Serving families in northeastern Massachusetts and southeastern New Hampshire, in-person in North Reading, MA, or via teletherapy.
PEDIATRIC SPEECH & LANGUAGE THERAPY
EVALUATIONS
Our evaluation will begin with an initial consultation where we will gather important information about your child, answer your questions, and discuss your concerns. We will also have you fill out a questionnaire about your child’s communication skills and developmental history prior to meeting for an evaluation.
Our evaluations typically consist of an observation, a speech-language sample, standardized test measures, and therapist-client interactions. When Childhood Apraxia of Speech is suspected, we will often ask you to send us videos of your child during their first year, along with more recent videos for further analysis.
Following the evaluation, we will explain our initial findings and discuss our recommendations for the next steps. A therapy plan will be developed based on the evaluation results, your child's strengths, and your preferences. We will also provide a detailed written report within 2 weeks of the final evaluation session. A follow-up phone call or Zoom meeting can be scheduled if your family would like to discuss the results after receiving the comprehensive report.
We will support you every step of the way and make sure that all your questions are answered!
THERAPY
Great therapy is a result of great trust, so we start by building rapport with each child. Our therapy approaches are play-based, engaging, and respectful of each child’s interests. You will often see us working together on the floor, singing songs, playing imaginative games, looking at books, moving our bodies, and laughing. While it might not look like “work” from the outside, play is rich with communication opportunities.
Caregivers play an essential role in pediatric therapy, so we invite mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, and other adults in your child’s life to sit on the floor with us and participate in sessions. We encourage each child to interact with their family members during therapy, and we teach families to use the same strategies that we use.
The last 5 minutes of every session are reserved for a conversation with each child’s caregivers ‒ to review what happened during the session and go over tips or questions. We support growth in-between sessions by sending home specific tasks and takeaways. Our goal is to empower each family to use therapeutic strategies so that their child’s learning can continue all week. We keep home practice manageable, motivating, and easy to incorporate into daily life!
Childhood Apraxia of Speech
We understand how frustrating it is when a child knows what they want to say but can’t seem to “get it out.” Our expertise in motor planning and speech coordination allows us to help kids become better communicators through the use of motor-based approaches.
We give children with CAS the confidence and practice to speak the words that are important to them and communicate those words so that others can understand. We incorporate play into our sessions to get a lot of practice with meaningful and motivating words!
Speech Sound Disorders
We work on speech sounds by showing our clients how to use their mouth and tongue to make certain sounds and words that may be difficult for them to produce on their own. Our goal is to help each child express themselves more clearly and produce all age-appropriate speech sounds correctly.
We select our therapy approach after learning which cues help a child the most, and then we integrate those supports into scavenger hunts, board games, interactive books, and other activities to foster motivation and engagement!
Early Language
When a child’s communication skills are delayed, we often begin with pre-linguistic skills, or the skills that typically come before language. We may start by working on pointing, imitating actions, or making animal sounds and then move onto speaking first words and combining words!
We follow the child’s lead and use a play-based approach to increase their communication skills. Our sessions always integrate caregiver coaching to empower families with the tools that they need to help their child communicate within everyday routines.
