What Do Our Clinicians Treat?
Welcome to 2024! This past year was full of some pretty incredible growth for our clinic, team, and patients. We are so excited to see what this year has in store for GASLC. Whatever your concern is, our comprehensive team of occupational therapists, speech language pathologists, physical therapists and feeding therapists are knowledgeable and have experience in many different treatment areas. We are here to help!
Some areas that we treat may seem more obvious than others. Many parents would likely be aware to seek a speech pathologist if their child has difficulty with productions of specific sounds; however, they may not think about seeking a speech pathologist when the dentist or orthodontist mentions a tongue thrust.
So for the new year, let’s start with the basics. What do our clinicians treat?
If you are unfamiliar with the field of speech language pathology, SLPs probably treat more areas than you would guess! Many people automatically think of treating speech sounds, but the world of speech therapy can also include treating oral motor disorders, myofunctional disorders, or voice disorders. Our clinicians have an extensive knowledge in many different treatment areas including:
• Articulation and Phonological Disorders
• Apraxia/Dyspraxia
• Oral Motor Disorders
• Feeding and Swallowing Disorders
• Myofunctional Disorders
• Receptive and/or Expressive Language Disorders
• Auditory and/or Language Processing Disorders
• Executive Function Disorders
• Fluency Disorders
• Voice Disorders
• Semantic-Pragmatic Disorders
• Learning Disabilities
• Aphasia and Dysarthria
• Other Neurological Impairments
Our SLPs also have experience with neuro-affirming care for each child within many different populations:
• Autism spectrum disorder
• Down syndrome
• Cerebral palsy
• Fragile X syndrome
• DiGeorge Syndrome
• Treacher Collins syndrome
• Unspecified genetic disorders
The ultimate goal of occupational therapy is to help your child become as independent and successful as possible in their daily tasks, or “occupations" — any activities that they need or want to do in their daily life. These activities can include anything from dressing themselves to playing a sport to completing homework. Because these tasks can vary greatly from person to person, therapy can look so different from person to person as well! Through the use of purposeful activities, occupational therapy is able to promote health, technique, and functional outcomes in many areas of life. Services provided (but not limited to) include:
Fine Motor Delays
Gross Motor Delays
Handwriting Delays
Sensory Regulation Deficits
Sensory Processing Deficits
Self-Care Deficits
Emotional Regulation Deficits
Executive Function Deficits
Any injury/illness/chronic condition causing deficits in daily life
Our awesome team of physical therapists work to implement treatment techniques for motor impairments with our kids. They strive to help kids of all ages become effective movers. We offer individual solutions for each patient and their family. Our PTs are committed to helping every parent improve their child’s motor potential and overall physical development in the following areas:
Gross motor skills
Fine motor skills
Balance and coordination
Strength and endurance
Assistance with sports / other recreational activities
Our PTs can help children achieve gross motor milestones, improve balance for walking, climbing, running, and playing, provide the family with education to help their child reach their maximum potential, improve range of flexibility and movement, collaborate on equipment recommendation such as wheelchairs or orthotics, address coordination to be able to play sports, explore playgrounds, and develop strength for walking, running, jumping, climbing stairs, etc.
At GASLC, we have a growing team of feeding therapists that can help meet your child’s needs whether they are a picky eater, experiencing sensory issues, or need help meeting their nutritional needs. Our team is comprised of both SLPs and OTs who have a passion for helping kids with all feeding needs. Our therapists are trained in Can-Eat, SOS Approach, The TR-eat® Model, Talk Tools Sensory Motor Approach, Beckman Oral Motor, ARFID – The Anxious Eater, and Mealtime Miseries. Feeding therapy might be right for your child if..
Your child is struggling to eat enough or to eat age appropriate foods
You are worried about the nutritional adequacy of your child’s intake
It is difficult to feed your child anywhere but home (and still difficult there too!)
Feeding/meal times are a constant point of stress and tension
It is our passion to help kids grow their skills in all of these areas and to provide support to our patients and families! Have any questions or think your child may benefit from one of our services? Contact us here!
