Frequently Asked

A speech-language pathologist, sometimes referred to as a speech therapist, is a professional healthcare provider who has at least a Master level degree in Speech-Language Pathology. SLPs have extensive training and experience in diagnosing and treating speech sound disorders, developmental language disorders, stuttering, voice disorders, feeding and swallowing disorders, and cognitive-linguistic disorders. Our SLPs are state licensed and maintain a Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC) through the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Some SLPs may specialize in specific areas, such as Autism, through additional continuing education and extensive clinical experience.

Cognitive-linguistic therapy or speech-language therapy involves the treatment of a diagnosable medical impairment. Speech-language impairments, or communication disorders, adversely affect an individual’s ability to perform acts of daily living. These may include language impairment, speech-articulation impairment, stuttering, or a voice impairment, among many other. Regarding children, The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) defines speech and language impairments as a communication disorder such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice impairment that adversely affects a child's educational performance.

What would happen if the world viewed neurodevelopmental differences like ADHD, autism, and learning disabilities differently? If everyone noticed the strengths that can come from these differences first, instead of the challenges? What would happen if the world viewed neurodevelopmental differences like ADHD, autism, and learning disabilities differently? If everyone noticed the strengths that can come from these differences first, instead of the challenges? -Amanda Morin https://www.understood.org/en/articles/neurodiversity-what-you-need-to-know

Strength-based therapy is an approach that honors and acknowledges an individual's unique strengths and interests and how they see the world. Check out Rachel Dorsey's eloquent explanation of strength-based therapy: https://dorseyslp.com/blog/strengthsbased.

DIR® is the Developmental, Individual-differences, and Relationship-based model (pronounced saying each letter as an initialism: D.I.R.). DIR provides a foundational framework for understanding human development and how each person individually perceives and interacts with the world differently. It outlines the critical role social-emotional development has on overall human development starting at birth and continuing throughout the lifespan. The model highlights the power of relationships and emotional connections to fuel development. Through a deep understanding of the "D" and the "I" we can use the "R" to promote healthy development and to help everyone reach their fullest potential.

DIR® is rooted in the science of human development and can sound technical at times, but it is also simple. It is a pathway to promote healthy development in a respectful manner that builds connections, understanding, love, communication, and engagement.

While the DIR® model helps us understand and promote the positive development of all children, DIR and DIRFloortime are most commonly utilized with children with educational, social-emotional, mental health, and/or developmental challenges. DIRFloortime has become most widely known as an approach to support children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).

If you would like to speak with a therapist about your concerns, you can book a free consultation. A free consultation consists of a 15–20-minute phone call where you can talk with one of our therapists about your concerns without committing to a full evaluation. The therapist will ask questions about your child’s development, address any concerns you may have, and provide recommendations for your child.

Typically, a child should be 100% intelligible to unfamiliar listeners by age 4. For younger children, unfamiliar listeners should be able to understand roughly 25% age 1, 50% by age 2, and 75% by age 3.

Unfortunately due to time constraints all services are provided in our office or via teletherapy. Arrangements can be made on an individual basis for community-based therapy activities.

The length of therapy cannot be predicted. Children may show immediate improvement, or it may be very gradual. The rate and pattern of improvement is different for every child. Progress is evaluated in three to six month intervals. Therapy duration is dependent on a number of factors:

· Type and level of impairment (clients with significant disabilities such as mental retardation or autism spectrum disorders receive ongoing support and treatment vs. clients with articulation disorders, who are in therapy for a short number of weeks/months)

· Presence of maintaining factors (e.g., psychiatric diagnosis, other structural/functional deficits)

· Existence of additional support services (is the child receiving school based therapy, resource room, reading recovery, etc)

· Parental involvement (supervision of homework, reinforcement of current skills)

· Client motivation

Comprehensive assessments for younger children (infants, toddlers, preschoolers and early school age children) typically last between 2-3 hours and are performed during 1 visit. Comprehensive assessments for older school age children may last between 4-5 hours and are usually broken into 2 sessions over a period of several days. All assessments are highly individualized and are dependent on the client’s unique needs (e.g., is assessment needed to qualify the child for in district school therapy services, are parents seeking an independent evaluation to be used in a court case, etc).

An evaluation allows a speech therapist the opportunity to assess your child’s development as well as strengths and unique way of learning and processing information. This assessment will include a combination of standardized testing, observation through play, medical history information, interviews (depending on your child's age), therapy tasks, and parent report. Through the evaluation, it will be determined if treatment is necessary. Treatment at Westside Therapy Associates cannot be initiated unless an evaluation has been completed.

We provide pediatric services for children from birth to 21 years.

Westside Therapy Associates believes that a collaborative and multidisciplinary effort between the child, their family and other support networks help to achieve results and reach the highest level of success. Treatment of autistic children and working closely with their families is one of our specialties.

Parents are a very important part of treatment at Westside Therapy Associates. Parents are often invited to observe and participate during therapy, and parent education is an integral part of every therapy session. Each session is designed to allow time for the parent and therapist to discuss progress and what was done during the therapy session. Home programs are provided to the parent to increase carryover in all settings and help the child be more successful in reaching their goals.

You can obtain an email copy of our privacy practices by requesting it. Our privacy practices are also located on our website.