Does Your Child Need Help Speaking More Clearly?

By Tracy Simons | Silver Cross Hospital

Are you concerned that your toddler struggles to pronounce words and has difficulties putting sentences together? Well, it’s completely normal for children from 18 months to 3 years to mispronounce many words. However, what you want to watch for is that your toddler’s speech is improving over time — by age 3, most of what your child says should be understandable.

[ A Sponsored Feature from Silver Cross Hospital ]

Speech and language problems are estimated to occur in about 6 out of 100 children. Since communication disorders affect 14 million Americans, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association is raising awareness through its “Early Intervention Counts” campaign in May.

Silver Cross Hospital supports this initiative by providing free pediatric speech screenings in hopes that more young people get life-altering treatment in order to effectively communicate.

Free Pediatric Speech Screenings

In recognition of Better Speech and Hearing Month, speech pathologists will offer free

15-minute pediatric speech/language screenings to evaluate children for age appropriate speech/language development and attainment of developmental milestones throughout the month of May at The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago at Silver Cross Hospital, in Pavilion A at 1890 Silver Cross Blvd. in New Lenox. Call (815) 300-7110.

Some children learn new words faster than others do. If your child is not saying words by 18 months, or can say fewer than 50 words by 24 months, you may want to get them screened. All children with a speech delay should have their hearing tested.

Children vary in their development of speech and language skills. Health professionals have milestones for what’s normal. These milestones help determine if a child is on track or if he or she may need extra help.

Sometimes a delay may be caused by hearing loss, while other times it may be due to a speech or language disorder. Language disorders can mean that the child has trouble understanding what others say. Children who have trouble producing speech sounds correctly or who hesitate or stutter when talking may have a speech disorder.

Speech and language disorders can take many forms and can limit academic achievement, social adjustment, and career advancement. An individual may be born with a speech or language disorder, or it may be caused by an injury or illness.

“Fortunately, most people with speech and language problems can be helped,” says Kris Peters, Senior Speech Pathologist with The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago at Silver Cross Hospital. “Even if the problem cannot be eliminated, we can teach people with speech and language problems strategies to help them cope. People may not fully regain their capacity to speak and understand, but a speech-language pathologist can help them live and communicate more independently.”

“By coming to Silver Cross patients have access to specialized care plans similar to those that are offered at RIC’s downtown Chicago location,” said Valerie Paluszak, Manager of Outpatient Rehabilitation for The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago at Silver Cross Hospital. “We are fortunate to have such highly trained and experienced physical, occupational and speech therapists working at Silver Cross, who truly make patients’ treatment successful enabling them to thrive, so they can return to their daily routines.”

About the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago at Silver Cross Hospital

Silver Cross Hospital and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) have teamed up to expand post-acute physical medicine and rehabilitation services in Will County and the southwest Chicagoland communities. The partnership provides world-class rehabilitation care for a range of conditions for patients close to home. Silver Cross is the only healthcare facility in the area with this breadth of services in partnership with RIC. Together, Silver Cross and RIC provide rehabilitation services in inpatient and outpatient care settings at four locations—at the main Hospital and the Silver Cross Professional Buildings in Homer Glen, New Lenox and West Joliet. Additionally, the RIC team provides therapy services for patients on the hospital’s medical and surgical floors. For more information about RIC at Silver Cross, call (815) 300-7110 or visit www.silvercross.org.

About Silver Cross Hospital

Silver Cross Hospital is a not-for-profit health care provider serving Will County and southwest suburban communities since 1895. Silver Cross has been recognized as a Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals National Award winner for seven consecutive years and as a Hospital of Choice by the American Alliance of Healthcare Providers. With nearly 4,000 employees, physicians and volunteers, Silver Cross operates a 296-bed acute care hospital and 5 satellite facilities providing outpatient services and physician offices. Silver Cross opened a state-of-the-art replacement hospital in 2012 at I-355 and Route 6 in New Lenox. In 2014, Silver Cross provided over $46.5 million in charity care and other community benefits. To learn more about Silver Cross Hospital or a referral to a physician on staff, visitwww.silvercross.org or call 1-888-660-HEAL (4325). Physicians on Silver Cross Hospital’s Medical Staff have expertise in their areas of practice to meet the needs of patients seeking their care. These physicians are independent practitioners on the Medical Staff and are not the agents or employees of Silver Cross Hospital. They treat patients based upon their independent medical judgment and they bill patients separately for their services.