Services

The evaluation consists of a parent interview, child observation, and formal testing procedures. The specific areas that are targeted during the assessment are based on the concerns identified by the parent, physician or educator. Play-based and informal testing procedures are utilized with young children and those who have difficulty with standardized assessments. The purpose of the assessment is to evaluate a child’s speech, language and communication abilities to determine whether a communication difficulty exists. A comprehensive evaluation identifies strengths and weaknesses in a child’s communication skills. Specific recommendations for therapeutic intervention, educational placement, and accommodations are made based on the results of the evaluation. A written comprehensive report is generated within two weeks after a parent feedback meeting to detail the child’s speech and language profile.

At the initiation of therapy at CLaSS, all students who have not previously had a comprehensive evaluation are screened by our therapists.  A consultation/screening is a cursory assessment of a child’s speech and language skills.  Both formal (standardized tools) and more informal assessment procedures are used in addition to parent feedback.  Based on the initial consultation, the appropriateness of therapy is determined.  When intervention is deemed necessary, therapeutic goals are formed and a plan is put into place for support.

Individual speech and language therapy sessions are provided to children with difficulties with receptive vocabulary development, grammatical development, social communication skills, expressive formulation skills, auditory processing skills, oral motor functioning, articulation skills, fluency, phonological awareness (pre-reading skills), higher order language skills and written language abilities. Therapy sessions consist of engaging therapeutic games and activities that target specific goals. Sessions are always fun yet challenging with the support of the clinician. Parents are encouraged to be active participants in their child’s therapy process. 

Enhanced Individual Session- 15 minute FaceTime/Skype session added on to a weekly session in order to generalize skills more quickly.

These groups are designed for children who struggle to interpret nonverbal language, engage in perspective taking and flexible thinking and connect with peers. Children who have participated in our groups in the past have been those who are on the autism spectrum as well as children who have never otherwise received support, but are struggling socially in school. Group sessions typically include one clinician and two to four children with similar therapeutic goals and interests.

These programs are individualized and designed to support and enhance academic and social skills. Our enrichment sessions are typically for children ages 3-10 and aim to improve a child’s self-confidence, attention, and stamina. Skills that are targeted in the preschool age include: knowledge of basic concepts, letters, numbers, shapes, colors, as well as important reasoning skills such as understanding similarities, differences, patterns, and puzzles. With school-aged children, work focuses on reading fluency, comprehension, word knowledge, and spelling.

Play On Words is a language stimulation class for children 12-24 months old that aims to pass on the “tricks” that speech-language therapists use to encourage language development in a fun and parent/caregiver-friendly format.  Classes incorporate sound repetition, rhythmic games and songs as well as oral-motor activities. Significant time is spent coaching parents and caregivers to respond to their young communicators consistently, illustrating cause and effect in communication.  At the end of each session, weekly ideas for home practice are provided.