About Avivit Ben-Aharon

Founder & Clinical Director at Great Speech Inc. | Providing Innovative Alternatives to Speech Pathology Services

Entries by Avivit Ben-Aharon

The Connection Between Hearing Loss & Speech Development

Hearing loss can have significant effects on the development of a child’s speech and language skills and cause speech and language delays. When a child experiences hearing loss, the areas of the brain that are used for communication may not develop as they should. This typically results in difficulties in understanding others and speaking [...]

Virtual Speech Therapy Can Help Adults Reach Their Communication Goals

The ability to communicate effectively is an important part of everyday life. Adults may have specific communication goals, whether it’s speaking more confidently in public, improving articulation or even addressing a life-long speech impediment. However, attending in-person speech therapy sessions may not be feasible for everyone due to busy schedules, transportation challenges, mobility issues [...]

Summertime is a Great Time for Speech Therapy Activities

Summer offers the perfect window for children and adults alike to make progress on their communication goals. Summertime often means shifting into a lower, slower gear with life becoming less stressful and more relaxing. It’s traditionally a time to recharge and relax, but it also offers a time to support children’s communication skills [...]

Virtual Speech Therapy is a Proven Tool to Address Social Determinants of Health (SDOH), Improve Quality of Life

As successful healthcare delivery shifts away from the long-time volume-based delivery model, wellness is a powerful tool demanded to control costs. A core group of socioeconomic factors are responsible for 40% of a patient’s health. Treating SDOH helps people overcome adversity that degrades their wellness.  Virtual speech therapy addresses three SDOH indicators:  * Patient education [...]

Speech Sound Disorder

What is a Speech Sound Disorder? Speech sound disorder is a type of communication disorder that causes difficulty speaking clearly and producing certain speech sounds required to communicate. Children with speech sound disorders often struggle to control their voice, and may also exhibit speech problems such as a stutter or lisp. It is often difficult [...]

Articulation Disorder vs Phonology Disorder

Phonological and Articulation Disorders are types of speech sound disorders that can impact an individual’s ability to speak clearly and be understood by others. But many people wonder what is the difference between the two. While these two types of speech sound disorders have similarities, they are also significantly different, and the approach in [...]

Great Speech Launches Gender-Affirming Voice Therapy Services, Offers Specialized Training for Speech-Language Professionals

As part of their transition process, transgender individuals can benefit from gender-affirming speech therapy services. As our speaking voices are an audible way to present who we are to the world, speech therapy services provide the support transgender individuals need to align their voice and communication style with their preferred gender. “Voice is a gender [...]

The Role of Play & Leisure Activities in Cognitive Speech Therapy for Children

Play skills are incredibly important when it comes to speech and language development among children. Play and leisure activities provide some of the earliest opportunities for a child to learn and develop their social skills and form significant relationships. A play-based approach in speech therapy serves the long-term development of higher-level language functions as the [...]

The Benefits of Group Speech Therapy for Children

We have been learning about the many benefits of private therapy and the need for one-on-one support for years. However, in recent years there has been more discussion about group speech therapy and its benefits. It can be hard to know the best form of speech therapy for yourself or your child. The social language [...]

The Importance of Maintaining Functional Communication Skills Later in Life

What is Functional Communication? Functional communication is a term that refers to the most basic and fundamental communication skills. This type of communication is used to express one’s basic wants and needs, for example, “I want that”, “I am hurt”, or “I need to use the bathroom”. While these are not complex thoughts or [...]

“We Deliver Happiness”

Great Speech Approach to virtual speech therapy During our recent live presentation at the American Telemedicine Association Innovation Awards event – where we captured First Place in the In-patient Care Solutions category – our closing message that drew an excited response and generated rounds of applause was these three words: “WE DELIVER HAPPINESS.” What is the real [...]

The Importance of Early Intervention for Speech and Language Disorders

Perhaps your child is a late talker or maybe your child has difficulty following directions or answering questions. Or perhaps your child has difficulty pronouncing specific speech sounds. Have you ever wondered whether your child might be delayed in their speech or language skills relative to other children their age? If you have agreed with [...]