We provide speech therapy for children with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disorders. Speech and communication problems make it difficult for children with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disorders to communicate and adapt socially, so it is important to increase their ability to communicate.
Speech therapy services include:
In speech therapy sessions, we help children overcome speech difficulties. We use audio-visual methods, speech therapy, auditory perception, teaching and refining the pronunciation of isolated sounds, consolidating correct pronunciation in syllables, words and spontaneous speech. We develop the skills of coherent speech.
For phonemic (auditory) perception, we use, among other conventional methods, the audiopsychophonological method with Besson of Switzerland headphones. This is based on the methodology of the French scientist Alfred Tomatis. Tomatis developed the “Electronic Ear”, a device that uses electronic gates, bone conduction transducers and sound filters to enhance the upper missing frequencies. The aim of this device is to tone the muscles of the middle ear to make the listener sensitive to the missing frequencies. Phonemic awareness is an important element of speech, as it not only helps in the reception of speech, but also in speaking itself. Phonemic awareness also trains the brain, which analyses the sounds we hear. Both brain centres responsible for the perception and production of language are involved. Sound travels through the ear canal and, thanks to the built-in earplates, the sound vibration also travels through the vertebral bone. Most headphones on the market generate a digital signal, i.e. a modified, unnatural, discontinuous (discrete) signal. The sound of Besson headphones is analogue – smooth, close to speech, natural. The analogue signal is continuous in time. All real world signals are analogue in nature. Digital signals are generated by digital modulation – most of the electronic devices around us generate a digital signal.
In speech therapy sessions we use the innovative PROMPT* (PROMPTS for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets) methodology, which has been proven in other countries (USA, Israel etc.). PROMPT is a tactile, kinesthetic and proprioceptive manipulation of the oral motor structure. It is an aid to reposition the oral muscles in order to pronounce speech sounds, words and phrases correctly. This system includes three concepts: sensory, cognitive- linguistic and social-emotional. This method is not dominated by the auditory and visual approaches. It is applicable to children and adults with motor-articulatory speech disorders.