Kennedy Krieger Institute | Outpatient Medical and Therapy Clinics Columbia

At Kennedy Krieger Institute Outpatient Medical and Therapy Clinics Columbia, we understand how important it is for parents to know if their child needs speech therapy. If your child is autistic, it’s almost always recommended that they receive speech therapy to help them develop their communication skills. Even if your child is very verbal, they might still need to work on communication skills such as responding to questions, starting or ending conversation, changing conversation topics, and understanding other people’s body language. Speech therapy is an important part of early intervention for autistic children and can help them grow into more independent and confident individuals. If your child is very quiet, says only a few words, or doesn’t speak at all, it might be time to consider speech therapy. We have a comprehensive guide to everything you need to know about speech therapy, so you can determine if it’s the right choice for your child.

At Kennedy Krieger Institute Outpatient Medical and Therapy Clinics Columbia, our experienced speech therapists understand the importance of helping children communicate effectively. Our therapists can help with nonverbal skills, forming speech in a clearer way, communicating thoughts and feelings, understanding and responding to questions, discerning facial expressions and their corresponding emotions, noticing and understanding body language, feeding and swallowing, and even working to reduce or eliminate stuttering. Our goal is to provide your child with the tools to communicate effectively across all environments, whether that be through verbal speech, signs, gestures, or AAC.