Why Your Child May Struggle with Certain Speech Sounds

Have you ever wondered why your child struggles to say certain words, even after practicing them over and over? It might seem like a simple problem, but speech is a surprisingly complex process that involves tons of different body parts. My name is Jessica Abawag, and I’m the owner and Speech-Language Pathologist of Fluens Children’s Therapy in Tacoma, Washington, and Columbia, Tennessee. Today, we’re going to talk about why your child may struggle with certain speech sounds. Most People Don’t Realize How Complex the Act of Speaking Is The reality is that most people don’t realize how complex the act of speaking is. And that’s totally understandable, because speaking comes naturally to most people. It’s not something that you would intentionally think about. But if you’ve got a child who is struggling to produce certain speech sounds, it becomes really important for you to understand some of the challenges that they’re facing. This is because … Keep Reading…

How Parents Can Help a Child with a Speech Delay

It can be frustrating and worrying for parents if their child isn’t reaching their speech milestones. The good news is that there are simple, everyday strategies you can start using right away to support your child’s speech development at home. My name is Jessica Abawag, and I’m the owner and Speech-Language Pathologist of Fluens Children’s Therapy in Tacoma, Washington, and Columbia, Tennessee. Today, we’re going to talk about how parents can help a child with a speech delay. Many Parents Ask How Their Child Developed a Speech Delay One of the most commonly asked questions we get from parents, especially on the first meeting, is how their child developed a speech delay. I totally understand where they’re coming from and why they want these answers. Unfortunately, the research isn’t great right now in terms of pinpointing what causes a speech delay, unless there’s some known incident, such as an injury to the brain, or another … Keep Reading…

This Is More Than Picky Eating: Now What Do I Do?

Always A Food Fight You’re finally in bed and running a mental checklist of how your day went.  The kids had a good day at school, errands went quick, even work was easy. So why do you feel so wrung out?  Then it hits you: it took FOUR hours to make and eat dinner…that’s right, four hours. It took thirty minutes to shop for groceries, another hour and a half to cook the entree and all the sides.  Your family spent an hour enjoying your delicious food. Wait…that’s only three hours.  So why did you think four? Oh that’s right; it took ten minutes to make a separate dinner for your youngest kiddo.  Then you spent at least fifty minutes trying to feed it to her. She happily ate the parts that she liked as she always does.  But then you tried to get her to eat something new and she fought and cried until … Keep Reading…