At my clinic in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York, I tailor speech-language therapy sessions for pediatric clients based on their evaluation results, individualized education programs (IEPs) and parental observations in order to achieve appropriate communication goals.
During therapy, I employ my knowledge, expertise and technology to deliver the highest quality services to each client. My ultimate objective is to transition each client’s communication skills from a learned environment to a functional environment, like school and home.
I also train families and caregivers, teach in the community and provide direct treatment to clients with diverse special needs. My practice respects each client’s unique treatment needs. Intervention services include:
The PROMPT system (Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets) was formally devised by Deborah Hayden in the late 1970s after working with children suffering severe motor impairment who did not respond to traditional auditory and visual treatment. The development of PROMPT treatment was grounded in theoretical and clinical perspectives that cross several disciplines focused on physical, mental and social development.
Since then, PROMPT has continued to evolve, influenced by scholarly work that includes the neurobiological, cognitive-linguistic and social aspects. It has been said that PROMPT “directly translates the neuromuscular movements required for the phonemic system, connects them to linguistic codes and articulation sequences for communicative interactions.” For more information go to www.promptinstitute.com
This protocol, developed by Nancy Kaufman in 1979, teaches children with apraxia an easy way to say words until they have increased motor speech coordination. Children are taught the shell of words without including complex consonants, vowels or syllables that make a word too difficult to even attempt on a motor basis. This teaching method is a reflection of how young children attempt their first words. For more information, go to www.kidspeech.com
Social communication or pragmatics refers to the way in which children use language within social situations. The ability to use language, to adapt language to meet the needs of the listener or situations and to follow the “ unspoken” rules of conversation and storytelling are the three main components of pragmatic language skills.
Social communication (pragmatics) is extremely important in order to build social relationships with other people and community. It is also important academically, since the children rely on working in small groups or teams for projects in school. When a child has social communication difficulties, they might also have difficulties with behavior, sensory processing, planning and sequencing, working memory, receptive and expressive language skills, articulation, fluency, play skills, and completing academic work. Role-playing, taking turns, describing activities, using puppets, and social skills group are some of the strategies you can utilize to improve social communication skills (pragmatics).
