What We Do
Intake
A consultant takes your information and contacts your insurance to begin authorization.Assessment
A BCBA assesses your child via direct observation and/or parent interview and creates a personalized treatment plan.Direct Treatment
We match your child and your family with an experienced therapist who best accommodates your needs and availability. The therapist renders 1:1 ABA services, running behavior programs as specified by the BCBA, and collecting data.Quality Assurance
Treatment planning and supervision. The BCBA designs skill acquisition and behavior reduction targets, monitors the data, adds next steps for mastered targets, modifies treatment, and trains and supervises the therapist as necessary.Family Consultation
The Clinical Director, BCBA, and therapist collaborate with your family to empower family members with scientifically proven strategies and to offer training and support.
Collaboration with
Caregivers and Service Providers
We understand the impact this diagnosis can have on those most directly affected by the learner’s disabilities: those who live with them at home. We appreciate that parents know their child best and value their feedback at every step in the therapy process. Through weekly consultation, parents guide the goals targeted in therapy. The BCBA and therapist collaborate with family members to address any questions or concerns they have regarding treatment and to offer training and support. Working together as a team ensures treatment integrity, and promotes generalization and maintenance of the learner’s progress. Our objective is to empower family members with scientifically proven strategies that will reform everyday encounters, facilitate more positive interactions, and foster more meaningful relationships. We collaborate with schools, speech therapists, physical therapists, and any other providers willing to be our partner in supporting your child’s progress. We have attended IEP meetings at the request of parents.
Speech therapy is an intervention service that focuses on improving a child’s speech skills, and understanding and/or expressing language skills including nonverbal language. Speech-language pathologists (SLP’s), are the professionals who provide these services.
Speech therapy is important because communication is a fundamental aspect of human interaction. Speech-language pathologists play a crucial role in helping individuals overcome communication challenges, such as stuttering, articulation disorders, language delays, voice disorders, and more. SLP’s also specialize in evaluating and treating swallowing and feeding disorders to improve an individual's ability to swallow safely, as well as, develop skills for eating and drinking. By working with an SLP, clients can improve their ability to express themselves, understand others, and participate in social, academic and professional settings. Our therapy techniques use a variety of activities and strategies to encourage your child to communicate at his/her highest level, while still having fun!
Please remember “The earlier a child receives the help he/she needs, the better his/her language and communication development outcome will be.” Some parents are advised that their child will likely “grow out of it,”and they simply wait for the child to catch up. However, the “wait and see” approach means that precious time can be lost during this critical learning phase.
Rather than “waiting and seeing,” PRISM Learning Center says, “Let’s do something about this.” We don’t want a habit to form; at that point, it will be even harder to address and fix. Our goal is to give children the tools they need to speak, communicate, and express themselves clearly. Oftentimes, that starts with speech therapy.
Does My Child Need Speech Therapy?
A common question parents ask about speech therapy is whether or not their child needs it in the first place. Speech delays and certain speech impediments are relatively common in children, affecting about 5% of those between the ages of 3-17. While some do grow out of it, many seek outside support in the form of speech therapy.
Noticing speech delays, a detectable lisp, a stutter, or other communication issues in your child could be an indication that it may be time to seek professional help from a speech-language pathologist.
Reasons to See a Speech-Language Pathologist
The following are some of the telltale signs that it may be time to explore speech therapy for your child:
- Child has not combined words by 18 months old.
- Difficulty imitating sounds made by others.
- Limited variety of sounds.
- Poor quality of sounds.
- Difficulty understanding new words.
- Difficulty following commands.
- A noticeable lisp, stutter, or other speech impediment.
- Language delays.
- Child stops saying words that were previously within his/her vocabulary.
- Issues starting conversations with others
- Speech is unintelligible to those who do not know the child well (apparent after 24 months of age).
- Not speaking in sentences by 36 months.
- Not speaking fluently by 3 ½ years old.
- Lasting communication changes following an injury or surgery.
This is not an exhaustive list of when to seek help from a speech-language pathologist. If you have any concerns about the development of your child and their ability to become an effective communicator, it may be a good idea to seek out the advice of a professional.
Getting an evaluation on how your child is progressing with their speech development can put you at ease no matter what the outcome is. The great thing is that for whatever you need, PRISM Learning Center is here to help. Our speech therapy programs pair qualified speech-language pathologists with clients based on their individual needs. We work one-on-one to develop the skills needed for clear, effective communication. This is what fosters greater independence both now and in the future.
To get started with speech therapy in Northern New Jersey at PRISM, contact us today!
What We Do
Applied
Make a difference of social importance for the family.
Behavioral
Focus on observable and measurable behavior.
Analytic
Prove relationships between behavior and the environment.
Technological
Procedures are clear and replicable.
Conceptually Systematic
Procedures are clear and replicable.
Effective
Behavioral techniques result in socially significant change.
Generality
Results are durable and long lasting.
Speech Therapy Services
Skills we target in therapy include but are not limited to:
Daily living skills such as: using the toilet, brushing teeth, transitioning from a preferred activity to a non-preferred activity, working the best way, cleaning up, completing age-appropriate activities, getting dressed and undressed, putting clothes in the hamper, tying shoes, following a schedule, sitting at the table while eating, eating new foods, wiping, using a tissue, cleaning hands using soap and water, wiping hands and face when done eating, counting objects, listening to a story, and completing a puzzle.
Communication skills such as: labeling and identifying environmental objects, labeling and identifying family members, requesting basic needs and wants, using functional phrases in the appropriate context, responding to WH questions, asking WH questions, responding to social questions, following instructions, verbal imitation, labeling and identifying nouns and verbs, placing objects according to prepositions, expressive and receptive sequencing, singing age-appropriate songs, and responding to yes/no.
Motor skills such as: buttoning buttons, zipping zippers, coloring, drawing, writing, cutting, fine motor coordination, fine motor imitation, gross motor imitation, gross motor coordination, throwing a ball, jumping, running, performing the motions to age-appropriate songs, climbing stairs, jumping rope, and manipulating small objects to build a model.
Social skills such as: making eye contact in response to name, looking in the direction of a point, initiating a conversation, reciprocating a conversation, responding to social greetings, showing an object to others, playing age-appropriate games, taking turns, waiting, sharing, accepting “no”, interrupting appropriately, imitative play, pretend play, sharing experiences, listening to others, and sharing stories.
At PRISM, we focus on socially significant behaviors that “typical” children don’t need to be taught and that aren’t taught in “typical” classrooms. We teach our learners to demonstrate culturally acceptable behaviors, become “a good friend”, identify emotions, and develop an awareness of others. The more socially adaptive skills our learners develop over time, the more we expand their opportunities to be included among peers and participate in a purposeful lifestyle.
