Manorville Speech Pathology, PC

01/07/2020

Cheryl Rondinella specializes in Childhood Apraxia of Speech and is listed in the SLP Directory by Apraxia Kids!

At Apraxia Kids, we understand how very challenging it can be to locate a speech-language pathologist that has a reasonable level of experience and skill in evaluating and treating children with apraxia of speech. For that reason, we have created an online directory to connect families with SLPs that have shown an understanding of and experience in treating children with apraxia of speech.

Access the SLP Directory here: https://www.apraxia-kids.org/speech-pathologist-directory/

12/17/2019

https://youtu.be/htnitjTuogc

The Work We Do is a multimedia series featuring locals on the job. This is Cheryl Rondinella of Manorville Speech in Wading River.

12/14/2016

What Should My Child Be Able to Do Between Four to Five Years Old?

Understands words for order, like first, next, and last.
Understands words for time, like yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Follows longer directions, like "Put your pajamas on, brush your teeth, and then pick out a book."
Follows classroom directions, like "Draw a circle on your paper around something you eat."
Hears and understands most of what is said at home and in school.

Says all speech sounds in words. May make mistakes on sounds that are harder to say, like l, s, r, v, z, ch, sh, th.
Responds to "What did you say?"
Talks without repeating sounds or words most of the time.
Names letters and numbers.
Uses sentences that have more than 1 action word, like jump, play, and get. May make some mistakes, like "Zach got 2 video games, but I got one."
Tells a short story.
Keeps a conversation going.
Talks in different ways depending on the listener and place. May use short sentences with younger children or talk louder outside than inside.

12/12/2016

What Should My Child Be Able to do BetweenTwo to Three Years Old?

Understands differences in meaning ("go-stop," "in-on," "big-little," "up-down").
Follows two requests ("Get the book and put it on the table").
Listens to and enjoys hearing stories for longer periods of time

Has a word for almost everything.
Uses two- or three- words to talk about and ask for things.
Uses k, g, f, t, d, and n sounds.
Speech is understood by familiar listeners most of the time.
Often asks for or directs attention to objects by naming them.
Asks why?
May stutter on words or sounds

12/11/2016

What should my child be able to do?
Hearing and Understanding
Talking
Birth–3 Months
Startles to loud sounds
Quiets or smiles when spoken to
Seems to recognize your voice and quiets if crying
Increases or decreases sucking behavior in response to sound
Birth–3 Months
Makes pleasure sounds (cooing, gooing)
Cries differently for different needs
Smiles when sees you
4–6 Months
Moves eyes in direction of sounds
Responds to changes in tone of your voice
Notices toys that make sounds
Pays attention to music
4–6 Months
Babbling sounds more speech-like with many different sounds, including p, b and m
Chuckles and laughs
Vocalizes excitement and displeasure
Makes gurgling sounds when left alone and when playing with you
7 Months–1 Year
Enjoys games like peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake
Turns and looks in direction of sounds
Listens when spoken to
Recognizes words for common items like "cup", "shoe", "book", or "juice"
Begins to respond to requests (e.g. "Come here" or "Want more?")
7 Months–1 Year
Babbling has both long and short groups of sounds such as "tata upup bibibibi"
Uses speech or noncrying sounds to get and keep attention
Uses gestures to communicate (waving, holding arms to be picked up)
Imitates different speech sounds
Has one or two words (hi, dog, dada, mama) around first birthday, although sounds may not be clear

12/10/2016

What Is Language? What Is Speech?

Kelly's 4-year-old son, Tommy, has speech and language problems. Friends and family have a hard time understanding what he is saying. He speaks softly, and his sounds are not clear.
Jane had a stroke. She can only speak in one- to two-word sentences and cannot explain what she needs and wants. She also has trouble following simple directions.
Language is different from speech.
Language is made up of socially shared rules that include the following:
What words mean (e.g., "star" can refer to a bright object in the night sky or a celebrity)
How to make new words (e.g., friend, friendly, unfriendly)
How to put words together (e.g., "Peg walked to the new store" rather than "Peg walk store new")
What word combinations are best in what situations ("Would you mind moving your foot?" could quickly change to "Get off my foot, please!" if the first request did not produce results)
Speech is the verbal means of communicating. Speech consists of the following:
Articulation
How speech sounds are made (e.g., children must learn how to produce the "r" sound in order to say "rabbit" instead of "wabbit").
Voice
Use of the vocal folds and breathing to produce sound (e.g., the voice can be abused from overuse or misuse and can lead to hoarseness or loss of voice).
Fluency
The rhythm of speech (e.g., hesitations or stuttering can affect fluency).
When a person has trouble understanding others (receptive language), or sharing thoughts, ideas, and feelings completely (expressive language), then he or she has a language disorder.
When a person is unable to produce speech sounds correctly or fluently, or has problems with his or her voice, then he or she has a speech disorder.
In our example, Tommy has a speech disorder that makes him hard to understand. If his lips, tongue, and mouth are not moved at the right time, then what he says will not sound right. Children who stutter, and people whose voices sound hoarse or nasal have speech problems as well.
Jane has a receptive and expressive language disorder. She does not have a good understanding of the meaning of words and how and when to use them. Because of this, she has trouble following directions and speaking in long sentences. Many others, including adults with aphasia and children with learning disabilities, have language problems.
Language and speech disorders can exist together or by themselves. The problem can be mild or severe. In any case, a comprehensive evaluation by a speech-language pathologist (SLP) certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) is the first step to improving language and speech problems.

12/10/2016

Many children who stutter have negative feelings and attitudes about communication and suffer from anxiety because of this. Fluency disorders often times have three components, called the “ABCs” of stuttering:
A: Affective
B: Behaviors
C: Cognitive

The B, or stuttering behaviors are the only part that others can see, while so much is going on in the mind of a person who stutters (A- affective and C- cognitive), making stuttering a much more complex disorder to evaluate and treat.

Yoga can be very beneficial to children who stutter. Coupled with speech-language therapy, yoga can improve speech fluency in children who stutter, by taking all three components of the disorder into account.

1) Respiration:
Breathing is also a very important to fluent speech. Yoga teaches children to learn to breathe from their bellies (“diaphragmatic breathing”) rather than from their shoulders (“clavicular breathing”). Diaphragmatic breathing allows for more substantial breaths and adequate breath support for fluent speech.

2)Positive Thoughts:
Meditation is a part of yoga, which teaches us self acceptance, the ability to let thoughts go, being in the moment and thinking in new ways.

3)Relaxation:
Yoga promotes overall relaxation, reducing anxiety and tension. Many children who stutter are anxious and tense. In a moment of disfluency, it is much more effective to relax and ease out of it, rather than fighting through it. A good example of this is a “finger trap.” The only way to escape a finger trap is by relaxing and gradually pulling your fingers out of it. The more force you use to pull, the more impossible it is to get out of it.