Bloom Therapy Resources

Pediatric Speech-Language Therapy Interventions

We provide comprehensive evaluations in the areas of speech and language development for children of all ages. Our evaluations are performed by Colorado Licensed Speech-Language Pathologists who also hold a Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC) from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. We utilize a variety of standardized tests, informal assessment tools, parent input, and clinical judgement to assess a child’s ability in all areas of speech and language development.

Feeding and Swallowing Therapy

Members of our team atBloom Therapy Resources are trained to treat infants, toddlers, and adolescents with a variety of feeding difficulties. Problems with feeding and swallowing may occur due to a variety of medical or physical conditions including dysphagia, feeding-tube dependency, oral-motor chewing difficulty, “picky” eating habits, and food/oral aversions.

In general, feeding difficulties are relatively common during childhood. Some children, especially toddlers, may be picky eaters and consume a limited number of foods, but the foods eaten typically span all the food groups and provide a balanced diet.

Often, infants and children with a feeding disorder will have difficulty gaining weight and meeting their nutritional needs without the use of dietary supplements and/or special formulas.

Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy

Orofacial myofunctional therapy (OMT) addresses the oral structures (lips, tongue, jaw, cheeks, and palate) and their impact on swallowing skills and oral rest posture. OMT is based on the neuromuscular re-education or re-patterning of the oral and facial muscles and includes facial exercises and behavior modification techniques to promote proper tongue position, improved breathing, chewing, and swallowing.  Incorrect chewing and swallowing and/or incorrect tongue position may have a negative effect on your child’s:

• Dental alignment and dental development

• Ability to sleep effectively

• Ability to breathe effectively

• Feeding skills such as the ability to move food around in the mouth

• Development of oral muscles and facial muscles

• Speech skills

• Oral hygiene (bad breath, cavities)

• Social interactions (open mouth breathing, tongue out of the mouth, drooling)

Social Skills Therapy

Good social skills are critical to successful functioning in a child’s life. Social skills allow us to know what to say but also know how to say it. They allow us to be flexible and successful in a variety of social settings, how to make good choices, and help us to create long term friendships and relationships. Overall, social skills are the basis of what makes communication, communication.

While most children learn appropriate social skills through their everyday interactions, some children do not and have difficulty learning from casual modeling within every day activities. Children with poor social skills can have difficulty:

• making relationships and friendships with peers’

• can have increased frustration or negative behaviors

• miss social and contextual cues (e.g. nonverbal, gestural)

• difficulty understanding body postures (e.g. facial expressions, personal space)

• difficulty reading or understanding other’s emotions

• difficulty understanding other people’s perspectives

Lactation Counseling

Our dual-certified Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) and Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) can help you meet YOUR breastfeeding goals. Our therapist will assess you and your baby and work with you to determine the best plan of action. Breastfeeding requires much more than a good latch and milk supply, and it only works if it is working for both parent and baby. Our CLC/SLP has the knowledge and training to assess the breast, latch, positioning, and all things milk supply, as well as your baby’s oral motor strength and range of motion necessary for safe and efficient feeding.

Teletherapy

Endorsed by the American Speech and Language Association (ASHA), Telepractice is the “application of telecommunications technology to the delivery of speech language pathology and audiology professional services at a distance by linking clinician to client or clinician to clinician for assessment, intervention, and/or consultation”. Simply stated, Telepractice represents a therapeutic intervention for articulation and/or language that’s delivered via computer connection as an alternative to the traditional the face-to-face method.