Speech & Language Services in English and French
Over 20 years of experience in speech-language pathology
Private speech-language pathology services for children, teenagers, and adults. Individualized assessment and therapy for speech, language, literacy, and communication needs.
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Comprehensive Speech & Language Support
Evidence-based, individualized therapy for a variety of communication needs.
Developmental Language Disorders
Support with receptive and expressive language, vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, and understanding and expressing ideas.
Articulation & Phonological Disorders
Support with speech sound production, intelligibility, and phonological skills.
Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)
Support with speech motor planning, sequencing, and intelligibility.
Reading & Writing Difficulties
Support with phonological awareness, decoding, reading fluency, spelling, and written language.
Accent Modification
Support with pronunciation, clarity, intelligibility, rhythm, stress, intonation, and confidence in English or French.
Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders
Evaluation and intervention for oral rest posture, breathing, chewing, swallowing, tongue thrust and related speech concerns.
Brain Injury & Stroke
Assessment and therapy for communication difficulties following brain injuries and strokes, including language, speech, cognitive-communication and functional communication.
Understanding Speech & Language Difficulties
Learn more about common concerns and how assessment and intervention can help.
Developmental Language Disorders
What is it?
A developmental language disorder can make it difficult to understand or use spoken language. A child may have trouble learning words, following directions, forming sentences, telling stories or participating in conversations. These difficulties are not simply a matter of learning two languages.
Common signs
Difficulty understanding questions or instructions; limited vocabulary; grammatical errors; difficulty explaining ideas or telling a clear story.
Assessment & intervention
Assessment looks at comprehension, expression, vocabulary, grammar, storytelling and everyday communication. Therapy builds meaningful language skills using individualized activities and strategies for home or school.
ASHA clinical reference ↗Articulation & Phonological Disorders
What is it?
Speech sound disorders affect how a person produces or organizes speech sounds. An articulation difficulty may involve a distorted sound, such as a lisp. A phonological difficulty involves patterns of sound substitutions or omissions that can make speech harder to understand.
Common signs
Speech that is difficult to understand; persistent sound substitutions, omissions or distortions; difficulty producing certain sounds in words or conversation.
Assessment & intervention
Assessment identifies the sounds and patterns involved and considers the person’s age and languages. Therapy may teach sound placement, sound contrasts and practice from words through everyday conversation.
ASHA clinical reference ↗Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)
What is it?
Childhood apraxia of speech is a motor speech disorder in which a child has difficulty planning and coordinating the movements needed for speech. The child knows what they want to say, but producing the sounds and sequences accurately and consistently can be challenging.
Common signs
Inconsistent pronunciation of the same word; difficulty moving smoothly between sounds or syllables; unusual stress or rhythm; greater difficulty with longer words. These signs alone do not confirm a diagnosis.
Assessment & intervention
A specialized motor speech assessment helps distinguish apraxia from other speech difficulties. Therapy uses carefully selected speech practice, movement cues and motor-learning principles to improve functional communication.
ASHA clinical reference ↗Reading & Writing Difficulties
What is it?
Reading and writing difficulties can affect recognizing written words, decoding, reading fluently, understanding text, spelling and expressing ideas in writing. Dyslexia commonly involves difficulty with accurate or fluent word reading and spelling. Oral and written language skills are closely connected.
Common signs
Slow or effortful reading; trouble connecting letters and sounds; frequent spelling errors; difficulty understanding texts or organizing written ideas.
Assessment & intervention
Assessment explores phonological awareness, decoding, word reading, spelling, comprehension and written expression. Intervention targets the specific language and literacy skills that need support.
ASHA clinical reference ↗Accent Modification
What is it?
Accent modification is an optional service for people who want to adjust aspects of their pronunciation or speaking style in English or French. Having an accent is a natural part of language and cultural identity; an accent is not a speech disorder.
Common signs
You may want to feel more easily understood in professional, academic or everyday conversations, or gain confidence with particular sounds, rhythm or intonation.
Assessment & intervention
Sessions begin with your own communication goals and may focus on pronunciation, stress, rhythm, intonation and real-life speaking practice—without erasing your identity.
ASHA clinical reference ↗All Ages. All Abilities. All Communicators.
Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders
Individualized assessment and intervention for children, adolescents and adults experiencing difficulties with oral rest posture, breathing, chewing, swallowing and speech.
What is an orofacial myofunctional disorder?
An orofacial myofunctional disorder (OMD) involves patterns of the lips, tongue, jaw and facial muscles that may affect oral rest posture, breathing, chewing, swallowing and speech.
Evaluation
- Tongue, lip and jaw posture at rest
- Nasal and mouth-breathing patterns
- Tongue mobility and coordination
- Chewing and swallowing patterns
- Tongue thrust
- Speech sound production, including lisps
- Oral structures and functional oral habits
Intervention
- Appropriate tongue and lip resting posture
- Supporting nasal-breathing patterns
- Functional chewing and swallowing patterns
- Reducing tongue thrust
- Improving tongue mobility and coordination
- Addressing related articulation difficulties
- Carryover into daily activities
Signs that may warrant an evaluation
- Open-mouth resting posture
- Low or forward tongue resting posture
- Frequent mouth breathing
- Tongue thrust during swallowing
- Difficulty with chewing or swallowing patterns
- Persistent frontal or lateral lisp
- Difficulty maintaining appropriate lip closure
- Concerns related to oral habits or oral-motor patterns
A collaborative approach
When appropriate, collaboration or referral to other professionals may be recommended, including dentists, orthodontists, ENTs and other healthcare providers.
About Me
Hi! I’m Mandy Gaspar, M.Sc., S-LP(C)
Speech-Language Pathologist · Orthophoniste
I graduated with a Masters of Science in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of British Columbia in 2004. I also hold a Bachelor’s degree in Linguistics from Concordia University (1999) and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from McGill University (1997).
I am a certified member of the Ordre des orthophonistes et audiologistes du Québec (OOAQ), Speech-Language & Audiology Canada (SAC). I am also trained in Reading with TLC.
Building a warm, trusting relationship with my clients is at the heart of my work. I take the time to listen to each person’s needs and goals and tailor therapy to the individual. My areas of special interest include developmental language disorders, articulation and speech sound disorders, childhood apraxia of speech, reading and writing difficulties and dyslexia, orofacial myofunctional disorders, and accent modification.
Let’s Work Together
Please reach out to inquire about assessments, therapy services, or appointment availability.
Phone / Text: 514-812-5680
Email: mandygaspar@hotmail.com