SPEECH THERAPY
The focus of our Speech Language Pathologists (SLP’s) is to foster a nurturing relationship with your child as this helps to facilitate the speech and language therapy process that will enable your child to reach their full potential.
INITIAL EVALUATION
We offer speech and language evaluations to help determine if your child has a language, speech, or communication delay or disorder. Because all children are unique, we customize evaluations according to your child’s individual needs.
Also, because some child speech delays or disorders may be symptoms of other health concerns, we may refer you to other specialists, including ear, nose and throat specialists, or other professionals who specialize in working with children.
PLANNING
After the evaluation, our Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) will then work with you to develop a speech therapy plan that will be carried out at home or at school (a setting your child is already familiar with). Studies show that children, who receive therapy services in their natural environment such as home or school, tend to show more positive benefits from their therapy.
BEST PRACTICES
The best way for your child to benefit from our planning is by using events occurring in your child’s home or school as the foundation for therapy sessions. In short, we attempt to integrate therapy into the child’s everyday life to make the experience more “real.” By having your child quickly make connections between what is learned during therapy and what is happening in the immediate environment, our goal is to make your child’s new communication skills a permanent part of his or her daily life.
In addition to providing therapy sessions, we constantly offer support and guidance to parents, the child’s teacher and classroom curriculum (if desired) and any of the child’s caregivers to ensure the child’s therapy goals are being incorporated on a daily basis. This concept of “whole child” development, thoroughly involving key people in the child’s life, is an essential part of our service model.
Lastly, to further reinforce all of the skills your child acquires during therapy sessions, the SLP will give your child “fun work”, which is brief yet comprehensive work to complete along with you. Our goal is to help children communicate better and to involve parents in the process.
POST EVALUATION
After 3-6 months of therapy sessions (depending on your child’s age and needs), we provide a follow-up evaluation to measure the child’s progress. As with the initial evaluation, our SLP informs parents of the results and recommends the next course of action, which may include decreasing the frequency or duration of therapy sessions, ending the therapy sessions, or increasing therapy sessions. Again, because every child is unique, each reevaluation factors in the child’s age, needs, abilities, and parental concerns.
