Speech therapy: What it is and how it helps with language challenges
Speech therapy can help with communication skills, including spoken and written language. It can even help with reading. Learn more about this treatment, and how to request it for your child.
Speech therapy is a treatment that can help improve communication skills. It’s sometimes called speech-language therapy.
Many people think that speech therapy is only for kids with speech disorders that affect pronunciation. But it can also target problems with:
Receptive language (understanding language)
Expressive language (using language)
Social communication (using language in socially appropriate ways)
Reading and spelling (including )
Here’s more about speech therapy and how it can help kids with language challenges.
Dive deeper
How speech-language therapy works
The specialists who do this type of therapy are speech-language pathologists (SLPs). They first identify what kind of speech or language problem a child has. Then they find the underlying causes and the best treatment.
Therapy can happen one-on-one or in small groups. It may last from a few months to a few years. The earlier therapy begins, the more helpful it is. Language difficulties are usually lifelong, but skills can improve with the right support.
Kids may get therapy in school for free as part of special education. It would be part of an IEP. Or they might start even earlier. One way is through their state’s early intervention system. Therapy can also happen in private settings.
Speech-language therapy is tailored to a child’s specific needs. Here are some common skills SLPs work on:
Phonological awareness. An early reading skill. To improve it, SLPs might focus on rhyming and identifying sounds in words.
Expressing more complex ideas. SLPs might teach “joining words” like and, but, or because to help kids combine their ideas in sentences.
Building vocabulary. SLPs might help kids remember words by acting them out or using them to tell a story.
Conversation skills. SLPs might role-play conversation and help kids pick up on social cues.
Parents and caregivers can help kids practice these exercises at home. This can make speech therapy even more effective.
Phonological awareness is one of the first reading skills. It’s the ability to recognize and use sounds in spoken language. Kids rely on this skill to sound out (decode) words.
Kids with reading challenges like dyslexia often have trouble with this skill. Speech-language therapy can help them hear that the word bat breaks down into b, a, and t sounds. This can improve reading comprehension skills.
Challenges with language can also cause problems with reading comprehension. SLPs work on those skills, too.
To get speech therapy at school, kids need to be evaluated by the SLP. This tends to be part of a full school evaluation for special education services. For some kids, speech therapy is the only service they need. Find out how to request a free evaluation for:
