At Azzurri Speech Therapy, I use a combination of treatment approaches to address various disorders/diagnoses, including: language, articulation/phonology, childhood apraxia of speech, dysarthria, autism, Down Syndrome, feeding, oral-motor deficits, orofacial myofunctional disorders, etc. My goal is to find the right combination of treatment approaches for each individual client. I complete a thorough evaluation and set up a treatment plan for therapy as well as a home plan to increase rate of success.
Specialty Services
PROMPT
PROMPTS for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets is a tactile-kinesthetic (touch and feel) approach where an SLP places his/her hands on the client’s face to guide his/her jaw, lips, and tongue to move correctly to form words.
This approach can be used with all speech sound disorders including articulation, apraxia of speech, and dysarthria.
ORofacial Myology
Therapy to improve improve speech/articulation, facial rest postures, and chewing/swallowing by addressing orofacial myofunctional disorders, including:
-
oral habits (thumbsucking, pacifiers)
-
open mouth posture
-
forward tongue posture
-
tongue thrust
-
tongue tie/lip tie
-
dental malocclusions
TalkTOols
Oral Placement Therapy
Oral Placement Therapy utilizes a combination of: (1) auditory stimulation, (2) visual stimulation and (3) tactile stimulation to the mouth to improve speech clarity.
OPT is used to improve articulator awareness, placement (dissociation, grading, and direction of movement), stability, and muscle memory; all of these are necessary for the development of speech clarity.
Talktools Sensory-motor approach to feeding
The TalkTools Sensory-Motor Approach to Feeding is an approach that considers sensory processing impacts on feeding as well as the oral-motor skills required for feeding. This approach systematically teaches the oral-motor skills required for chewing, moving food, spoon-feeding, straw drinking, drinking from an open cup, etc.
Beckman Oral motor
Beckman Oral Motor Interventions provide assisted movement (using hands and tools) to activate muscle contraction to improve movement of the lips, cheeks, jaw and tongue to improve: feeding skills (chewing, moving food, swallowing, etc.), speech, drooling, etc.
Dynamic TEmporal and Tactile Cueing
(DTTC)
DTTC is a treatment approach designed for children with childhood apraxia of speech. It is designed to improve the brain’s ability to plan and program motor movements for speech. Cues are provided and then faded to promote independence. The child is provided wtih frequent practice of target words, with focus on movement between sounds.