Services for Children
We assess and treat children of all ages for a wide variety of concerns including stuttering, language delay, speech/language issues in school-aged children, autism, social communication, voice and more.
Services for children
At Columbia, we firmly believe that parents and families know their children best. We are here to listen to the concerns that lead people to enquire about speech therapy for their children.
In many cases, parents simply need to be reassured that their child’s speech and language development is okay. Some kids may need a gentle nudge to put their emerging speech and language skills on track. Others may need speech therapy for coping with weak speech and language skills that are affecting their academic or social success or hindering their development of healthy self-esteem.
Columbia therapists use a practical, hands-on approach that may include any member of a client’s “team” – including, for example: parents, siblings, friends, teachers, other therapists, and where relevant, insurance company representatives, physicians, or anyone else who is part of the child’s life. For young children we often use play-based therapy, which is fun and engaging, and do our best to incorporate activities or toys the child already knows and loves.
Treatment is available in our Vancouver office or, for a fee, our therapists will travel to the child’s home, school, or preschool. We offer the option of coming to where the child will get the greatest benefit from our services, provided the facility allows outside staff. (Please note that during COVID-19 we have paused home visits.)
Concerns that we work with include but are not limited to:
- Stuttering (find out more here)
- Assessment and treatment of a range of language-related issues in school-aged children
- Social communication issues
- Concerns about speech/language delay in young children
- General articulation/enunciation issues such as correcting lisps or other impediments or generally improving clarity of speech
- Voice therapy
- Autism (we also have three RASP-certified therapists for children under 6: Wendy Duke, Graham Stoliker, and Danyl Himaras); we can bill the Autism Funding Program directly once the paperwork is submitted.