Speech, feeding, and orofacial myofunctional challenges are not limited to childhood. WITH is committed to partnering with patients and their families to address concerns that impact daily lives, confidence, and overall well-being.

Adults may pursue speech-language therapy for communication difficulties such as: stuttering, speech clarity, voice disorders, or cognitive communication disorders related to attention, memory, problem-solving, organization, reasoning, and social communication.

Some medical conditions can impact speech and language abilities, including stroke, brain injury, and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple sclerosis (MS), and dementia.

Early intervention matters! Research shows that the earlier we address speech, language, or feeding concerns, the better the outcomes can be. The gaps in development continue to get larger. Early diagnosis and treatment can prevent small delays from becoming bigger challenges, boost confidence, reduce frustration, and often result in shorter overall lengths of treatment.

Without direct intervention, other related areas of development are at risk for being delayed as well (E.g., social relationships, behavioral concerns, reading/writing skills, etc.).

However, it is NEVER too late to start services!

Yes!! We love to collaborate with school SLPs and see many kids who also receive services at school. School-based services focus on helping students succeed in the classroom and are based on educational needs. At WITH, we focus on the whole child, addressing communication and feeding skills that impact life beyond the classroom - at home, in the community, and socially. Private therapy allows for one-on-one services that often allow for more frequent sessions and flexibility in approaches based on each child's unique needs and family priorities.

Schools have specific qualification criteria based based on educational needs. At WITH, we see many kids who did not qualify for school-based services but benefit from direct services to support their speech, language, and/or feeding needs.

13-18 months

– Follows basic directions

– Understands and uses words for common objects/actions/people

19-24 months

– Understands and uses at least 50 words by 19 months

– Starting to put 2+ words together (E.g., “more water”)

2-3 years

– Consistently using 2+ word combinations

– Starting to ask and answer basic questions

Speech intelligibility refers to how clearly a person can by understood by others when they speak. It's about how much of their speech others can can understand.

The table below reflects speech intelligibility for unfamiliar listeners - someone who does not know the child very well and is not used to hearing their speech. Unlike parents or caregivers who can often understand what a child means even when the words are not clear, unfamiliar listeners often do not have the same experience or context.