Services
Sparks of Speech provides direct services, consultative services and group therapy in the following areas:
Articulation
How we make our sounds. It’s our ability to move our tongue, lips, teeth and jaw to produce a sequence of sounds which make our words and sentences. When a child has difficulty making or producing a sound correctly they may have an articulation disorder.
Speech
Sound Disorders
This is when there are sound error patterns in our speech which results in the inability to correctly form the sound of words. For example: Gliding of /r/ in ‘red’ becomes ‘wed’.
Social Skills
This is the use of language in a social context. (e.g., greetings “hello”, informing “I’m going to get a snack.”, requesting “May I have some more juice please”?), changing our language depending on the social environment (e.g., talking differently in a classroom than a playground) and following rules (e.g., taking turns when you talk, eye contact).
Stuttering
The smoothness or flow of our speech when talking. Stuttering is often characterized by repetition of sounds, syllables or words, prolongations (e.g., ssssee), or interruptions of speech known as blocks.
Language
This is how we use language to communicate our needs, wants, thoughts and ideas. Children with language disorders may have difficulty expressing themselves and/or understanding what other people are saying to them.
Voice
When the quality of our voice is noticeably different to the voices of others who are the same age and sex (e.g., voice sounds hoarse or harsh).
Literacy
Literacy involves all the skills required to read and write.