Emma is Diagnosed With a Speech Disorder on ‘7 Little Johnstons’

Emma Johnston is diagnosed with a speech disorder during tonight’s April 21 episode of 7 Little Johnstons. In order to help her overcome the issue ahead of summer camp, the Johnstons all attend an improv class to help support Emma, while Emma herself sees a speech therapist.

The description of tonight’s episode, titled “It’s a Boy!” reads, “Emma is diagnosed with a speech order which she must overcome in order to lead summer camp activities. Worried about her ability to lead a group, Trent and Amber take the family to an improv class to help Emma think on her feet.”

Emma Sees a Speech Therapist During Tonight’s Episode

In a clip shared by Us Weekly ahead of the April 21 episode, Emma visits a therapist to help her overcome some of her speech issues before she leaves for summer camp, where she was recently appointed a camp leader.

“Emma is seeing the speech therapist today, Dr. Tiffany, to help her confidence and her abilities to get up in front of her group at camp and instruct them and just be able to overall lead them during this summer camp,” Amber Johnston says in the clip above.

“We have a new adventure,” the reality star tells the doctor. “She is going to be a camp leader for an arts and science camp this year. Her older sister, Anna, has been the past three or four years now and Emma’s kind of going to take over while Anna’s going to school. We just want to make sure we’re comfortable.”

Dr. Tiffany Helps Emma Build Confidence With Public Speaking

In the same clip shared by Us Weekly, Dr. Tiffany explains that she will be helping Emma through some of her issues with confidence when it comes to public speaking. She tells the cameras, “Today with Emma, we’re going to be working on language processing, her vocabulary and helping her to be more confident in speaking. I want Emma to become more confident and not have [her family] speak for her. She has a voice and I want her to be heard.”

Dr. Tiffany works with Emma throughout their session, asking her how she’s doing at home and if she feels like she’s been allowing herself to speak or if she’s been letting her family speak for her. The doctor shows Emma a series of note cards and asks her to say the first word that comes to her mind when she sees the pictures, which include snapshots of kites, keys and more.

Although it looks like she’s making progress, Emma says during a confessional that she is disappointed in herself, because she feels like it’s taking too long for her to answer. “It bothers me when I take forever to answer,” Emma tells the cameras. “I know what I want to say, but I just don’t know what the right word is.”

New episodes of 7 Little Johnstons air Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT on TLC. In the meantime, you can find all the latest in TV coverage and entertainment news here.

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