CONTACT
P. 405. 603. 6622
F. 405. 722. 3244
E. [email protected]
LOCATION
8007 NW 122nd St.
Oklahoma City, OK 73142
HOURS
Monday – Friday
7:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Month in Review
May 2024
Patient Spotlight
We have so many patients at Speech Pathway who have long journeys that require incredibly hard work from their entire family and we want to start recognizing them for the effort they put in daily! Each month we’ll be highlighting a few of our patients who have shown so much improvement throughout their marathon in speech therapy. See our amazing patients below!
Cheyenne H.
Cheyenne is an amazing six year old who has spent time in therapy for three years! She has made huge improvements in her time here. Her mother is so proud of her ability to articulate new sounds as well as speak in complete sentences. “She’s speaking more and hasn’t been afraid to ask questions, use her voice, and order her own food. Cheyenne loves to talk about her favorite things and even answers questions that were once difficult for her. She has made such an improvement since working with Miss Kylie (and the many amazing staff at Speech Pathway).” We absolutely adore Cheyenne and love seeing all of the progress she continues to make! Miss Kylie especially loves working with Cheyenne. “Cheyenne’s smile can light up a room, her laugh is infectious, and she is always ready to have fun! She loves coming to speech and works so hard while she is here. She has an amazing support system in her family, and they help carry over her skills into the daily environment. It has been a pleasure working with Cheyenne the last couple of years!” Way to push through, sis! We’re proud of you!
Gibson R.
Gibson is the most fun and engaging six year old you could meet! He’s been in therapy for four and a half years and he just keeps getting better with ALL of his skills. His caregiver is so proud of Gibson’s ability to speak clearly and be understood! They also noted improvement with conversation skills, and his attention to others and their feelings. Gibson is smart, empathetic, and sweet. Everyone around Speech Pathway sees and recognizes how hard Gibson has worked through the years! Miss Amy, especially, loves working with Gibson and seeing his amazing progress. “Gibson is so kind and patient to all those around him, even friends he may not know around the clinic. He has a wonderful imagination and will tell you stories about everything from Sonic to Mario to Legos and beyond! In social groups, he is often helping others understand how to play a game or cheering them on. He’s made great progress with conversational skills, and likes to start conversations with peers and adults often throughout the clinic setting. Gibson is a joy to work with and I look forward to seeing his smiling face each week!” We are so proud of you and all of your hard work, Gibson!
Camp is in FULL SWING!
Summer at Speech Pathway is in full swing with our camps! We’ve been through one week of Speech Spot and one week of Kid Connect. We were overjoyed to see the incredible progress all of the kids made in such a short period of time! Speech Spot is our functional communication camp that offers parent trainings twice weekly, while Kid Connect is our social communication camp that focuses on relationship-building among peers! Think you want to be a part of the fun? The good news is that it isn’t too late to sign up! We’d love to have you!
Spotlight on: Camp Communicate
We have a few spots left for all of our camps this summer! We’re excited to see what the rest of the summer holds for Speech Spot, Kid Connect, and both sessions of Intense Academy! Head over to our Camp Communicate page to check out what weeks we still have available. We’d love to have you join us for some summer fun! If you are not interested in attending camps but know someone who is and would benefit from financial support, check out our option to gift a camp!
Intense Academy is an intensive camp focused on improving oral-motor planning and/or articulation skills. Camp is offered for 2 weeks each session, campers are required to attend both weeks of camp. Camp will also target behavioral intervention as it pertains to the child’s ability to effectively participate in group activities and comply with instructions as well as improving communication behaviors. The camp will typically run for three hours each day M-F and will be individualized to what each child needs. Campers will participate in individual, small group, and large group sessions to target communication goals and comply with instructions to improve the ability to participate in joint/group activities. The focus will be to decrease frustration while increasing communication and social skills. Group parent/caregiver training and question/answer sessions will also be provided for carryover of skills within the home program or coordination of services with the child’s private therapists. Camp generally has a one to one ratio of adults to children. Staff includes Speech-Language Pathologists, Speech-Language Pathology Assistants, graduate student interns, and undergraduate student volunteers. Camps will also have guidance from a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and/or assistance from Registered Behavior Technicians to assist staff with facilitation of social and communication targets. Children generally make marked progress during this intense camp, and past data has shown that the primary change has been that speech therapy and home programs are more effective throughout the coming year after this intensive intervention and training.
Speech Spot is focused on providing intervention at a more intense rate than what your child would receive in a typical week of speech therapy. Campers will be provided two individual speech session per day, targeting goals that are important for their communicative success, as well as multiple group sessions throughout the day. Camp will generally have a ratio of one adult to two campers. Staff includes Speech-Language Pathologists, Speech-Language Pathology Assistants, graduate student interns, and undergraduate student volunteers. Speech Spot is open to any families excited to take advantage of summer vacation to make a significant change in their child’s speech and language skills! Think Speech Spot is the camp for you? We’d love to help your child meet their full potential through individualized and group therapy!
Kid Connect focuses on primarily group intervention with 2 individual sessions per week. Since we’ve already developed a great program with our yearly social groups, why not continue them through the summer? With ratios of one adult to three campers, our Speech-Language Pathologists, Speech-Language Pathology Assistants, graduate student interns, and undergraduate student volunteers are skilled in targeting social communication and language development through group games, activities, and intervention methods. Kid Connect is a place where your child can belong; they can find friends, be themselves, and work on interacting with others in a safe environment under the supervision of professionals skilled in facilitating social communication. We’d love to bring this connection into your lives!
Compare our Camps
Camps
Intense Academy
Speech Spot
Kid Connect
The Basics
Intense Academy
Speech Spot
Kid Connect
Individual Sessions
Q&A / Parent Training
Ratios (child to adult)
Group activities
Provided Snack
Fun Experience
2-3 per day
4 training topics
1:1
2 per day
2 training topics
2:1
2 per week
Q/A only
3:1
Intense Academy
START FOR
$3000
/PER 2 WEEKS
The Basics
- 2 Individual sessions per day
- 5 Parent training sessions
- 1:1 child-to-adult ratio
- Group activities
- Provided snack
- Fun experience
Speech Spot
START FOR
$1000
/PER WEEK
The Basics
- 1 individual sessions per day
- 2 parent training sessions
- 2:1 child-to-adult ratio
- Group activities
- Provided snack
- Fun experience
Kid Connect
START FOR
$500
/PER WEEK
The Basics
- 1-2 individual sessions per week
- Q/A only
- 3:1 child-to-adult ratio
- Group activities
- Provided snack
- Fun experience
FAQs
NO! If you have a copy of their current care plan, we’d love to see it. If you don’t have a copy, no worries! We will talk with you before you begin our programs at Speech Pathway.
We do not offer allergy-friendly snacks at this time. However, please feel free to provide snacks for your child that adhere to their needs.
All of our staff is highly trained in communication and behavior as well as facilitating social interactions. Our staff will help your child grow in a safe, encouraging environment while forming relationships, building confidence, and having fun!
This is a great question and one we can only answer by getting to know your child a little better. When you fill out your application, check the boxes to let us know what camps you may be interested in. The more information you give us on the application, the better able we are to find the right fit for your child. Intense Academy offers intensive intervention to facilitate functional communication. Speech Spot is our camp for less intense intervention, but those who still need some extra work on speech and language development. Kid Connect is an extension of our groups program that focuses on social communication and relationship-building. If you’re still unsure, fill out our application with the most information possible and we can help guide you through the process!
At this time we cannot take insurance for our programs.
Speech Pathway does not offer financial aid for our programs. However, you can visit the grants and funding page for a list of grant organizations that may be able to help.
Not at this time.
At the main Speech Pathway clinic on 122nd street in Oklahoma City.
We understand that sometimes things happen with kids. However, in order to maintain our level of staff as well as the high-quality intervention we offer, we are unable to provide refunds for missed days.
At this time masks are not required for our programs. However, that is subject to change in accordance with CDC guidelines.
Camp Communicate consists of both individual and group interventions and is requires enrollment for an entire session at a time (one week for Speech Spot or Kid Connect and 2 weeks for Intense Academy). Summer Slam involves individual speech therapy sessions only but is intense, with multiple sessions throughout the week over multiple weeks on an individual basis.
There are no refunds for our programs. If you wish to request a refund you may contact our programs coordinator at [email protected]
Piece Walk
As always, the PieceWalk was incredible this year! We loved getting to see all of our patients! Thank you to everyone who came out and supported, walked with us, bought a shirt, or donated from afar!
Upcoming Events
There is no Event
Spotlight on Childhood Apraxia of Speech
May is apraxia awareness month! We wanted to take the opportunity to provide you with all the information on our friends who present with childhood apraxia of speech!
What is Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)?
What do we know about CAS?
What are the signs of CAS?
How can CAS impact a child and their family?
Who can be on a team for a child with CAS?
What can you do to help?
What is Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)?
It’s important to note that not all of this information relates to every child with CAS. Each child is different and this is only meant to promote education and awareness.
- When a child has CAS their speech muscles are not weak, but their brain has a hard time coordinating the movements that are needed. That is, they know what they would like to say, but have difficulty coordinating the movements necessary to produce the sounds.
- The cause of CAS is often unknown, but can be caused by damage to the brain or a genetic disorder or syndrome.
- CAS differs from an articulation disorder in that the motor planning and motor movements necessary are difficult dependent on context. That is, the child may be able to produce a given sound in one syllable structure, but have difficulty with the planning and execution of the motor pattern for the sound in another syllable structure.
What do we know about CAS?
- 1-2 children per 1000 are affected by CAS.
- CAS is present from birth.
- CAS tends to affect more boys than girls.
- Children with CAS have to continually re-learn how to say a word or phrase. They have to ask themselves:
- Which sounds do I need?
- What order do the sounds come in?
- How do I move my lips, tongue etc. to make those sounds?
- Which sounds or words do I stress?
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2022). Childhood Apraxia of Speech. ASHA. https://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/childhood-apraxia-of-speech/
Mayo Clinic. (2022). Childhood apraxia of speech. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/childhood-apraxia-of-speech/symptoms-causes/syc-20352045
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. (2022). Apraxia of Speech. https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/apraxia-speech
https://www.mcri.edu.au/sites/default/files/media/documents/cres/fact_sheet_childhood_apraxia_of_speech.pdf
What are the signs of CAS?
- Some signs of CAS is a child older than 3 years of age who:
- Changes or distorts sounds
- Usually puts the stress on the wrong word or syllable
- Does not say words the same way every time
- Can say shorter words clearer than longer words
- May also have delayed language
- A harder time with fine motor skills
- Problems with writing, spelling, and reading.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2022). Childhood Apraxia of Speech. ASHA. https://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/childhood-apraxia-of-speech/
How can CAS impact a child and their family?
- Their speech attempts are frequently not understood, or only understood by family, which can create feelings of sadness and frustration.
- Isolation associated with a small prevalence of families affected by CAS.
- With less communication attempts comes less desire to engage with others and less understanding of social communication norms.
- A child’s communication can greatly impact their behavior.
Who can be on a team for a child with CAS?
- Speech-language pathologist
- Occupational Therapist
- Physical Therapist
- Dentist
- Psychologist
- Neuropsychologist
- Classroom teacher
- Special education teacher
- Pediatrician
- …and anyone who helps the child succeed with daily activities.
What can you do to help?
- Be patient, understanding, and educate yourself on CAS.
- Be an advocate for early intervention. Although some children do talk late, it is rare that it is without frustration and struggle. Tell friends and family to seek a screening or a referral for an evaluation if a child is not meeting communication milestones by 18 months.
- Provide love and support to the families of children with CAS, donate to Apraxia Kids (to provide more education, research, and resources for families), and be a voice for families who may not be as outspoken.
- Educate yourself and other families on alternative means of communication, such as dedicated devices (iPads, talkers, etc.), sign language, and the use of approximations (words that sound very close to the appropriate pronunciation, but aren’t quite correct).
Apraxia Patient Spotlight
We have some truly amazing patients at Speech Pathway, but some of them get to be celebrated a little extra during the month of May because of their diagnosis of childhood apraxia of speech. Alice is one of our amazing patients who has worked so hard throughout her life to be understood by others. Her mother makes a great point in noting that apraxia is a motor speech disorder. It is not something Alice will grow out of or suddenly start speaking in complete sentences. “Alice has come so far and has earned every single word.” Children with apraxia of speech struggle to produce common sounds, but not in the same way as our patients with articulation or phonological disorders. Often children with CAS struggle to produce a sound in a certain context, may not have a pattern to their speech, or develop sounds in an atypical developmental pattern. Elliott is another one of our amazing patients who has overcome huge hurdles in his speech and language journey. “I think the biggest misconception about apraxia is that it will limit a child’s ability to be successful in the future. While apraxia certainly presents some challenges to overcome, with consistent speech therapy and home practice, progress WILL happen, and it does not define a child’s ability to achieve anything they wish to achieve!” Elliott’s mother’s words are too true. All of our patients and their families work tirelessly at home, as a motor speech disorder can only be habilitated through consistent practice! The path that so many of our families walk can be very lonely, as the percentage of children diagnosed with apraxia of speech is 0.1-0.2%. Sharing their stories offers the chance for others to form connections and discuss options with others who walk a familiar path, or who have been successful along their journey. “The thing I wish people knew about my child is that he worked hard for every word! If you could see or hear him now, he talks almost constantly. However, once upon a time, he was only able to use a few words to communicate. So when I hear comments about how talkative he is or how he never slows down, I wish they could see that it wasn’t always like this and how grateful we are that he is able to express himself, even if it is incessantly!” Elliott and Alice have overcome so much to be understood, and we are so proud of them. Apraxia of speech is not a diagnosis that a child can outgrow, but it is a diagnosis they can work to overcome. Apraxia awareness month has ended, but each day we are still just as proud of our patients with apraxia for all they do, as well as their caregivers and families for all of their hard work! Make sure to keep an eye out for our postings about the Walk for Apraxia on September 28th to raise awareness as well as promote a community for the kiddos of the Oklahoma City community that have apraxia of speech!
Therapy Tip
The weather is warming up, so here are some tips to carry over your speech and language skills to the home environment!
- Gather up our favorite toys and wash them! Stay inside to wash them in the bath where the air is cold and the water can be colder, or step outside in the sunshine with the hose!
- Target verbs: wash, dry, dip, clean, rub, throw, swim, kick.
- Work on target sounds in between washing each toy.
- Work on language expansion through washing toys: if your little one says, “Wash,” we can expand the phrase by saying, “Wash toys!” or “Wash truck!”
- Work on receptively identifying vocabulary/adjectives (Where is your big car?) and expressively identifying vocabulary (Is that the BIG car or the LITTLE car?)
- In your wash bucket, add sensory toys like pom pom balls or coins. It’s always fun to discover and play in water!
- Going to the beach? Perfect for burying items and uncovering them!
- Make some DIY sidewalk chalk paint! Perfect for painting the sidewalk!
- Target nouns, such as colors, shapes, drawing animals, etc.
- Work on target sounds while painting or paint the words on the sidewalk you’re working on!
- Make the sidewalk paint together! Talk through what ingredients go in, how much of each ingredient, and talk through the verbs you’re using! Remember: the best way to build receptive language is through radio commentary throughout the day!
- Heading to a splash pad? What a fantastic time to work on verbs! What can you do through the water? Jump, crawl, run, walk, clap, stomp, etc.
- Everyone needs a dip in the pool every once in a while, why not use the diving board or slide to target your speech and language goals?
- Imitating animal noises and movements off the diving board
- Say a word with a target sound 5 times before taking a leap or sliding down
- Make some homemade popsicles!
- Target as much language input as you can by talking about the steps to making popsicles, stirring and mixing, hot/cold, and having fun together!
- Ask your clinician about more ways to target your goals on your vacation, throughout your summer days, or through your activities! They would love to help!
- Gather up our favorite toys and wash them! Stay inside to wash them in the bath where the air is cold and the water can be colder, or step outside in the sunshine with the hose!
You Ask, We Answer!
You Ask We Answer is a place you can come to find answers to all the burning questions you, as a parent, may have about speech, language, feeding or Speech Pathway in general- straight from the horses mouth! Or, in our case, the minds of our brilliant, yet humble, experts in communication.
Is it too late to sign up for camp?
It is absolutely not too late to sign up for camp! We would love to have you! We have openings throughout the summer in Speech Spot, Intense Academy, and Kid Connect. Click the links above in our camp feature to find out more about each camp. If you think this isn’t the year for camp, that’s okay too! Just make sure you keep an eye out for postings throughout the year for when applications open. We also inform everyone via social media when the grant applications open for camp, which is an amazing opportunity to gain funding if your child wants to go to camp but the price may not be the easiest on your family. We are looking forward to a fun-filled summer of 2024! Join us!