realize the breadth of challenges that speech-language therapy can help with. Our speech-language therapists not only work with children with delays or impediments to speech, but a range of other issues, including language comprehension.

If you are unsure whether your child needs speech therapy, consider whether any of the following statements are true.

  • My child cannot make speech sounds—or cannot make them clearly. Your child may be completely non-verbal, or just beginning to speak, but not in a way that you and your family can understand.
  • My child has problems understanding language. Your child may not only be struggling to produce language, but also struggling with language comprehension.
  • My child has a speech rhythm problem. Stuttering and stammering are both fluency disorders, caused by a behavior that is interrupting the flow of speech.
  • My child has difficultly eating and swallowing. If your child struggles to eat and swallow, he or she may have a disorder such as dysphagia, which also affects speech.

These are just a few of the possible indicators that your child is a candidate for speech-language therapy. If you are seeking experienced speech-language therapists in the Akron-Cleveland area, please contact Peak Potential Therapy. We work with children from toddler age to young adults and can hold sessions at our center in Twinsburg, in your home within a certain distance of our center, or online for residents in Ohio. Register your child today or call our team to learn more.