Brooke Cunningham
Speech and Language Pathologist
M.S., CCC/SLP
Office Phone:
Email:
Address:
209 Washington Street West Suite 200
Charleston, WV 25302
and at First Presby for the Preschool Program
About Brooke
Brooke Cunningham, M.S., CCC/SLP is a pediatric speech/language pathologist who serves families across West Virginia. She received her M.S. in Communication Disorders from Marshall University in 2017. Brooke is licensed by the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists and maintains status for Certificate of Clinical Competence through the American Speech Language Hearing Association. She is also a member of the International Association of Orofacial Myology. Brooke has a passion for continuing education to provide the highest level of services to her patients. She is trained in identifying and treating pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders, delays/difficulties related to orofacial myofunctional disorders, and speech production. She has completed the following specialty trainings: Beckman Oral Motor Protocol, Sequential Oral Sensory (SOS) Approach, Tethered Oral Tissues (TOTS) Training, AEIOU Feeding Approach, and Introduction to the Orofacial Complex for treatment of Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders.
What does a Speech Pathologist do?
Speech-language pathologists, or SLPS, are trained to provide holistic evaluation and treatment of patients across the lifespan with speech, language, social communication, and feeding/swallowing disorders. Some areas SLPs are skilled to assess and treat include the following:
Speech Sound Production
Speech sound production assessment and treatment involves identifying speech sound difficulty that is negatively impacting a patient’s speech clarity. These errors can present as using incorrect sounds (‘tat’ for ‘cat’), omitting sounds (‘da’ for ‘dog’ or ‘side’ for ‘slide’), distortion of sounds (lisps), and addition of sounds (‘duh-rink’ for ‘drink’). Speech sound therapy can address errors from a motoric or phonological treatment path.
Language Disorders
Language disorders involve the expression, or what we say, and comprehension, or what we understand. These disorders can impact how a message is communicated to others. For example, late talkers who do not combine words to communicate basic wants and needs, and children who use AAC devices to communicate. Expressive language difficulties can also impact skill sets such as answering questions, using correct grammar and sentence organization, verbally demonstrating knowledge of concepts, and additional areas of expression needed for daily functioning. Receptive language skills, or what we understand, can negatively impact skills such as following directions, comprehension of sequencing events, basic concept knowledge, vocabulary, and additional areas of comprehension needed for daily functioning. Speech-language pathologists can also assess and treat social language deficits.
Augmentative and Alternative Communication
​Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) methods are employed by patients who may struggle with successfully communicating their wants and needs verbally. AAC is a communication modality that employs gesturing, sign language, picture exchange, and the use of tablet device software to express thoughts during shared communication. Populations that benefit from AAC include patients with autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and other genetic disorders and syndromes, as well as children who only exhibit developmental language delays.
Feeding/Swallowing Disorders
Feeding and swallowing disorders encompass difficulty with the oral, pharyngeal, and esophageal phases of the swallow, as well as difficulty with atypical eating presentations secondary to sensory aversion, emotional reactions at mealtimes, and history of medical difficulties. These difficulties can present in children who are:
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not eating enough or drinking enough to sustain nutritional needs,
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not gaining weight or meeting growth expectations,
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present with a history or current use of alternative nutrition such as feeding tubes,
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present with a medical history that may impact feeding and swallowing,
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present with difficulty chewing foods or choking on foods
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present with significant emotional reactions at mealtimes (e.g. anxiety, frustration)
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present with sensory aversion to foods
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eating less than 20 foods consistently
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diagnosed with feeding and swallowing disorders like dysphagia, ARFID, or pediatric feeding disorder and are experiencing a regression in skills
Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy
Orofacial myofunctional treatment involves the assessment of the function and structure of the orofacial complex, including the jaw, tongue, lips, and overall facial structure. Individualized assessment is completed to identify treatment plan goals for maximizing typical oral resting posture, correction of mouth breathing to nasal breathing, correcting atypical swallow patterns, addressing noxious habits such as thumb sucking, clenching, and grinding teeth, and foundational functional elements that may negatively impact speech production and feeding and swallowing abilities. Patients with orofacial myofunctional deficits may also present with symptoms of sleeping difficulty, atypical jaw growth patterns, and difficulty with nasal breathing.
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Click here for an assessment to see if this therapy is right for you or your child!
Fluency Disorders
Fluency disorders include stuttering and cluttering. Stuttering presents with childhood onset of symptoms such as repetition of words and phrases, prolongations of sounds, and blocks when attempting to speak. Stuttering may also have additional components that negatively impact public speaking, comfort across speaking situations, and emotional reactions to stuttering. Speech pathologists can treat stuttering using modification strategies to assist fluency, as well as counseling-based services to address underlying emotional reactions to speaking difficulties.
Voice/Resonance
Speech-language pathologists are trained to assess and identify disorders of voice production and resonance. These disorders can present as atypical hypernasality, hyponasality, and variations in phonation, pitch, and loudness.
Cognition
Speech-language pathologists are trained to identify and treat aspects of cognition foundational for language development. These areas of cognition include joint attention, sustained attention, short- and long-term memory, problem-solving, and executive functioning skills.
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Services Available
Speech
Feeding
Other things
This is a Job Description. Briefly describe your specific position, including details about important achievements and milestones. Make sure to include relevant skills and highlights, and don't forget to adjust the timeframe in the subtitle.
This is a Job Description. Briefly describe your specific position, including details about important achievements and milestones. Make sure to include relevant skills and highlights, and don't forget to adjust the timeframe in the subtitle.
This is a Job Description. Briefly describe your specific position, including details about important achievements and milestones. Make sure to include relevant skills and highlights, and don't forget to adjust the timeframe in the subtitle.
