Speech-language therapist deals with challenges in speech, language and communication. They help children with autism and other developmental problems to improve their verbal, nonverbal, and social communication. The overall goal is to help the child to communicate in more useful and functional ways.
Communication and speech-related challenges vary from child to child. Some children are not able to speak, others love to talk, but have difficulty holding a conversation or understanding body language and facial expressions when talking with others.
Examples of the skills that speech therapy may work on include:
Strengthening the muscles in the mouth, jaw and neck
Making clearer speech sounds
Matching emotions with the correct facial expression
Understanding body language
Responding to questions
Matching a picture with its meaning
Using a speech app on gadgets to produce the correct word