Hello!

My name is Ms. Blahnik and I am the speech therapist at Fall River. I am so excited to be taking on my second year in this school district. I work with a variety of students ranging from pre-K to 12th grade. Some of you may be wondering what does a speech therapist do exactly and I am here to answer that question!

What is a speech therapist?

A speech therapist "evaluates and treats children and adults who have difficulty with speech or language. Although people often think of speech and language as the same thing, the terms actually have very different meanings. If your child has trouble with speech, he/ she struggles with the “how-to” of talking—the coordination of the muscles and movements necessary to produce speech. If your child has trouble with language, he/she struggles with understanding what he/she hears or sees. Your child may struggle to find the right words and/or organize those words in a meaningful way to communicate a message or hold a conversation."

What do speech therapists treat?

Speech Disorders:

• Articulation - the way we say our speech sounds

• Phonology - the speech patterns we use

• Apraxia - difficulty planning and coordinating the movements needed to make speech sounds

• Fluency - stuttering 

• Voice - problems with the way the voice sounds, such as hoarseness 

Language Disorders:

• Receptive Language - difficulty understanding language

• Expressive Language - difficulty using language

• Pragmatic Language - social communication; the way we speak to each other

The information above was taken from Super Super Inc.