Individualized Care • Family-Centered Goals • Evidence-Based Approaches • Multidisciplinary Collaboration

Pediatric Speech & Myofunctional Therapy Services in Bethesda, MD

A young boy with curly hair wearing a red shirt, smiling happily, working on improving his speech sounds during speech therapy for a lisp in Bethesda, MD

Thrive Speech & Wellness provides play-based speech therapy that is thoughtfully tailored to each child’s unique needs, strengths, and interests. We follow your child’s lead and use their favorite toys, special interests, and engaging activities to help them build new skills in a way that feels natural and motivating!

While our sessions may look like play, every activity has a purpose and is grounded in the latest research and evidence. Our speech therapists look at the whole child and consider how different areas of development connect, allowing us to address multiple systems within the body at once and support development throughout childhood.

We also believe parents are an important part of the process. You are always welcome to join your child’s sessions, ask questions, and learn alongside them. We reserve the last 5 to 10 minutes of each session to share updates on your child’s progress, answer your questions, and provide home practice activities to keep the learning going.

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Evaluations & Screenings

Speech, Language, & Orofacial Myofunctional Evaluations

At Thrive, our comprehensive evaluations are designed to uncover the underlying reasons for each child’s communication challenges. In order to get a complete picture of your child’s strengths and challenges, we gather information from:

Case History Forms • Parent Interviews • Formal & Standardized Assessments • Language Samples • Informal Observations

Once the evaluation is complete, we will share our findings, discuss recommendations, and make referrals if needed. You will receive a written evaluation report within two weeks.

Consultations & Screenings

Do you have a concern about your child’s speech or oral functioning, but you aren’t sure if a full evaluation is necessary? Reach out to book a screening to get answers and determine next steps.

A screening gives us an opportunity to listen to your concerns, meet your child, and take a closer look at the areas that may be affecting their development.

You’ll receive a brief written summary of our findings and our recommendations for moving forward. If we recommend a comprehensive evaluation and you choose to schedule one within 45 days of your screening, we’ll apply the screening fee toward your full evaluation.

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ARTICULATION • PHONOLOGICAL DISORDERS • APRAXIA • MOTOR SPEECH DISORDERS

Speech Therapy for Speech Sound Disorders

A young boy drawing with colorful markers at a table during speech therapy for late talkers in Bethesda, MD

  • School-based services are provided through an Individualized Education Program (IEP) to support a child's ability to access the school-based curriculum, ensuring that they are supported and set up for success academically and socially in school.

    In private speech therapy, we approach therapy from a medical-model perspective, allowing us to address full body function together (e.g., breathing, eating, speaking), tailor treatment to address your individual concerns, and recommend referrals to other healthcare providers as needed (e.g., ENTs, Orthodontists, Dentists) that may be necessary to achieve our desired goals and successful generalization of skills.

  • A speech disorder relates to challenges with the production of specific speech sounds.

    A language disorder relates to challenges with understanding and using words, sentences, or grammar.

  • A tongue thrust is an atypical swallow pattern where the tongue pushes forward against or between the teeth during a swallow.

    A lisp is a distortion of a speech, commonly seen with /s/ and /z/ that results from incorrect tongue positioning and airflow. These sounds often sound 'wet' or 'slushy'.

  • Your child may benefit from a speech sound evaluation if they are frequently misunderstood, or if you notice any of the following errors:

    • Distortions: Sounds are altered or less crisp

    • Substitutions: Sounds are substituted (e.g., wabbit for rabbit, fumb for thumb)

    • Omissions/deletions: Sounds are dropped out of words (e.g. bow for boat, no for snow)

    • Syllable deletion: Taking out one syllable in a word (nana for banana)

    • Inconsistent word productions: The same word may be produced differently in consecutive repetitions (‘pagetti’ and ‘padetti’ for spaghetti)

When children have a hard time speaking clearly, it’s up to us to identify whether they need support with articulation, phonology, or motor learning. We take the time to identify your child’s unique speech challenges and create a tailored plan to help them master their speech sounds.

Speech therapy will help your child:

  • Make clear speech sounds

  • Be understood by others

  • Communicate with greater independence

  • Gain foundational skills for reading and writing

  • Confidently participate in classroom and social settings

A young girl sitting across from a speech therapist, playing with brightly colored rings. The girl has her finger on her chin, working on decreasing a tongue thrust during myofunctional therapy for kids in Bethesda, MD.

TODDLERS • PRESCHOOLERS • DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS

Speech Therapy for Late Talkers

A young girl with curly hair tied in a bun, wearing a white sleeveless top and beige pants, squatting on the floor and playing with a green toy bucket and sand toys during language and communication therapy for late talkers in Bethesda, MD

Early language therapy supports toddlers and preschoolers who are not yet meeting communication milestones, even without an underlying medical diagnosis. Our sessions are designed to feel like play as we model natural language in strategic ways. You’ll often see us stacking blocks, digging in a sensory bin, and engaging in your child’s favorite activities as we build new communication skills.

Early language therapy will help your child:

  • Communicate their wants, needs, and feelings

  • Improve vocabulary and word comprehension

  • Reduce frustration and tantrums

  • Socialize and form relationships with other children

  • Gain confidence and independence

  • Expressive language refers to our ability to share our feelings and thoughts. Children with expressive language delays may demonstrate:

    • Delayed first words

    • Limited expressive vocabulary

    • Shorter sentences

    • Delayed speech sounds

    Receptive language refers to our ability to process and comprehend language. Children with receptive language delays may demonstrate:

    • Difficulty following directions

    • Trouble answering questions

    • Social challenges

    Children may have a delay in either expressive or receptive language, or a mixed expressive and receptive delay.

  • Absolutely! Parent coaching is a big part of speech therapy for toddlers and preschoolers. Our sessions will equip you with activities and resources that you can use to support your child’s language development in everyday life, at home and in the community.

  • A delay relates to a child developing skills in an expected pattern, but they meet milestones at a slower pace. A disorder relates to a child developing skills in an atypical pattern. In early development, it can be hard to distinguish between a delay and disorder.

    It is important to work with a speech-language pathologist (SLP) to receive a thorough evaluation, monitor development, and provide appropriate speech and language therapy interventions.

A young boy with curly brown hair sitting on the wooden floor, holding a small plush toy, working on expressive and receptive language skills during speech therapy for children in Bethesda, MD

OROFACIAL MYOFUNCTIONAL DISORDERS • TETHERED ORAL TISSUES • ORAL HABITS

Myofunctional Therapy for Kids

A young boy wearing a yellow shirt, using a blowing tool to hold a small ball up in the air while working on improved breathing and oral motor skills during myofunctional therapy for kids in Bethesda, MD

  • Myofunctional therapy typically begins around the age of 5 years, as it is dependent on a child's ability to cooperate, follow directions, and perform exercises.

    For children younger than 5 who are showing early signs and symptoms of orofacial myofunctional dysfunction, we can still incorporate oral motor therapy techniques into sessions. We’ll use a combination of sensory and motor activities to help promote healthy function and coordination of the mouth, tongue, lips, and jaw, that are needed to master foundational skills necessary for healthy nasal breathing, eating, and speaking patterns.

  • Your child may benefit from an orofacial myofunctional evaluation if they experience any of the following signs and symptoms:

    • Low resting tongue posture

    • Mouth breathing

    • Oral habits (thumb/finger sucking, pacifier, nail biting)

    • Narrow, high palate

    • No spacing between baby teeth or 'shark teeth’, where a permanent tooth is erupting behind a baby tooth

    • Dry mouth

    • Caries or cavities

    • Drooling

    • Dry, chapped lips

    • Speech sound errors including /s,z,ch,sh,r/ sounds

    • Tongue thrust

    • Lisp

    • Poor Sleep

    • Snoring

    • ADHD symptoms

    • TMJ pain and dysfunction

  • Yes! While speech-language pathologists do not diagnose tongue ties, we play an essential role in pre- and post- op therapy and work closely with providers who specialize in frenectomies (tongue tie releases).

    In treatment sessions, we will continually assess for tethered oral tissues (TOTs) and evaluate for adequate function of the tongue movement and positioning.

  • Yes. We are committed to working as a part of an inter-disciplinary team to get the best possible results for our patients. Our speech and myofunctional therapists collaborate with other medical providers including:

    • Orthodontists

    • Dentists

    • ENTs

    • Pediatricians

    • Physical Therapists

    • Occupational Therapists

    • Allergists

    • Oral Surgeons

Did you know that the way your child’s oral and facial muscles move can affect their speech, breathing, sleep, eating, tooth alignment, face shape, and overall health? We specialize in myofunctional therapy for kids, using tailored neuromuscular exercises to help them reach their goals. We will also provide home practice activities to help your child get the best outcomes from myofunctional therapy.

Myofunctional therapy will help your child:

  • Breathe through their nose

  • Place their tongue, teeth, and lips in the correct resting position

  • Establish proper chewing and swallowing patterns

  • Eliminate oral habits like thumb-sucking, fingernail biting, or pacifier use

  • Prevent orthodontic relapse

We’ll work with a multidisciplinary care team to address the root cause, identify compensatory patterns your child’s body has adapted to, and alleviate symptoms to improve full-body function.

A young girl with blonde hair and a yellow shirt is sitting at a white table, using a straw to control the movement of a ball during myofunctional therapy for children in Bethesda, MD

Looking for a “pediatric speech therapist near me?” You’re in the right place!

Thrive Speech & Wellness, located in Bethesda, MD, specializes in pediatric speech and myofunctional therapy for articulation and phonological disorders, childhood apraxia of speech, late talkers, tongue-tie, and myofunctional disorders.

Serving Montgomery County, Maryland suburbs including Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Kensington, Potomac, and Rockville; Washington, DC, NW and Northern Virginia suburbs including Tysons, McLean, Arlington, and Falls Church. 

Telehealth services for residents of Maryland and Washington, DC are available as deemed appropriate for selective services.

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