Dallas Reading and Language Services
Help for Speech-Language and Reading Problems
Communication and Language are powerful.
Children with speech and language delays or disorders face an uphill climb due to the challenges these present. Speech-Language therapy and reading services have changed the lives of our clients in lasting ways. Whether calming a toddler's tantrums as he begins to express his wants, or watching a school-age child flourish in their home and school life for the first time, we are reminded of the power that communication holds.
The therapy and reading programs provided at Dallas Reading and Language Services are unique in that goals are addressed within the context of literacy. This is important for children aged pre-school through adolescents as they expand into another functional context with their burgeoning speech and language skills. The national governing organization for speech-language pathologists and audiologists, ASHA encourages SLPs to use literacy rich activities within speech-language therapy. The American Speech-Language Association also recognizes the importance of reading and writing as language skills, and places them within the scope of practice for a speech-language therapist to address with clients.
How are Speech Language Pathologists related to reading?
Reading is essentially language, and we can think of this as part of a hierarchy. At the base we have our experiences and knowledge which children use to build their basic vocabulary and language skills. As they become more skilled and receive formal instruction, they are able to place the abstract sounds of our language and the letters that represent them together to create meaning, or written words. Language is a system of symbols, and reading is another symbol system imposed on top of our language. If there is a weakness anywhere in this hierarchy, difficulty with higher level skills, such as reading and writing, will result. This is why children who have speech or language difficulties as pre-schoolers are at a higher risk of having learning problems in school, particularly when learning to read.
Please visit our other pages to learn about how we can help your child. We are adding to our Links pages, which is a good place to start to find information about other programs and services in Texas. Our Glossary above is filled with terms about reading, language and speech. As you learn more about how reading works and how speech-language pathologists are trained in this area, this list of terms will be helpful.
Dallas Reading and Language Services provides traditional speech-language pathology services to children and adolescents from toddlers to high-school age. We occasionally will provide services to adults on a case by case basis only, if we feel that we can help that person meet their desired objectives, whether for speech, language or reading decoding/comprehension.
Dallas Reading and Language Services
We are centrally located north of downtown Dallas near Cityplace.
4242 Office Parkway Dallas, TX 75204 214-274-7455
