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Welcome to Isn’t S P E E C H Grand?! I look forward to sharing pertinent information regarding pediatric speech and language pathology with parents, teachers, caregivers, and other professionals in the East Bay. I am a pediatric speech-language pathologist at SPEECH, Inc., a private speech clinic located on Grand Avenue in Oakland.


Who are speech-language pathologists?

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are professionals that specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of communication and swallowing disorders. To become a speech-language pathologist in the United States, an individual must obtain a Master’s Degree in speech-language pathology. Upon completion of graduate work, a 9-month full-time fellowship must be completed before they can earn their “C’s,” or Certificate of Clinical Competence, from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). ASHA is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for SLPs and Audiologists. SLPs must also be licensed by their individual state. Both ASHA and state licensing boards require continuing education to ensure SLPs are up-to-date with new research to provide the best practice for their clients.

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BEYOND S’s and R’s

Those who have not sought the services of an SLP for themselves or family members may have limited knowledge of what areas of speech and language we can treat. When I identify myself as a speech-language pathologist, most people think that I only treat “S’s and R’s.” Although articulation is one speech disorder we treat (and is especially common among our pediatric clients), there are a variety of communication disorders we diagnose and treat. Areas of communication disorders in which an SLP may specialize include:

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-Articulation: how  we produce sounds (lisps, r distortion, etc.)

-Phonology: patterns of sounds children produce (e.g. “tar” for “star”)

-Receptive Language: what we understand (includes auditory comprehension, ability to follow directions)

-Expressive Language: how we use language (includes word structure, sentence structure, vocabulary)

-Phonological awareness: pre-reading skills (such as rhyming)

-Literacy: reading and writing

-Disfluency: stuttering, cluttering, and other fluency disorders

-Apraxia: difficulty with motor planning of oral movement

-Cognition: memory, reasoning, problem solving

-Voice: includes treating hoarseness, nasality, etc., and instruction of “vocal hygiene”

-Oral motor: dysfunction of lip, tongue, and jaw muscles

-Pragmatic Language: following the social “rules” of language

-Swallowing: retraining the muscles of swallowing after a brain incident (stroke, injury) as well as treating pediatric feeding difficulty due to muscular, sensory, and/or behavioral issues

-Accent modification: modifying a regional or foreign accent to improve job performance and/or educational advancement. (It should be noted that this is NOT considered a speech or language disorder.)

Speech-language pathologists can diagnose and treat infants, children, and adults with the above issues, which may be due to the following: autism, cerebral palsy, aphasia, brain injury, syndromes (including Down’s Syndrome), intellectual disabilities, premature birth, dyslexia, cleft lip/palate, oral muscle weakness, auditory processing disorder, and so on. (The speech-pathologists at SPEECH, Inc. treat primarily pediatric clients, though several of us are trained in adult disorders such as aphasia after a stroke or traumatic brain injury).


Does my child need speech therapy?

Although each speech and language milestone has an age level, the actual age at which a typically developing child reaches that milestone may vary. Below is a guideline of speech and language milestones for children up to age five:

-By one year of age, your child should be recognizing words for common objects, babbling long and short groups of vowels, using gestures to communicate, and using several words.

-By 18 months of age, your child should be pointing to several body parts when named (e.g. eyes, nose, tummy), following simple commands, using 10-20 words, and starting to combine two words. If your child has difficulty with any of those skills, a speech evaluation may be necessary. 18 months of age is typically the earliest a child will begin to be seen for a speech delay.

-By two years old, your child should be understanding simple questions and commands, naming picture and actions, start using plurals (“books”), asking simple questions, should have around 200 words in his/her speaking vocabulary, and should be understood by others at least 50% of the time.

-By three years of age, your child should be matching colors, understanding simple prepositions (e.g. under, on), using sentences of at least 3-4 words, should be using nearly 1,000 words, and should be understood by others at least 75% of the time.

-By four years old, your child should have knowledge of shapes and colors, should be following commands with objects not present, using sentences of 4-5 words, begin to be using past tense (“jumped, ate”), and should be understood by others at least 90% of the time.

-By five years of age, your child should know a variety of spatial relations (“top, behind, over,” etc) and common opposites (“big” versus “little”); should be using all tenses ( future, present, and past), using more complex sentences, and using most speech sounds correctly.


If you have concerns regarding your child’s speech and language development, you should contact your pediatrician and/or a licensed speech-language pathologist. According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), the first three years of life is the most intensive period for acquiring speech and language skills due to the brain’s rapid development during that time. Early intervention for speech and language delays/disorders is beneficial so this critical period for speech and language development (when the brain is best able to absorb language) is not missed.


Contact SPEECH, Inc. at (510) 835-2757 if you have questions or concerns regarding your child’s speech and language development. We are happy to provide brief phone consultations to determine the next step to benefit your child’s speech and language abilities. We are located at 3645 Grand Avenue, Suite 304 in Oakland, California (near the Grand-Lake Theater) in our newly renovated office. You can find more information on our website at www.speechinc.com.


by: Tanya Verdoljak Loker, M.A., CCC-SLP, a California-licensed speech-language pathologist. She can be reached at tanyaspeech@gmail.com

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