Why Speech Therapy? | Rachel E. Sakofs, M.S. CCC-SLP

Your child deserves to be understood

Speech-Sound Production

"My child mispronounces words, and sometimes it is difficult for others to understand what she is saying…"

"I'm convinced my child has the words, but why does he struggle so hard to get them out…?"

"That one tricky sound just keeps getting in the way..."

Many children struggle with articulation impairments and speech production patterns that are not age appropriate or developmentally expected. Speech production disorders are caused by factors such as motor functioning, the structure of the mouth, genetic and neuro-developmental syndromes and hearing impairment. Only a certified Speech-Language Pathologist utilizes research based methods to determine the kind of speech disorder and how to effectively treat it. A spoonful of experience makes it fun!

It's more than "just speech"

Language & Learning

Accessing the world around you and expressing yourself-Every Child's Right. Can you imagine a world where no matter how hard you try, you just can't "say it" they way you want?

"My child isn’t talking yet…and should be saying more words and phrases for her age…"

"My child has difficulty following directions…or has difficulty understanding me or responding to my questions…"

"My child gets frustrated when trying to express himself or follow a task…"

"My child has a really hard time narrating an experience…and when she does, she has a hard time using the right words to describe…"

"My child seems to miss the big picture when reading a story…and resists talking about the characters and what happened to them…"

"My child has a really hard time putting thoughts to paper…and needs a lot of hands on help writing stories or reports…"

Receptive and Expressive Language Disorders involve comprehending directions, questions, vocabulary and concepts, and then being able to process and formulate to effectively communicate ones wants and needs. Unfortunately, difficulties with language carry over to reading and writing. Speech-Language Pathologists are expertly suited to delineate the language characteristics that are making communication hard, in home, in school, in the community, in life.

Reading and writing are complex, and require a specialized approach

Structured Literacy & Written Language Instruction

Interpreting sounds correctly, recognizing letter patterns and word families, pulling them out of the mind quickly and efficiently to decode, bringing it all together to write, all while remembering the spelling patterns! It's not surprising that so many individuals struggle with this process! What part of the reading & writing puzzle is holding your child back? Rachel provides comprehensive reading and written language evaluations, targeted Structured Literacy Instruction and therapy in writing skills that focuses on executive functioning at its core. She designs a therapy program that is tailored specifically to your child's needs, utilizing a variety of research-based interventions.