Voice Program, Delaware Valley
Expert Care for Voice Disorders
When a child experiences a voice disorder — whether related to everyday vocal use, vocal injury, or the demands placed on high performing young athletes or vocalists — families need compassionate, trusted experts. The Nemours Children’s Health Voice Program brings together a highly skilled team of experts dedicated to evaluating and treating pediatric voice concerns.
There are a wide range of voice issues that your child may be experiencing including: hoarseness, breathing problems and coughing, often after exercise or stressful activity, which can often look like asthma. Vocal cord dysfunction in children can be hard to diagnose, but if your child has an underlying condition, we’ll get them the right care, right here.
Our Voice Program is an interdisciplinary program that brings together otolaryngologists, some of whom are subspecialty trained in both pediatrics and laryngology pulmonologists, speech and language pathologists, and psychologists. We assess your child as a team, which can mean earlier diagnosis and treatment. All treatment recommendations are given at the first appointment and are customized to fit the individualized needs of your child.
Meet the Team
Our program brings together a team of specialists who work together to help children find their voice and communicate effectively.
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Casey Wertz, PA-C
Otolaryngology
A Comprehensive Teams Based Approach
- Availability in 4 different locations across Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey
- Only program with embedded psychology
- All initial visits done with otolaryngology and speech language pathology
- Comprehensive vocal measurements and exams with laryngoscopy and stroboscopy as indicated
How to Reduce Risk of a Vocal Cord Attack
See a Nemours speech-language pathologist show you how to do neck and shoulder muscles stretches to help prevent vocal cord attacks.
Vocal cord dysfunction means that the vocal cords partially close during breathing, so air has more trouble getting through. Find out how to help.
Yelling too much or misusing the voice can lead to chronic hoarseness. Learn how it can sound better from the experts at Nemours KidsHealth.org.
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Conditions & Treatments
We treat different kinds of voice problems, including:
Related Specialties
Empowering Kids to Use Their Voices Well
At Nemours, our Voice Program team will evaluate your child and design a plan to meet their specific needs.
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Specialists we work with closely
We’re coordinated and compassionate. Our team of speech-language pathologists and ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists work hand-in-hand with each other and you to care for your child. We’re ready to address medical concerns and any needed changes in behavior that can improve the function of your child’s vocal cords.
We offer complete care. One of our speech-language pathologists and an ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist will do a full evaluation of your child. They’ll look at how your child’s voice box and vocal cords are working and provide follow-up care as needed.
We treat vocal cord dysfunction. Vocal cord dysfunction is when the vocal cords partially close during breathing. The condition can make it hard for a child to breathe. Our team sees lots of kids with this condition and we’re recognized for our expertise at diagnosing and treating it.
We offer personalized “vocal hygiene” instruction. Our speech-language pathologists will spend time one-on-one with your child to help them learn healthy breathing and speaking techniques and tackle habits (like throat clearing or talking loudly).