•  

     

     

    Welcome to Speech!  
               
    Introduction
    Hello, my name is Melanie Brinkley-Young.  I have been providing speech-language services in the public school setting for over 20 years. I graduated from Nova Southeastern University with a doctorate (SLP.D) in speech-language pathology in 2004.  In 1992, I earned a master's degree in speech pathology from Old Dominion University, and in 1990 I completed a B.S. in Communicative Disorders.  I hold a Certificate of Clinical Competency in the area of Speech-Language Pathology from the American Speech Language and Hearing Association (ASHA) as well as State Licensure in the area of Speech Language Pathology.
     

    Speech Therapy Services
    There are four main areas in which students can receive services. These include articulation (how you pronounce sounds), language (understanding and using language), fluency (stuttering) and voice (quality, pitch or resonance). The NC Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has developed guidelines that the IEP team must use and adhere to when deciding who qualifies for speech services. There are three prongs or criteria that a student must meet in order to be eligible for speech services in the public school setting. The student must have a disability in one of the four speech areas (articulation, language, fluency or voice), the disability must impact educational performance and the student must need specially designed instruction.
    Here is a link to those guidelines: http://ec.ncpublicschools.gov/disability-resources/speech-language-impairments

    Articulation Skills
    Many parents have concerns about their child's production of speech sounds. I've added a link to a developmental sound chart that gives you a break down of when your son or daughter should be able to produce certain sounds correctly. These charts give the age at which 90% of either males or females should be able to produce the sound in isolation. It may take a bit longer for your child to be able to use the sound in their spontaneously produced conversational speech. Here is the link to the sound development chart: Sound Development Chart

    Concerns?

    If you are concerned about any of the following:  how your child pronounces sounds; whether your child understands what you say to them or that your child does not use complete sentences to communicate; stuttering or voice quality issues, you can request a screening. Simply call me at your child's school or send me an email. (my email link is at the top of the page).

    Information Junkies

    Click on this link for great speech and educational handouts! There are too many topics to list but this is an excellent site to learn about various speech and language topics. http://www.superduperinc.com/Handouts/Handout.aspx
     
     
     
     
Last Modified on August 22, 2019