Seeking Truth
Intervention and Inclusion
In all this time we’ve spent home and with our kiddos, perhaps you are noticing certain characteristics, behavior, and or development challenges. And, now that you’ve done some observations, you’re worried or curious and not sure what can be done with the information and concerns that you’ve collected. First, it may be worth a call to your child’s pediatrician to discuss. From there, if needed, numerous specialists exist that can help identify what type of exact issues may need to continue to be observed or addressed.
Over many years, I’ve had the pleasure to work closely with Gabriele Nicolet, an experienced and knowledgeable Speech and Language Pathologist (SLP), and the Owner and Founder of SpeechKids. I hope you’ll enjoy our interview; which provides some basic information about SLP therapies, some of the processes, approaches, and offered services.
As a Speech and Language Therapist, what services and evaluations do you offer?
My practice offers speech therapy for all types of feeding, speech and language disorders and delays as well as full speech and language evaluations, which include 1 to 2 hours of formal testing, an informal observation, and a written report. We also offer informal consultations. Recently, we began offering parent mentoring services as well for parents who find their children’s behavior hard to manage or understand; and since Covid, we've been doing "screenless' teletherapy!
How young do you typically start to evaluate children?
Depending on the condition or diagnosis, children can be seen basically from birth for speech and language therapy. For example, in the case of known genetic conditions such as Downs Syndrome, work would begin almost immediately with a speech and language therapist to work on feeding and the precursors for speech and language.
What advice would you give to parents that suspect their child has challenges with their speech or another language-based issue? What should they do first? Next?
If parents suspect that their child has a speech or language issue, they should consult a speech language pathologist as soon as possible. It’s never too early to have someone with an experienced eye take a look and tell you what they see. Even if we don’t expect a child to be talking yet, there are lots of things that happen in the first year of life that set a child up for communication success. If kids are missing those milestones, they are at risk for speech and language delays later.
(ASHA) has a lot of information for parents who are investigating getting speech and language services www.Asha.org
What is early intervention and what can you share regarding your professional experience and early intervention?
Early intervention is hugely important and hugely helpful. Given that brain development is happening at such a rapid pace in the first three years of life, it’s tremendously important to capitalize on the brains plasticity early if we suspect a delay or disorder….One thing parents need to know, is that they are entitled to a free evaluation if they think their child has a delay through their county. These offices are often called Early Intervention or Child Find.
Where do you and your therapists typically meet with children for sessions? How long do sessions usually last?
My practice sees children in their homes and preschools. Other therapists have an office where they see their families. Sessions usually last 50 minutes, although we sometimes shorten our sessions depending on the needs of the child. Since Covid, we've been doing all of our sessions via Zoom.
What reliable resources are available for parents regarding speech and learning differences?
I would recommend checking out my book, The Gift of Speech, which is available on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Gift-Speech-practical-decisions-communication/dp/1731446632
ASHA has lots of information for parents on speech and language-related challenges: www.Asha.org
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has an excellent milestones chart and information for parents: www.CDC.org
Another website that I really like for information about speech and learning differences. It also explains the legislation that exists and the laws the protect and support children’s education: www.Understood.org
Many thanks to Gabriele for taking the time to complete this interview
and provide numerous helpful resources! For more information about Gabriele’s services,
please check our ‘Partners’ page!
Spotlight on Special Needs
As a former teacher, I know the type of impact that teachers can have on children. And, when children have additional needs, knowing that your child’s teacher is able and willing to support you, as the parent, make a HUGE difference in your experience and that of your child’s. You may find that you need to be an advocate for your child to ensure they have what a they need and you may need to reach out to a specialist to further identify what needs exist and how the child’s community can better support the current needs. I spent some time interviewing a good friend and Special Education Teacher from the Long Beach Unified School District, Cara Wysong. Enjoy!
Tell us a bit about yourself and the classroom that you are responsible for running.
I am a Special Education Teacher in Long Beach Unified School District. This is my 15th year, and the last four of them have been as a Resource Specialist and a Mild Moderate Algebra teacher at a large comprehensive high school. My students are 9th-12th graders, with mild moderate disabilities. I also worked as a Resource Specialist for a K-8 school for the first 10 years.
What type of training and education do you have to support your work with children who have special needs?
I have a Special Education Credential to work with Mild Moderate Students, a Multiple Subject teaching credential to work with general education students K-8, and a Master’s in Special Education. And, I have an authorization to support students with autism in a school setting.
How were you able to maintain and or modify your teaching approaches for a Virtual Education experience with your students?
Because we already utilized google classroom during the school year and built a community in our classroom during the year, it was easy to move online and support students via google meetups.
How can parents best support their children with special needs at home? Do you know of any helpful resources for children with special needs and resources for families that are working to manage at home?
Be patient.
Know you are doing an amazing job, even if it doesn’t feel that way.
Know you are the best teacher for your own child.
Additional Helpful Resources:
A resource surrounding ADHD - https://www.additudemag.com
A resource all about various learning disabilities and additional information on ADHD - www.ldonline.org
Many thanks to Cara for providing us with this additional information and resources,
as we work together to best support our kiddos! For additional information on Cara’s services to support students with special education needs and virtual learning support, check out our ‘Partners’ page.
If you child has specialists on board, an IEP, and or is enrolled in a school program, then, be sure to utilize this team of professionals to provide you with as much information and support, as they can; whether your child is attending school in person, virtually, or if you are homeschooling or doing some combination thereof. Often times, the specialists that work with your child and have experience in the field, are able to provide ideas, techniques, and approaches that will work best for your specific child and or the challenges that your child is working through at this time. These details may be outlined somewhere within your child’s IEP. Some specialists also provide training opportunities or workshops to further support parents’ needs.
Remember, YOU ARE NOT IN THIS ALONE!
Seek the truth, utilize your resources, and work with those resources
to further support yourself and your child.
Here are a few more resources:
National Center for Education Statistics: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cgg.asp
On the Understood website, there’s an incredible letter/resource regarding parent-teacher relationships. I highly suggest taking a look here:
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