When Speech Therapy Feels Stuck: Understanding the Nervous System’s Role
You’ve been there: sitting in yet another speech therapy appointment, watching your child work through the same exercises you’ve practiced countless times at home. You’ve followed every recommendation, invested time and money, and dedicated hours each week to speech drills. Yet here you are, months or even years later, with your little one still struggling to communicate clearly while other children their age chatter away effortlessly.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone, and you’re not missing anything as a parent. The gap isn’t in your dedication or your child’s effort. Many children experience challenges with voice, speech, and language, and the majority receive traditional approaches that focus only on “output” -- the speech muscles and sounds. What’s often overlooked is what’s happening upstream in the brain and nervous system.
Instead of simply needing “more drills,” some children may also be experiencing stress or interference within their nervous system that makes speech development and regulation harder. Looking at the neurological foundation behind speech can open a new perspective on why progress feels so slow, and what additional support may help.
Meet Coen: When Everything Shifted
Coen’s parents had been searching everywhere for answers to his ongoing speech challenges. Traditional therapy helped, but they felt there had to be something more to support his progress.
When they brought Coen to a PX Doc trained in neurological care, his INSiGHT Scans provided new information about how his nervous system was processing and coordinating actions like movement and speech. His parents shared, “Looking through his scans and talking with the doctors, it all finally made sense why he was struggling and why progress had been so slow.”
After beginning neurologically-focused chiropractic care, Coen’s parents noticed changes they described as a breakthrough. Within a couple of months, he was producing more sounds than before, and they were excited to hear him initiating words on his own without prompting. “Lately, he’s just been talking away!” they shared.
Today, Coen’s parents say they’ve seen more progress in a few months than they expected, and they feel hopeful about the road ahead.
Understanding How Speech Actually Works: The Three-Step Process
Speech production is a complex, sequential neurological process that happens in three main stages:
Step 1: Input
The brain receives sensory and auditory signals, hearing sounds, feeling the position of the tongue and mouth, and processing visual cues from watching others speak.
Step 2: Integration
The brain processes and integrates this information, creating a plan for how to coordinate the many muscles needed for speech.
Step 3: Output
Finally, the brain sends coordinated signals to the speech muscles to produce sounds and words.
Here’s the key insight: while traditional approaches often focus on strengthening the muscles in step 3 (output), many challenges may actually begin earlier, in the input and integration phases of the nervous system.
If stress or subluxations are present, they may affect how the nervous system processes and integrates sensory information. In that case, even hard work at the output stage can feel frustratingly limited, because the underlying communication pathways aren’t fully supporting the process.
The Nervous System’s Role in Speech Development
Subluxation refers to misalignment and neurological interference within the nervous system that disrupts brain-body communication pathways, which may contribute to:
Challenges with how the brain signals speech muscles
Difficulty coordinating movement patterns used in speech
Changes in tone, coordination, and rhythm of the muscles involved in speaking and breathing
The Birth Connection
Some parents and providers point out that birth can be one of the earliest stressors on a child’s nervous system. Interventions such as C-sections, forceps, or vacuum extraction may place added strain on the neck and upper spine. Even in typical births, the process itself can create tension in delicate areas that influence neurological communication.
The Vagus Nerve: A Key Communication Pathway
The vagus nerve plays an important role in both speech and overall regulation. It influences the vocal cords, breathing, swallowing, and how the body shifts between “fight-or-flight” and “rest-and-digest” modes.
If the vagus nerve is under stress or not functioning optimally, it may contribute to:
Variations in vocal tone, pitch, or clarity
Challenges with the precise coordination of speech and swallowing
A nervous system that more easily stays “on alert,” making calm communication harder to access
When the nervous system is stuck in a stress response, children may have a harder time fully accessing calm, coordinated communication. Supporting the nervous system’s ability to regulate more effectively may, in turn, support clearer, more confident speech development.
Why Speech Delays Sometimes Go Hand-in-Hand with Other Challenges
Speech is a complex skill that develops on top of more foundational milestones, such as:
Nervous system regulation
Gross motor coordination
Gut-brain health
Basic sensory processing
If a child’s brain and body are still focusing on these foundational areas, higher-level functions like speech, socialization, and emotional regulation may take longer to fully develop.
This helps explain why some children with speech delays also experience challenges such as:
Digestive issues
Sleep difficulties
Sensory processing sensitivities
Delayed motor milestones
All of these areas connect back through the nervous system. Recognizing these connections doesn’t replace traditional care, but it can help parents explore a more complete picture of what their child may be experiencing.
Taking Charge: A Different Approach to Your Child’s Speech Development
Understanding the neurological foundations of speech can give parents a clearer perspective on their child’s development. Here’s how a neurologically-focused approach may provide additional insight and support:
Step 1: Exploring the “Perfect Storm”
This begins with looking at your child’s case history, including birth experiences and early life stressors that may have placed added strain on the nervous system. Parents know their child’s story better than anyone, trusting your instincts is an important part of the process.
Step 2: Neurological Assessment
At ChiroHouse, we use INSiGHT Scans and other assessments to gain a better understanding of how the nervous system is functioning. These scans may help highlight areas where stress patterns are present and provide objective data that can guide care recommendations.
Step 3: Gentle, Specific Care
Neurologically-focused chiropractic adjustments are gentle and specific. The goal is to support clearer communication between the brain and body so your child’s nervous system can better regulate and adapt. Parents often report that as their child’s nervous system function improves, progress in areas like speech and self-regulation feels more natural and sustainable.
Your Role as an Empowered Parent
You are your child’s best advocate. If traditional speech therapy isn’t bringing the progress you hoped for, trust your instincts. You can:
Ask about the neurological foundations of your child’s speech challenges
Seek providers who consider the whole child, not just outward symptoms
Explore care that looks beneath the surface rather than only managing effects
Set clear goals with your care team and track meaningful progress together
Your child’s struggles are not a reflection of your parenting or their effort. They may simply need a different approach, one that supports the nervous system so their natural abilities have a better chance to emerge.
Moving Forward with Hope and Purpose
Every child has an innate drive to communicate and connect. When that drive seems delayed or blocked, it may be because the nervous system is working hard to coordinate a very complex process.
At ChiroHouse, we recognize that supporting the neurological foundations of speech development doesn’t replace speech therapy, it can complement it. Using INSiGHT Scans and other gentle assessments, we look at how your child’s nervous system is functioning and where it may be showing signs of stress. From there, we design care aimed at supporting regulation and coordination, so that traditional therapies may be more effective.
If you’d like to explore this perspective, please reach out to our team. If you’re not local to to us, the PX Docs directory can help you find a chiropractor near you.
Remember: You know your child best. Trust your instincts, ask deeper questions, and don’t settle for “this is just how it is” if your heart says there’s more to the story.
