Children's Speech and Language Services, LLC

11/03/2025

As a diagnosis that can vary significantly from person to person, autism is often misunderstood. Here are some of the facts!

06/09/2025

As the end of the school year approaches, camp is on the horizon for many! Here are some considerations from the American Speech-Language Hearing Association about helping children with communication challenges prepare for camp:

Getting ready for camp can be exciting—and a little overwhelming. Children with speech, language, and social communication disorders may need extra support as they prepare for this big change to their daily routines and environments.

05/12/2025

✨National Stuttering Awareness Week✨ starts today! To celebrate, we're sharing this beautiful and informative collage put together by Friends: The National Association of Young People Who Stutter

05/06/2025

May is National Speech-Language-Hearing Month! As part of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's celebrations, we're sharing this article about the benefits of multilingualism.

Children can learn to use more than one language. They can learn languages at home, at school, or in the community. Some children can use multiple languages easily. This article answers some common questions about raising multilingual children.

01/22/2025

We’re sharing a fantastic resource from the Harvard Center on the Developing Child about the brain-building benefits of play! These handouts have suggestions for play-based activities for children at various ages and stages of development.
https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/handouts-tools/brainbuildingthroughplay/

Looking for playful activities to do with the children in your life over the holidays? Check out our "Brain-Building Through Play" handouts!

With support from The LEGO Foundation, we created these handouts with playful, age-appropriate activities for children, from newborns to adolescents, that are easy to do at home or just about anywhere.

Check out the handouts here: https://bit.ly/4h4kPFF

05/20/2024

When a child is stuttering, "How can I to help?" is often at the forefront of caregivers' minds.

Organized by Spero Stuttering, co-owner Carrie Kerstein collaborated with a group of fellow clinicians with expertise in stuttering to put together this film, Nurturing and Empowering Your Child Who Stutters.

05/10/2024

May is National Speech-Language-Hearing Month!

Caregivers in multilingual families often wonder if they should continue speaking a home language with their child when the child is showing signs of communication challenges. The answer is: yes! Multilingualism does NOT cause or worsen communication disorders, and families are strongly encouraged to use the language(s) they are most comfortable in when communicating with their child.

Here are some more facts and myths about multilingual language development:

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/gradeschool/school/Pages/7-Myths-Facts-Bilingual-Children-Learning-Language.aspx

04/28/2023

Spring is here! Emily Russo, MS, CCC-SLP, one of our fantastic clinicians, put together these ideas for connecting with little ones, shared enjoyment of books, and facilitating language development around the theme of springtime. These are inspired by the books "Some Bugs" (by Angela DiTerlizzi) and "Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt" (by Kate Messner).

03/20/2023

A message from co-founder Rita Williams:

"After over 40 years as an SLP, I retired in January. I am so thankful I had such a long career doing something I truly loved. And as a life-long believer in the power of words, it’s surprising how difficult it is to find the words to express my gratitude. For my whole career, and particularly my thirty years at CSLS, I had the privilege of working with strong, smart, funny and dedicated colleagues, who challenged me in all the best ways. I admire them deeply. I am grateful to the families I’ve met - for sharing their children, their knowledge, their challenges and their hopes. It was a huge and humbling privilege to be invited on your journeys, and to be entrusted with your child’s care. I especially thank all ‘my kids’. I learned so much from each of them - about wonder and curiosity, frustration and success, hard work and joy, and the power of imagination. I will use those lessons for the rest of my life!"

Thank you, Rita Williams, for the vibrance, excellence, and dedication you infused into CSLS!

11/28/2022

This holiday season, we're delighted to share some research-based tips for choosing toys that support language development! (Thanks to Informed SLP for this helpful research review!) Keep these things in mind when considering toys for play and for holiday gifts:

-How much is there to talk about? Choose play sets where there's lots to say and do.

-Allow for imagination! Choose toys that can be stuff, instead of toys that do stuff.

-You don't need bells and whistles. Electronic toys reduce the quality and quantity of language used during play.

-Keep it simple, toys that look less "busy" help us use more interesting words.

-You're the real star! Kids learn language through back-and-forth interactions with others.

10/13/2022

Our work at CSLS often involves helping children to improve comprehension of both verbal and written language. MGH IHP (www.facebook.com/ihpcng) is recruiting families to participate in a research study about children who were late talkers and now struggle with reading comprehension. If you're interested, check out more information here: https://rally.partners.org/study/learning_differences

10/11/2022

October is Selective Mutism Awareness Month!