HOW DO I KNOW IF MY CHILD NEEDS THERAPY?

There are guidelines for developmental norms in the areas of articulation, language, play, and interaction. You can take a look at these norms on our website. We always encourage parents and caregivers to ‘trust their instincts’ when it comes to your child. Below is a list of a few ‘red flags’ that may also indicate that it is time to seek assistance from a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist:

-Difficulty making their wants and needs known

-Showing signs of frustration over not being understood

-Drooling, difficulty with eating and drinking, tongue posture that is not ‘typical’

-Delayed onset or absence of first words, phrases, sentences

-Confusion with vocabulary, difficulty with directions

-History of frequent ear infections

-Difficulty with interacting with others, expanding play and communication

-Difficulty with transitions, noises, and other sensory challenges

(These are just a few and we encourage you to talk to your pediatrician, teachers, and therapists)

MY CHILD ALREADY RECEIVES SPEECH SERVICES THROUGH ANOTHER PROGRAM. HOW ARE YOUR SERVICES DIFFERENT?

Speech services at MFST are tailored to your child’s individual needs and incorporate input from the family. Many of our parents and caregivers remain in the room for all or part of the child’s session. We have equipment in our office settings that give your child access to safe movement and sensory input that can optimize their speech and language therapy. Our sessions can be an hour, 45 minutes, or 30 minutes and can be once a week or multiple times per week. Private speech therapy is flexible and fun, but also provides intensive work on the goals.

WHAT IS MFST’S PHILOSOPHY ON PARENT PARTICIPATION IN THERAPY?

Parents are invited to remain in the room on any and all sessions. We are all partners in your child’s therapy and progress. We believe that carryover and success is optimized when the parents and caregivers are active in the process. Sometimes children do better in therapy sessions without their parents present, especially when they are a little older. You can work with your treating therapist to decide what is best for your child. Sometimes siblings and other situations make it impossible to stay in the room during a session. All of our office locations are in family friendly and convenient locations.

WHAT ARE THE QUALIFICATIONS OF YOUR STAFF?

We are proud of our staff at MFST. Our clinicians are licensed in the states of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. All of the speech pathologists at MFST are board certified through the American Speech and Language Association (ASHA). As part of our licensing and certification process, all speech pathologists maintain the highest level of professional competence by participating in continuing education programs. Below is a list of many (but certainly not all) of the programs that our clinicians have participated in:

• PROMPT training for the treatment of verbal apraxia
• Advanced coursework in the DIR (Floortime) model (studied under the supervision of Dr. Stanley Greenspan and Serena Weider)
• Many courses in Social Thinking by Michelle Garcia Winner
• Training in play-based approach to working with young children
• Feeding and Oral Placement Techniques
• Assessment and Intervention for feeding and oral-placement (Diane Chapman-Bahr)
• Many classes in the treatment and diagnosis of verbal apraxia
• Many classes in the treatment of communication and autism
• Coursework and training in the use of the LAMP system for Alternative Communication
• Coursework in using sensory integration principles in treating speech and language disorders

WHAT AGE GROUPS DO YOU SERVE?

The bulk of the children that we serve are between infancy and 12 years of age. We occasionally see children over 12 years of age. Our office toys, tables, chairs, and equipment is more suited for infancy through school-aged children.