Therapies such as Speech-Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Physical Therapy are ways to you can help your child meet their developmental milestones. These therapies can help children learn to talk, walk, and play. Families who are interested in these therapies can talk to their child’s doctor to ask for a referral.

• Speech-Language Therapy: These are therapies that help a child learn to communicate. Trained speech-language pathologists (SLPs) will assess your child, determine their current communication skills, and work toward building their communication. Goals might include using signs, gestures, words, or symbols to ask for things, growing their vocabulary, helping them follow directions and answer questions, and/or work on conversational skills.
• Occupational Therapy: These are therapies that can help your child with day-to-day tasks. Trained occupational therapists (OTs) will assess your child, determine their current skills, and work toward making your child more independent. OTs can work on helping children regulate their emotions and bodies, build their fine motor skills, support their ability to eat a variety of foods, and do day to day tasks like buttoning, getting dressed, or putting on shoes.
• Physical Therapy: These are therapies that can help your child develop “gross motor skills”. Trained physical therapists (PTs) will assess your child, determine their current skills, and work towards helping your child move in the best way possible. PTs can help children learn to walk, walk up stairs, run, and build their strength and endurance for activities.