Helpful Information

The process looks at your needs are. That includes making or confirming a speech-language diagnosis, if you do not have a current assessment.
This practice is considered private pay. Check first with the insurance if they require prior authorization.

You are required to pay the full amount at time of service. A paid invoice (“superbill”) with the codes needed by insurance is available.
Contact your insurance first for any requirements, limits, or exclusions.
Services provided under a DDD-budget require monthly signed SDRs to authorize direct payments.

Absolutely, they deserve attention. Interaction with infants is critical. Oral motor issues can occur in the transition to solid food. Babies and children can be fussy eaters, and desensitization can help.
Note: I do not claim competence in nutrition. Managing child NPO/non-per-oral feeding and swallowing is not in my training.

In a word, no, it will not. Research has shown this, but it’s common sense, too. You use lots of ways to communicate, every day. You talk because for you, speech is easy, portable, and doesn’t require tools. When you can’t talk to someone because they aren’t in the room, you email. You wave if they’re down the block, and get up close if they aren’t paying attention. You use Total Communication!

No, I paid for Prompt! for my son, with zero results. I prefer DTTC, a parent-friendly and free, well-researched system. DTTC is Direct Temporal and Tactile Cueing. It is free, available to schools and parents. Prompt is expensive, taught only in person, and excludes parents.

The Prompt Institute is unfriendly to parents. Their tactile cues are copyrighted and too expensive for schools. The Institute tells speech therapists to show a parent only one or 2 “sounds.” But a child’s name has at least 3 or 4 sounds. Meanwhile, speech therapists pay a lot of money to the Prompt Institute.
My son enjoyed Prompt therapy, but he would have liked DTTC or Cued Speech, too.

Prompt uses a consistent set of cues. So does DTTC. Your school therapist will not be sent to Prompt classes. They’re expensive and in-person. Instead, she could learn DTTC at home for free over the summer.

Meanwhile DTTC (Direct Temporal and Tactile Cueing) trainings are free, online, available to parents and schools, and demonstrated through research.

The Bergen County office is adjacent Paramus, Westwood, Ridgewood, and Hillsdale in Washington Township, NJ 07676. We are near Rockland County, NY, and Passaic and Essex Counties. Paterson and Bloomfield are 20 minutes away.

Tele-therapy is available for most clients who reside in NJ.
NY State tele-therapy will be offered when licensing allows.

Depending on where and schedule, Laura may be available to come to your home or workplace.

Travel time charges may apply.

Laura might come into a day habilitation. Consult your Support Coordinator. If the center offers private space, services can be privately paid. If the client is “clocked out” and “clocked in” at the facility, the services could be under the client’s DDD budget.

The confident parent who helps their child 5 minutes a day a few days a week in real situations will be effective. Tele-therapy should help parents work better with their children in their home. On “Zoom,” you are hands-on with your child. You learn helpful words to say and ways to show things.

It’s communication support: doing laundry, at dinner, with grandma, playing with the dog, or dancing in the living room.

With tele-therapy, frequent short sessions are possible, too. Short and frequent can be more effective than the same time delivered in one shot.