Q.  I thought speech has to do with stuttering and speaking clearly. How can a speech pathologist help my child with  reading, writing, and executive functioning struggles?  How will I know if my child needs help in these areas?

   

A.   Most people hear "speech pathologist" and think stuttering and articulation, which makes sense. However, we are really trained in "communication sciences and disorders." If we think about it that way, it's easier to see that we help people to communicate their ideas and understand what is being communicated to them, in both written and spoken form.  Thus, speech-language pathologists are specially trained to help children write organized essays, explain ideas effectively, understand what they are reading, understand classroom lessons, and interact more comfortably with the world around them.  A speech pathologist can help your child understand and explain concepts from history class, books, and science class. We can even help children express their thought process for math problems, understand word problems, and so much more.

 

Early language skill support leads to greater confidence in schools.  Please contact us here to schedule a complementary meeting to discuss plans and options for language therapy and academic support.  

 

 

 

Q.  How can you help my child understand what (s)he is learning in school? 

 

A.   Many speech pathologists are specially trained to support children understand what they are reading and understand what is happening in their classroom.  We are trained in the Orton-Gillingham method for reading instruction.  We are also trained in the Judith Hochman method for teaching writing. 

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Our primary goal is to help your child fill their tool box with strategies they can use for any assignment or task through college. Whether it's note-taking skills, reading comprehension strategies, or organizational tools, we will find the right strategy for your child. We can help your child break down overwhelming tasks into more manageable chunks, find a good starting point, and game plan assignments. We will work with teachers and school professionals to develop a plan to carry over strategies that work well - whether the strategies were developed by the teacher or our professionals. Working with the teachers also allows us to preview or review classroom material, so your child will go into class confident and able to raise their hands to ask or answer questions.

 

Early literacy and language support leads to greater success in schools.  Please contact us here to schedule a complementary meeting to discuss plans and options for language therapy and academic support.  You can find more information about linguistic developmental milestones here, however it is always best to discuss your concerns with a professional. 

 

 

 

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Q.   I suspect that my child is having difficulty learning in school, what should I do?

 

 A.    Children develop at different rates and achieve milestones at different ages.  If you suspect something may not be quite

right, talk to your pediatrician, a speech pathologist, a psychologist or your child's teacher.  A speech pathologist supports early literacy and later literacy skills while targeting phonics, vocabulary, and language.  For more information, see this article in the ASHA Leader.

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You should talk to your pediatrician or reach your child's teacher first.  They may refer you to have testing done so that we can learn about how your child learns best.  Many learning difficulties co-occur with language difficulties.  For example, does your child have  difficulty focusing in school?  Has your child been diagnosed with dyslexia, an auditory processing disorder, or ADD/ADHD?  Early literacy and language intervention leads to  improved self-esteem, confidence, and success in school.

 

If you suspect your child may be struggling with emotional or behavioral difficulties, you can find out more information about cognitive-behavioral therapy at the NYU Child Study Center  here.

 

 

 

Q.   What can I do to help?

 

A.    There are many things that parents can do to help support their child's literacy and language development.  Reading is an important factor for vocabulary and concept development.  Looking at books and reading together helps your child learn new vocabulary and see that words have different meanings.  In addition, while doing daily routines, talk about the steps and what items you need to use.  For example, when brushing your child's teeth, you can say, "First we put the toothpaste on the toothbrush. Now, it's time to brush your teeth."  This teaches vocabulary, concept development, and sequencing.  Lastly, try not to overwhelm your child with too much language at one time.  It may take him or her a moment to process the information, so provide a little extra "thinking time."

 

For additional tips, check out our blog here.

 

 

 

 

Q.   What ages and educational levels do you see for tutoring? What do you do to help?

 

A.     At Alphabet Aerobics Speech and Language Education™, we work with children ages 3-18 who have of varying intellectual and learning abilities. For instance, we tutor students who have diagnosed learning and language disabilities, attentional disorders, and students who just need a little additional reinforcement.  Specifically, we work with students from schools such as New York City Public Schools, the Horace Mann School, the Stephen Gaynor School, the Hewitt School, and the Dalton School.

 

In terms of what takes place during tutoring sessions, it depends on the needs of the student. Some students benefit from help with executive functioning tasks such as planning and initiating assignments, organizing homework, or planning a study schedule. Other students benefit from content specific support such as reading comprehension and highlighting strategies to break down or simplify texts in social studies, science, literature, or writing.  

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The most important part of any session is to make the material more interactive and enjoyable.  In order for student to understand, remember, and retain information, the session should be active and interesting. We use a multisensory approach that incorporates videos, conversation, diagrams, individually designed graphic organizers, color-coding and specific questions to promote confidence and independent thinking.

 

 

 

Q.   What goals do you address during speech and language therapy? What do you do to help?

 

  A.     The goals of sessions and techniques we use depend on the needs of the child.  At Alphabet Aerobics Speech and Language Education, LLC. we always strive to keep sessions fun and interesting in order to promote an engaging and enriching environment. We work with children who have a variety of strengths and areas needing improvement.  During our sessions, we aim to promote successes and confidence by reinforcing strengths and supporting areas where the child needs improvement.  We provide treatment for children who have oromotor weakness which impacts their articulation, and children who have expressive and receptive language disorders which impacts their ability to express their ideas in an effective way.  Additionally, we provide therapy sessions for students who benefit from explicit teaching of social and conversational skills.  Please contact us here for a complementary consultation. 

  

 

 

Q.   Where can I find more information about language and literacy?

 

A.     The American Speech Hearing Association (ASHA) has many resources available:

 

                http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/ChildSandL.htm

 

         Information about early literacy skills are available here:

 

                http://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/EL_policy09.pdf