O c c u p a t i o n a l T h e r a p y S e r v i c e s
The Kioko Center
Our passion is helping children with special needs and the families and caregivers that support them.
The Kioko Center has been providing expert occupational and speech therapy services to children and young adults, ages birth to 21 years, since 2006. During that time, we have developed the highest quality standards for our therapies and services. Our staff are highly trained and prepared to integrate the latest therapy techniques into your child’s sessions. We provide comprehensive, individualized therapies which facilitate overall development and independence. We look to our name, Kioko, meaning “Happy Child” in Japanese as a guiding principle for our work.
About Us
B e s t P e d i a t r i c S p e e c h L a n g u a g e
Massachusetts Pediatric Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy for Children and Young Adults
At the Kioko Center we are passionate about providing the very best OT therapy and SLP therapy services for children and young adults. We serve the schools, therapists, and families that support them. We are a pediatric therapy organization that specializes in occupational therapy and speech therapy. Our multidisciplinary, holistic approach gives each child the best chance to realize their full potential.
Ariculation and Phonology
Articulation is the process of physically producing speech. That might seem easy enough, right? Actually, articulation involves the complicated coordination of lips, tongue, teeth, top of the mouth(palate), and jaw to produce sounds. Even your lungs play an important part in articulation! All of these physical forces, also called motor functions, combine to form syllables, words, sounds —speech. Articulation is vital to how we communicate through speaking.
An articulation disorder is diagnosed when kids are unable to or show difficulty in producing certain sounds, or when they consistently mispronounce specific consonants and vowels. Children and teens who have articulation problems struggle with their motor functions to physically make accurate speech sounds. Their speech Therapy articulation is distorted, jumbled, or mixed. The result is the inability to form audible syllables and words.
Social language disorder or pragmatic language disorder, is a problem related to the social aspects of language use and understanding . Social language disorders manifest in the following ways:
Difficulty using language socially which includes
• understanding the environment
• reading non-verbal cues
• understanding non literal language such as jokes and sarcasm
Social Language
Difficulty following the rules of conversation which includes
• maintaining appropriate eye contact
• using non verbal cues that are consistent with your verbal message
• greetings
• introducing a topic
• maintaining a topic
• appropriateness of topic and responses
Social communication disorder is common in children. We provide evaluation, therapy and treatment for social language disorder; contact Kioko Center to get speech therapy for social language.
Receptive language refers to our ability to understand verbal and non-verbal language. In speech therapy, receptive language refers to the comprehension of word meanings, concepts, and gestures. Our children’s ability to understand receptive language helps build the foundation of successful communication. And as parents, we all appreciate how important communication is in making our lives easier!
Unfortunately, a receptive language disorder results in children struggling to understand what is said to them and how to respond. It’s a communication breakdown. Receptive language problems limit a child’s ability to understand the world around them and impedes their access to it. Children with receptive language disorders may express a lack of eye contact, frustration, unresponsiveness, difficulty following directions, off-topic conversations, and struggles in understanding spoken or written language.
Each child is unique, and symptoms vary, but receptive language problems can begin before three years of age. Parents often notice these problems when their children have difficulty following a storyline or struggle with academics.
Receptive Language
Let's get holistically fit together! G e t i n t o u c h Email kioko@kiokocenter.com Website www.kiokocenter.com Phone 978-681-6605