Bilingual Therapy Services – Play and Learn Therapy, Inc.

Many bilingual families understand the value of being bilingual and often make special efforts to ensure that their child speaks and understand their heritage language. One common language learning practice in many bilingual families is to speak only their heritage language to the children at home as English is introduced to them in school. Furthermore, families, in which one parent doesn’t speak English, often utilize the one parent/one language approach and expose their children to their heritage language and English simultaneously.

When a child is exposed to two languages, the job of a speech-language pathologist is to investigate and determine whether the bilingual child presents with a language difference, insufficient language exposure, or a language disorder. To identify which of the previously mentioned is true for the child with suspected deficits, we collect a background history, perform a thorough bilingual evaluation, carefully analyze the results taking in consideration cultural/linguistic biases and provide professional recommendations based on the evaluation results.

Bilingual Evaluation (English/Spanish)

Before conducting a bilingual (English/Spanish) evaluation, we collect a detailed background history of the child to determine whether the child’s deficits were noted in the child’s primary language or began when he/she started acquiring the second language. The background history is as important as an evaluation as a language deficit will develop in the first language and will be present in both languages.

If a child is bilingual, we typically assess both languages using formal and informal assessments. Children who present with delayed language milestones in their primary language are considered to have a language disorder. In contrast, bilingual children who present with typical language development in their primary language and demonstrate difficulties in the second language are considered a second language learner. If results indicate the presence of a disorder, a plan will be developed to address communication needs by building on the strengths and improving weaknesses.

Bilingual Therapy (English/Spanish)

Services are provided in English and Spanish by a bilingual speech therapist. The bilingual speech therapist working with your child knows the differences between both languages, understands when errors are the result of the second language and will focus on the language processes that are shared by both languages.

Play and Learn Therapy, Inc. provides speech-language evaluations and individual therapy services in English and Spanish. Being that our bilingual speech-language pathologist is a native Spanish speaker, she has a vast knowledge regarding the differences between both languages, developmental errors, cross-linguistic influence, atypical errors, and understands the dialectal and articulation variations.

Feeding and Swallowing Therapy

We can help your child deal with them.

Pediatric feeding and swallowing therapy helps increase the intake and acceptance of a variety of foods and decrease refusal behaviors associated with feeding.

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