Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) play a critical and direct role in the development of literacy in children and adolescents and in the evaluation and treatment of both oral and written language disorders. 

• SLPs have unique knowledge about the subsystems of language (i.e., phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics) as they relate to spoken and written language and knowledge of the metalinguistic skills required for reading and writing (e.g., phonological, semantic, orthographic, and morphological awareness).
• Spoken language provides the foundation for the development of reading and writing abilities.
• Spoken and written language have a reciprocal relationship.
• Children with spoken language problems often have difficulty learning to read and write.
• Instruction in one modality (spoken or written) can result in growth in the other modality

^{(Reprinted from ASHA.org)}

Language Therapy sessions at the Language & Literacy Clinic incorporate the following areas that support literacy development: 

• Phonological Awareness
• Alphabetic Principle
• Story Structure and Narrative Language Development
• Semantics (vocabulary)
• Syntax (sentence structure)
• Morphology (word structure)
• Metalinguistics (higher level language processing)

Language therapy sessions are typically 30 to 45 minutes. For students who have a combination of dyslexia and a language disorder, longer sessions or more frequent intervention may be recommended.