We treat a wide range of concerns that your child may be experiencing, including:
Articulation Difficulties
Expressive Language Difficulties
Comprehension Difficulties
Autism
Social communication skills
Down Syndrome
Apraxia of Speech
Augmentative & Alternative Communication (AAC)
Behavioral Difficulties
Tongue Thrust
Early Literacy
Reading & Writing Difficulties
Fine & Gross Motor Skills
Sensory Intergration
A thorough assessment is conducted to determine the best therapy plan for your child. Depending on the age and needs of your child, formal (standardized) and informal assessments will be used to acquire a complete picture of your child’s skills. A written report will be compiled from the assessment, case history form and other professionals if needed.
A to Z Therapy Clinic aims to begin therapy as early as possible in order for goals to be implemented at the clinic and at home. Assessment and therapy takes place in the clinic room with the therapist and your child. Parents (or caregiver) are encouraged to be present in order to understand the assessment and therapy process. Our professionals will be reviewing your child’s goals and needs throughout the therapy process as well as provide updates.
Activities and games selected each session are designed to be fun and rewarding for your child while also complementing their interests. Research supports that children learn best through play; which is why we implement a child-centered, relationship based approach to our therapy.
We believe that home practice is the key to success for your child to transfer skills from the clinic to outside of therapy. The therapist will provide specific advice, ideas or handouts to incorporate into daily activities. At the same time, we do understand the demands of everyday life therefore the therapists will help establish a realistic plan for home practice.
Group therapy promotes peer learning in an environment that is interactive, motivating and supportive for your child.
At A to Z Therapy Clinic, group programs are evidence-based and are carefully planned to help with carryover of your child’s current therapy goals or supplement the learning your child is currently doing (i.e. at school, home, or in individual therapy). Most importantly, these groups encourage children to learn from one another while building confidence to apply new skills outside of therapy with their peers. Group therapy is a reliable and affordable way to maximize your child’s exposure to learning.
In these sessions, children are given the opportunity to naturally form friendships in a fun and interactive way as they choose the activities. Social communication skills are developed as they collaborate on shared tasks with their clinicians.
Our workshops at A to Z Therapy Clinic are carefully programmed, designed by a Speech-Language Pathologist and Occupational Therapist for children who may benefit from extra support with reading, writing and spelling skills. Speech-language pathologists are recognized experts in school-age literacy, while Occupational Therapist are experts in devolping fine motor skills that coincide with school tasks (pencil grasps, printing & cursive writing).
Joint therapy services consist of a Speech Therapist (SLP) and Occupational Therapist (OT) who collaborate both their goals to optimize your child's therapy sessions. For example, many OT tasks and activities can incorporate speech and language goals; therefore making therapy functional and effective.
Speech-Language Pathologist
Occupational Therapist
Speech Pathology stems from two key words. Speech, meaning communication and pathology, meaning someone who studies cause and effect. Together, these words refer to someone who provides therapy for communication as well as swallowing disorders. A pediatric speech-language pathologist supports children from 18 month to 18 years of age.
A type of language development in which children process early language in “strings of sounds” or “chunks” of language, rather than processing single words. Children processing language this way may echo back words, phrases and sentences other people say –also known as echolalia (e.g. “to infinity and beyond”).
This repetition of words or chunks of language may be stored in a child’s memory after the child has heard it (e.g. from song, people, tv shows, books, etc.).
Did you know?
Gestalt Language Processing is a type of language development that is often seen in Autistic children. An estimated 75 - 90% of autistic children learn language this way.
Why is this important?
Children who are gestalt language processors require a different approach for assessment and intervention in comparison to traditional therapy. This approach is based on the Natural Language Acquisition Framework by Marge Blanc (Speech Language Pathologist and Author of Natural Language Acquisition on the Autism Spectrum).
How can we help?
The speech-language pathologists and team at A to Z Therapy Clinic are proud to recognize the importance of customizing therapy to each child’s unique needs and language development. They will work alongside you and your child to create a therapy approach that best suits your child’s style of language development and effectively continue to support them using the Natural Language Acquisition framework.
Occupational Therapists are trained to help individuals better perform the everyday activities (or occupations) that they need to, want to or are expected to perform. At A to Z Therapy Clinic, a ‘neurodevelopmental’ approach is taken to work with children. This means that many skills that develop for children at various ages such as writing your name, tying your shoelaces or getting dressed, develop in an organized sequence based on skills that have been developed at an earlier stage. For some children these stages are underdeveloped, which can often have a domino effect on other areas. At A to Z Therapy Clinic, we aim to help to develop these skills in an enjoyable way through a play based approach.