Speech Therapy
Talk to the Articulation / Phonology Therapy Experts
If you or your child have an issue communicating verbally, let T & K Pediatric Services evaluate your situation. Therapists Kristy and Tristy offer you over 37 years of combined experience in speech therapy.
Your therapist will design a personalized program to improve the way you verbally communicate. Schedule an appointment today.
Disorders We Treat
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Communication
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We provide FREE screenings for all the above mentioned disorders. You'll be glad to know that we make home visits, day care visits, and preschools for your convenience.
Swallowing / Dysphagia Therapy
Swallowing / feeding disorders include difficulty in gathering food / liquids into the mouth and preparing to suck, chew, or swallow it.
Swallowing disorders, also called dysphagia (dis-FAY-juh), can occur at different stages in the swallowing process:
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Oral phase: Sucking, chewing, and moving food or liquid into the throat
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Pharyngeal phase: Starting the swallow, squeezing food down the throat, and closing off the airway to prevent food or liquid from entering the airway (aspiration) or to prevent choking
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Esophageal phase: Relaxing and tightening the openings at the top and bottom of the feeding tube in the throat (esophagus) and squeezing food through the esophagus into the stomach
Signs / Symptoms of Swallowing Disorders in Children
The following are the signs and symptoms of feeding and swallowing problems in very young children. Not all symptoms / signs may be present in all children.
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Arching or stiffening of the body during feeding
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Irritability or lack of alertness during feeding
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Refusing food or liquid
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Failure to accept different textures of food (e.g., only pureed foods or crunchy cereals)
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Long feeding times (e.g., more than 30 minutes)
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Difficulty chewing
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Difficulty breastfeeding
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Coughing or gagging during meals
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Excessive drooling or food / liquid coming out of the mouth or nose
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Difficulty coordinating breathing with eating and drinking
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Increased stuffiness during meals
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Gurgly, hoarse, or breathy voice quality
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Frequent spitting up or vomiting
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Recurring pneumonia or respiratory infections
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Less than normal weight gain or growth
As a result, children may be at the risk of:
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Dehydration / receiving poor nutrition / facing difficulty gaining weight / failure to thrive
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Aspiration (food or liquid entering the airway) or penetration
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Pneumonia or repeated upper respiratory infections that can lead to chronic lung disease
Diagnosis of Feeding and Swallowing Disorders
If you have noticed that your child is having difficulty eating, contact your family doctor right away. Your doctor will conduct a thorough evaluation and address any possible medical reasons for the feeding difficulties, including the presence of reflux or metabolic disorders.
A speech-language pathologist (SLP) who specializes in treating children with feeding and swallowing disorders can evaluate your child and will:
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Ask questions about your child's medical history, development, and symptoms
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Look at the strength and movement of the muscles involved in swallowing
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Observe feeding to see your child's posture, behavior, and oral movements during eating and drinking
The following are some causes of feeding and swallowing disorders in children:
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Nervous system disorders (e.g., cerebral palsy, meningitis, encephalopathy)
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Gastrointestinal conditions (e.g., reflux, "short gut" syndrome)
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Prematurity and / or low birth weight
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Heart disease
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Cleft lip and / or palate
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Conditions affecting the airway
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Autism
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Head and neck abnormalities
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Muscle weakness in the face and neck
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Multiple medical problems
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Respiratory difficulties
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Medications that may cause lethargy or decreased appetite
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Problems with parent-child interactions at meal times
Call the therapists at T & K Pediatric Services to schedule your appointment for a FREE screening. We offer home and day care visits.
Articulation / Phonology Therapy
Phonology disorder is characterized by the difficulty of being understood due to the substitution / omission of sounds such as “toot” for cook or pa for pop or “bu gu” for bubble gum.
Articulation / Phonology occurs for a variety of reasons including a history of ear infections or fluid in the middle ear that makes it difficult for children to hear sounds / words appropriately. It is recommended that children obtain an audiological evaluation to rule out hearing loss before starting speech therapy.
Diagnosis of Articulation / Phonology Disorders
If you have noticed that your child is having difficulty being understood by yourself or others, it is time to contact a speech-language pathologist. If your child omits syllables such as bu gu for bubble gum, they use the same word—for example, ba means, ball, bug, baby, and bubble—for multiple words or they use primarily vowels to communicate they may need an articulation evaluation.
If your child has an articulation / phonology disorder, please call the staff at T & K Pediatric Services to set up an appointment for a FREE screening at your earliest convenience.
T & K Pediatric Services is a proud member of the American Speech Language Hearing Association and North Dakota Board of Speech Pathology. Our staff and therapists continue our education in the field.
Stuttering / Fluency
Get Your Kids Checked for Fluency / Stuttering
Stuttering is a disorder characterized by the interruption in the flow of speaking distinguished by atypical rate, rhythm, and repetitions in sounds, syllables, words, and phrases. This may be accompanied by excessive tension, struggle behavior, and secondary mannerisms.
Fluency / stuttering occurs for a variety of reasons. It is important to note that there is normal developmental stuttering that occurs between the ages of two and five where the child may repeat whole words as their vocabulary continues to grow. They may attempt to share their thoughts and needs into longer, more age-appropriate sentences.
Fluency Disorders in Your Kids
If you have noticed that your child is having difficulty in expressing themselves and they continue to repeat words or sounds, please contact a speech-language pathologist for a more thorough evaluation.
If your child is stuttering:
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Don’t draw attention to it
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Don’t tell them to stop and start over
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Do slow down his / her environment and give him / her all the time in the world to communicate their thoughts
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Do maintain eye contact with your child and don’t have any facial grimaces or expressions that convey to your child something is wrong
Call the experienced staff at T & K Pediatric Services if your child is suffering from stuttering. We're a locally owned and family-run company in Jamestown, ND. If you wish that our staff visits your place, request for a home or day care visit.
Voice Disorders
This is a disorder characterized by abnormal pitch, volume, vocal quality, resonance (hyponasal or hypernasal), and duration of their speech which is inappropriate for the person’s age or sex.
Voice disorders can occur for a variety of reasons including vocal cord nodules, polyps, vocal cord paralysis, spasmodic dysphonia, and paradoxical vocal fold movement.
Diagnosis of Voice Disorders
If you have noticed that your child is having difficulty voicing, loses their voice frequently or has very poor volume, you will need to see your primary care doctor first and receive a referral to an ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat) specialist to assess the reason for the hoarseness.
Once they have done a thorough evaluation and addressed any possible medical reasons for the voice difficulties, they will refer you to a speech-language pathologist (SLP) who specializes in treating children with voice disorders:
They will:
Ask questions about your child's medical history, development, and symptoms
Look at the strength and movement of the muscles involved in voicing
Observe your child's posture, behavior, and oral movements during speaking
Call the locally owned T & K Pediatric Services to schedule your FREE screening. We have over 45 years of combined experience in providing speech therapy.