Emily has been fantastic with our 10-year -old daughter! I have been very impressed how Emily is able to make their time together playful and fun, and individualize activities based on what my daughter likes to do. In our very first appointment, Emily made a point to establish a relationship with my daughter before beginning any evaluations (this is very different than all of the other speech therapy we have tried). And she was able to gather the information she needed for her evaluation in conversation and game so that it didn't feel like a test at all (also a stark contrast to prior experiences). And, because she is enjoying herself, my daughter is finally making great progress in her speech. I am so grateful we found Emily. I had feared that having to continue speech therapy through elementary school would cause my daughter to be self-conscious and frustrated. But with Emily, I'm pretty sure she just feels lucky that she GETS to do speech. -Erin
Please reach out to Emily at emily@aboveandbeyondspeechtherapy.com if you cannot find an answer to your question.
The evaluation is typically scheduled for one hour, although sometimes it takes less than that, and sometimes we need an extra session, which would be at no cost to you. You would be there for the whole evaluation, which includes free play/game playing/chatting during unstructured time, as well as standardized tests.
This is very different than a CIU3-5 or school-age testing environment where parents are not involved in the actual testing and just provide input.
Therapy sessions range from 30-45 minutes, 1-2x/week depending on what the needs are.
We encourage parents to sit in on therapy sessions, either the whole session or part of a session, to see what we are doing with your child so that you can help the same way at home. This is also very different than a CIU3-5 or school-age program where parents are rarely involved in weekly therapy. We can also chat with you at the end of each session to discuss what we worked on as sometimes kids this age are more hesitant to work with SLPs with a parent sitting in. Either way, we believe that parent involvement is crucial to improvement.
We have a really fun space and the kids like coming to see us. Each session is individualized to your child and they get one on one support.
Many times a child does not get one on one support in these programs, and sometimes a child needs this one on one time to make the most progress.
IEPs can also only list 20-30 minute sessions, which are shorter than our usual 30-45 minute sessions. This extra time per session can really make an impact through repeated practice or increased exposure to language in the way that your child needs help.
Also, not every child responds well to every SLP, and sometimes it takes a special person to connect with them. That's who we are and what we do. Connection always comes first with us, not goals and drills. We build on their strengths.
To focus on client care - the thing that matters most - and not the numerous obstacles that insurance places on therapy, at this time, we are out of network with all insurance companies.
What that means: you will pay us directly for the evaluation and subsequent therapy, but could still get reimbursed by your insurance plan depending on the specifics of your personal plan for out of network coverage. That would require a call to your insurance to see what they would cover. Emily can send you more information on that, if you'd like, to help guide questions. So you'd pay us and then submit to insurance, if you want to, and then they'd reimburse you directly.
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phone: 8149540288
Fax: 814-308-8889 Attn: emily aten-newberry
email: emily@aboveandbeyondspeechtherapy.com
ADDRESS: 1402 S. Atherton st, Suite 210, state college, pa 16801