Speech Therapy

Speech Therapy Starts With Investigation

See how we help children in Boca Raton FL and Fort Lauderdale FL with the most comprehensive set of speech therapy services in the industry.

With over 32 years of experience, Nancy Magar established a reputable private practice where she became the “go to” source with numerous Speech-Language Pathologists who were not having success treating their patients with “traditional” speech therapy methods. Nancy  specializes in the investigation of finding the underlying causes of the presenting speech articulation challenges. Common speech disorders that she specializes in include lateral lisps (air escapes laterally instead of over the center of the tongue) frontal lisps or forward tongue placement (tongue protrudes between the upper/lower incisors) with sounds /t/, /d/, /n/, /l/, /s/, /z/, /sh/, /j/, /ch/ and distortions of the /r/ in all word positions. It was common in her practice to see adolescents that had been in speech therapy since elementary school and yet as they were approaching middle school they were becoming desperate to correct their speech patterns as prior therapy was not successful.  Once oral motor skills were addressed especially with improving tongue/jaw/lip dissociation skills (being able to move the tongue independently of the jaw), working with decreasing abnormal oral compensations, and establishing proper oral resting posture these children who had minimal prior success in speech therapy were discharged from Nancy’s practice within 6 months.  If the proper techniques are utilized with speech therapy most patients can make quick and amazing progress.  Getting to the “root” of the problem is “key” to success.   

Nancy Magar conducts a thorough orofacial myofunctional assessment on every patient to determine if there are underlying structural or functional etiologies to any speech articulation challenges that are presented. Children that use compensations such as excessive lip and facial movements, a forward or lateral sliding pattern of the lower jaw or minimal lower jaw movement may have limited tongue range of motion due to an anterior or posterior tongue tie. If a child is showing slow changes with traditional speech articulation therapy, they likely have an oromyofunctional disorder where the tongue rests forward or laterally against the teeth and also exhibit an incorrect swallowing pattern.  

In order to correct many speech problems with these underlying etiologies Nancy Magar uses her specific program called “Myo-Speech” which is an integration of myofunctional therapy and special techniques to provide oral stability to attain improved mobility of the speech articulators (tongue, lips, jaw). Oral structure is also a particularly important consideration in achieving proper speech articulation patterns. Early orthodontic intervention helps prevent abnormal compensation patterns from developing.  

It is often difficult for a parent to know if their child will “outgrow” their perceived speech problems. It is common that a pediatrician will recommend a “wait and see approach” to determine if a child will outgrow their speech errors. The longer the dysfunctional oral patterns remain the more resistant they are to change. As a speech-language pathologist that specializes in orofacial myology, Nancy has the tools and expertise to determine if a child will outgrow their speech issues or if therapy is indicated. Call us today so we can investigate.