Topeka Ear, Nose & Throat provides pediatric therapy focusing on speech, voice and resonance disorders.
Pediatric voice disorders are characterized by sudden or gradual onset hoarseness, roughness, complete loss of voice, strain or discomfort with voicing or singing.
Pediatric therapy at Topeka ENT also addresses speech sound disorders to help children improve production of specific sounds or patterns of sounds, as well as motor speech disorders such as Childhood Apraxia of Speech.
Pediatric fluency disorders, or stuttering, include repetitions of sounds, words or phrases, as well as prolongations of certain sounds that interrupt fluent speech. Therapy for fluency disorders works to help the child produce fluent speech and minimize secondary behaviors.
Pediatric resonance disorders include velopharyngeal insufficiency and cleft lip and palate. The Topeka ENT team works to help the child develop age-appropriate speech sound production and resonance (balancing nasal and oral airflow).
When there is a concern involving one or more of these areas, the child may be referred for an evaluation with one of our licensed speech-language pathologists. The initial evaluation is typically an hour in length, with treatment sessions lasting 45-60 minutes in duration. Parents and families are encouraged to attend therapy sessions, as generalization to home and school environments is critical in helping the child make maximal progress.
Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)
In order to speak, the brain develops the message then sends signals to the muscles of the tongue and jaw to convey the intended message. When a child has apraxia of speech, this communication is interrupted, meaning they form a coherent message in their head but have difficulty getting their mouth to say the words.…
Speech Sound Disorders
When learning to talk, it’s extremely common for children to say certain sounds the wrong way. Some sounds are easy, like p, m or w, while others are more difficult, like z, v, or th. Below is a chart to show typical speech sound development: 3 months – makes cooing noises. 5 months – laughs…
Stuttering
Stuttering is a fluency disorder that often begins during childhood. It is characterized by disruptions, or “disfluencies,” in speech. Stuttering usually starts between 2 and 6 years old. Many children go through normal periods of disfluency lasting less than 6 months. Stuttering that lasts longer than this may need treatment. Children who stutter may sound…
Cleft Lip and Palate
A cleft lip or palate is one of the most common birth defects, affecting nearly 1 of every 1,000 births. During the sixth to tenth weeks of pregnancy, the roof of a child’s mouth and their upper lip come together by the upper jaw, with the nose and mouth bones fusing together. If they do…