Concerned about your child’s speech abilities? Here are speech therapy centers you can check out

Is your child a “late talker"? It’s understandable if you are concerned. By 10-14 months, most kids would utter their first word. By the time your child is 18 months old, he should be able to use at least 20 words including nouns, verbs, adjectives, and prepositions.

This goes up to at least 100 hours when the kid is already 24 months old. At this time, he should be able to combine two words together to express a thought. But if your precious son or daughter is still not doing these things, you may want to consider seeing a speech pathologist.

Many well-meaning friends and relatives will advise you to wait and see, saying that in time, your child will learn to talk. For some kids, this concern is resolved eventually.

However, for others, it does not. It would be a good idea to talk to a speech pathologist who can help assess if your child does need help.

A cursory search Google for “speech therapy for toddlers in the Philippines" will yield multiple results. To help you sift through the information, we’ve listed speech therapy centers that can help you with your child’s speech concerns.

Speach Therapy: What you need to know

Nowadays, it’s easier to check if your little one is on track with his developmental milestones. Aside from books and doctor’s consultations, there are various apps, websites, and social media groups that can guide you on this including our very own theAsianparent app and website.

Thank you, digital world. But nothing beats the advice of a professional especially if it's about a health concern or a developmental delay.

For concerns on speech abilities, you can turn to a speech therapist. But what exactly is speech therapy? Also called speech-language therapy, it is "is a treatment that can help improve communication skills."

Although it may seem that this type of therapy only addresses speech disorders like pronunciation, it also encompasses difficulties in spoken or written language.

Aside from this, it can also be helpful for those who have trouble understanding language, expressing it, communicating in socially appropriate ways, and reading and spelling.

What to look for in a speech therapy for toddlers in the Philippines

Before you bring your child to the clinic or schedule a virtual session with them, it would be prudent to know these things first:

• services - What concerns do they address?
• location - Is the clinic near your home? Do they conduct sessions in person or do they prefer to do it online these days?
• contact information - How can you reach them? Do they have a social media account? What about a mobile number you can get in touch with?

READ MORE:

20 traditional and progressive preschools in Manila

4 parenting tips to prepare preschoolers for their first virtual class

Preschool Guide: 14 traditional and progressive preschools in San Juan

6 speech therapy centers for toddlers in the Philippines

Speakup Therapy Clinic

First up in our list of speech therapy centers for toddlers in the Philippines is Speak Up. This organization emhpasizes the importance of the child's community to his development.

They value the role that the people around the child--parents, caregivers, and his community--play especially in his growth and improvement. Because of this, they take into account the observations of the parents/caregivers and ensure that they involved every step of the way.

At Speak Up, therapy sessions with your child are conducted by certified speech-language pathologists from UP-Manila or UST.

Features

• services
  • speech delay
  • receptive language delay
  • expressive language delay
  • feeding
• location
  • 2nd floor, FC Square Plaza, Plaza Hugo St., Sta. Ana, Manila
• contact information
  • (0939) 112-3969
  • Facebook page
• other features
  • holds seminars and lectures for parents and caregivers to help them assist the child in his development

Streams Therapy Center

The story of how Streams came to be is a personal one. It was established out of the desire to continue providing services to Seth, a beautiful boy with autism.

Seth was seven years old then when Streams opened its doors in 2010. The clinics founders--a mother, two doctors, and a teacher--were determined to keep working with Seth so he can continue his progress. At the same time, they also wanted to extend their services to the exceptional needs in the communities in the South.

Eleven years in and Streams still continues to help these children. What's great about Streams is that it also involves the child's family in his journey.

They do this together with a team of doctors, psychologists, speech and language pathologists, special education teachers, learning specialists, and educators. Aside from its speech therapy program, Streams also offers occupational therapy, special education, and a reading program.

Features

• services
  • Speech disorders
    • difficulty producing speech sounds correctly or fluently (e.g., stuttering)
    • problems with voice or resonance
  • Language disorders
    • trouble understanding others (receptive language)
    • trouble sharing thoughts, ideas, and feelings (expressive language)
    • activities for phonology, morphology, syntax), content (semantics), and/or use (pragmatics) of language in functional and socially appropriate ways
  • Social communication disorders
    • trouble with the social use of verbal and nonverbal communication
    • problems with (a) communicating for social purposes (e.g., greeting, commenting, asking questions), (b) talking in different ways to suit the listener and setting, and (c) following rules for conversation and story-telling
  • Cognitive-communication disorders
    • problems organizing thoughts, paying attention, remembering, planning and/or problem-solving
• location
  • Streams Santa Rosa
    60 Bel Air Drive
    Laguna Bel Air Santa Rosa
    Laguna 4026
• contact information
  • (0917) 524-2644
• other features
  • Has occupational therapy, special education, and reading programs
  • Offers online services

The Therapy Room

Also located in the south of Metro Manila, The Therapy Room is a center that provides speech and language therapy as well as occupational therapy for children and adults.

They pride themselves in taking the PROMPT approach, which is a multidimensional framework in treating speech disorders. It integrates the physical-sensory aspects of motor performance as well as its cognitive-linguistic and social-emotional aspects.

Features

• services
  • screens, diagnoses, and treats the following:
    • speech disorders (Articulation, Phonology, Apraxia, Fluency, and Voice Problems)
    • language disorders (Receptive Language, Expressive Language, Pragmatic / Social skills)
    • other disorders (Hearing impairment, Oral-Motor Disorders, Swallowing/Feeding Disorders)
• location
  • Block 16, Lot 15, Tennessee Street.
    Town and County Southville
    Barangay. Santo Tomas
    Biñan City, Laguna
• contact information
  • (049) 2502745
  • 09176741885
• other features
  • also offers occupational therapy

Brightminds Speech and Occupational Therapy Center

For families who reside in Makati, BGC, and nearby areas, BrightMinds is a good option. This center was initially meant to  just provide an aftercare service for children who underwent surgery for their cleft lips, cleft palates, and other deformities when it opened in 2014.

But now, they also offer physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy. It was founded by Dr. Chrissie Capicoy, an active volunteer of Operation Smile Philippines.

Features

• services
  • one-on-one speech therapy
  • occupational therapy
  • physical therapy
  • teletherapy also available
• location
  • BGC Branch
    3rd Floor WUMACO Building, 7th Avenue corner Lane P, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
  • Makati Branch
    Unit 1924 Centuria Medical Makati
    Kalayaan Avenue corner Salamanca St., Brgy. Poblacion
• contact information
  • BGC Branch: 8807 9908 or 0916 547 6870
  • Makati Branch: 8984 9985 or 0905 255 1350
• other features
  • offers teletherapy

Dynamic Pediatric Therapy

We did say speech therapy clinics for toddler in the Philippines, right? So here's one from Cebu. Aside from speech and language therapy, Dynamic Pediatric Therapy offers occupational therapy, physical therapy, and other programs like parenting group and free developmental screening.

They also have the 'Dynamic Skills Institute' that has therapeutic play groups, school readiness programs, and life skills and transition programs.

Features

• services
  • speech and language therapy
    • auditory processing
    • language intervention
    • intervention for articulation disorders
    • intervention for communication delay and disorders
  • physical therapy
  • occupational therapy
• location
  • 24 P. Almendras Street, Mabolo, Cebu City, Philippines 6000
• contact information
  • Landline: (032) 254-4361
  • Mobile No. (+63) 917 323 2052
• other features
  • has a Dynamic Skills Institute

Theracare Occupational Therapy Clinic

We also have a clinic from Davao on this list. TheraCare offers teletherapy and face-to-face sessions. Aside from occupational therapy, they also offer speech therapy.

For those interested in the latter, they have several programs to choose from: telehealth, therapy evaluation and home program, and in-center treatment.

Features

• services
  • speech therapy - telehealth
    • option A - real-time video conferencing with activity plans and home instructions
    • option B - home program
  • speech therapy evaluation and home program
  • speech therapy treatment in-center
• location
  • Unit 1st floor, Q & B Bldg (in front of Trust Hardware) Km. 5, Buhangin 8000, Davao City
• contact information
  • +63 917 144 5872