Convenient, In-Home Speech Therapy Services

Speech-Language Pathology Services in Philly

Explore the in-person speech-language evaluation and treatment services offered by Fishtown Speech.

Children and adults who have difficulty with communicating and swallowing find expert evaluation and treatment at Fishtown Speech.

Some problems are there at birth (congenital). Others aren't noticed until later (developmental), while others may be brought on by an illness or injury (acquired). Fishtown speech diagnoses and treats children and adults with speech, language, cognitive-communication, and swallowing problems, no matter their source.

Speech & Voice Disorders

Articulation and phonology disorders, apraxia, dysarthria, fluency (stuttering), cleft lip/palate, tongue/lip tie, orofacial myofunctional disorders, voice and resonance disorders

Language Disorders

Aphasia, Autism Spectrum Disorder, receptive and expressive language disorders

Cognitive-Communication Disorders

Cognitive-communication disorders resulting from stroke, traumatic brain injury, dementia, head and neck cancer, tracheostomy

Speech & Voice Disorders

People with motor speech disorders experience disruptions in their ability to produce speech sounds accurately, clearly or fluently.

Articulation & Phonology Speech Disorders

Children with a motor speech disorder that is developmental in nature may demonstrate errors of a single sound (i.e., articulation) or a pattern of motor speech errors (i.e., phonology).

Apraxia

Apraxia is a neurologic based speech disorder. Children and adults with apraxia present with a disorder of motor speech planning caused by damage to the part/s of the brain responsible for motor speech production. Apraxia reflects an impaired capacity to plan or p-or gram sensorimotor commands necessary for directing motor speech movements. Of note, the precision and consistency of movements underlying speech are impaired in the absence of neuromuscular deficits (e.g. abnormal reflexes, abnormal tone).

Dysarthria

Adults may have a motor speech disorder as the result of neurological disease or acquired traumatic event or brain injury (e.g., stroke). Dysarthria is a motor speech disorder due to oromuscular weakness where the muscles of the mouth, face, vocal tract, and respiratory system are weak or slow moving.

Fluency/Stuttering Speech Disorders

A fluency speech disorder (i.e., stuttering) is a disruption in the natural flow of speech. The continuity, smoothness, rate, and effort in speech production are impaired. Atypical rate, rhythm, and disfluencies (i.e., repetitions of sounds, syllables, words, and phrases; sound prolongations; and blocks) may also be accompanied by excessive tension, speaking avoidance, struggle behaviors, and secondary mannerisms.

Voice and Resonance Disorders

Voice disorders are characterized by damage to the vocal folds resulting in nodules, polyps, or cysts. This can result in changes to vocal quality, pitch, loudness, and resonance. Causes of voice disorders include stroke, trauma, respiratory disorders, or damage to the vocal folds. Voice disorders can be caused by vocal abuse/misuse, degenerative neurologic diseases, musculo-skeletal tension or gastro-esophageal reflux (GERD).

Cleft Lip/Palate

Lip and/or Tongue Tie

Speech and resonance disorders that are structural in nature.

Language Disorders

Aphasia

Aphasia is a disorder caused by damage to a specific area of the brain. Depending on the part of the brain where damage has occurred, Aphasia can cause problems with receptive language, the ability to understand what’s being said to you, or expressive language, the ability to express wants/needs/thoughts, and ideas. Reading and writing can also be affected.

Approximately one million people in the United States have aphasia, with about 80,000 cases diagnosed each year. Both genders are affected equally, and most people with aphasia are in over the age of 60. The number one cause of aphasia in the United States is stroke.

Autism Spectrum Disorders

Receptive and Expressive Language Disorders

Cognitive-Communication Services

A cognition disorder may cause an individual to have difficulty processing information. This may be observed in reasoning, perception, rationality, memory and awareness. Causes may include neurological disorders such Parkinson’s Disease, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), Multiple Sclerosis, Stroke, traumatic brain injury, and aging. Therapy would focus on strengthening cognitive skills such as semantic knowledge, memory, vocabulary, sequencing, and processing speed.

Treatment will focus on helping individuals improve cognitive-linguistic skills such as executive functioning, problem solving, attention and memory, sequential thought organization, and information processing necessary to fully participate in activities of daily living

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Dementia

Head and Neck Cancer

Tracheostomy

Philadelphia-based Speech Therapist

Alexandra Gibson M.S., CCC-SLP offers specialized speech therapy for all ages, focusing on disorders related to communication and medically complex conditions, with services available in-person in Philadelphia and via speech tele-therapy for patients in Pennsylvania and New York.

Your Communication Partner

Dedicated to Your Progress

With extensive experience in medical and home settings, Alexandra evaluates and treats speech and language disorders, ensuring personalized care for infants, children, and adults in the Philadelphia metro area.