Speech and Language Services

Who We Serve

We offer services to children and adults who:

  • are deaf;
  • are hard of hearing;
  • require alternative or augmentative communication systems;
  • have communication challenges due to a neurological disorder (e.g., stroke, brain injury, Parkinson’s disease);
  • have delays or differences in the production of speech sounds;
  • have reduced speech intelligibility;
  • are disfluent or stutter;
  • are delayed or disordered in the development of language;
  • have language-associated learning disabilities; or
  • have a voice problem.

We also provide services to family members or other communication partners who want to minimize conversational breakdown with a person who has one of the above diagnoses. 

A clinician interacts with a preschool-age child.

Evaluation Services

  • Speech and language assessment. This evaluation assesses and diagnoses speech and language delays, disorders, and differences. It focuses on each person’s or family’s unique situation to determine the most appropriate course of treatment. Our specialty clinics address specific concerns.
  • Head Start screenings. We offer speech, language, pure-tone hearing screening, and tympanometry screenings to all 3- to 5-year-old children enrolled in Dane County Head Start preschool programs.

Treatment Services

  • Augmentative and alternative communication. We provide training and consultation to promote optimal use of communication aids and help clients more fully participate in educational, recreational and functional daily living activities. Services are available in the clinic or on site. In addition, we assess, design, and construct non-electronic communication aids and provide consultative support to assist clients in identifying appropriate high tech systems to pursue. Populations typically served include those with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism and/or global developmental delays See also: AAC Story Time.
  • Aural (re)habilitation. This program, for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, includes development of communication skills in auditory-oral or manual English systems, hearing aid or cochlear implant orientation, auditory training, speech reading, and family counseling. We also offer parent-child intervention and group programs for young children and their families. See also: Aural Habilitation Clinic (Pediatric) with telehealth option.
  • Communication interaction for persons with developmental disabilities. We provide services that emphasize functional communication and social skill development in both the clinic and community settings. Daily living and/or recreational skill development are often incorporated into the treatment programs.
  • Disfluency and stuttering. We offer individualized, age-appropriate services for disfluency and stuttering. These include techniques for facilitating fluency and successful communication, strategies for shaping positive attitudes toward communication, and programs to address stuttering modification. See also: Disfluency and Stuttering Clinic.
  • Language and learning. Our programs for young children teach parents strategies for encouraging language skill development. For children aged 2½ to 5 who do not qualify for public school placement, yet whose language skills are delayed or of concern to parents, we offer preschool language stimulation group sessions (scheduled by age and/or attention span). See also: Preschool Express and Parent Coaching Clinic.
  • Neurogenic communication. We offer services to address the speech, language, and/or cognitive needs that result from neurological disorders such as stroke, brain injury, and degenerative disease processes. Education and information counseling for family members and significant others is an integral part of the treatment process. See also: Lee Silverman Voice Treatment Clinic, Supported Conversation in Aphasia Group, and “Telling Life Stories” for Persons with Aphasia.
  • Phonology and articulation. Our services focus on increasing speech intelligibility and correcting errors in speech-sound production. See also: The Phonology Clinic.
  • Voice. We offer comprehensive services for a wide range of voice and resonance problems, including direct treatment and collaboration with other voice care professionals. See also: Lee Silverman Voice Treatment Clinic and Transgender Voice/Communication Clinic.