Category Archives: Articulation

Chatterboxes Private Speech Therapy Services

No, We don’t Accept Insurance Directly for Speech Therapy:

See Why Parents & Kids Love It

Prior to her work at Chatterboxes, our founder, Megan Rozantes., M.S., CCC-SLP used to provide insurance-based speech therapy services.

She knows first hand the differences between Insurance-Based and Out-of-Network Speech Therapy. Based on her previous insurance-based experience as a speech therapist, Megan learned everything she didn’t want in a private speech therapy practice, and everything she did want!

Our practice’s mission is to shine the therapy spotlight directly on each child, every time. We’ve alleviated administrative duties, external challenges, red tape and time constraints for our therapists, so our therapists have the ability to focus intensely on each child’s needs and abilities. This is truly the cornerstone of Chatterboxes. Our support staff ensures that each speech-language-pathologist has the administrative support, time and resources she needs in order to maximize her clinical impact, allowing therapists to work smarter, not harder.

Now, more families are choosing the Out-of-Network and Private Pay model for Speech Therapy. Here’s Why:

Low Caseloads

Speech therapy services are in demand! The average Speech Therapist is helping so many more kids than is reasonable for her schedule. At Chatterboxes, our caseloads are 50% lower than industry average so that we are able to devote more time to each child’s therapy session each and every time.

What do lower caseloads mean? Plan, Prepare, Plan: We can provide twice the planning time and premium resources for rapid progress. It’s not uncommon for a Speech Therapist at Chatterboxes to plan for a 1-2 hours for a single 45 minute therapy session.

The more time our team puts in behind the scenes to prepare for each child’s visit, the better the therapy results. Why? because kids are engaged and it matches their needs. Know a lover of Paw Patrol or Red Matchbox Cars? We guarantee that our kids are super-motivated to participate, as we’ve thoughtfully crafted up a personalized session based on their interests every time.

Fresh, Top Talent

We provide speech therapy with a personal connection and friendship, creating trust from which progress is built. We are not a factory. We do not churn out visits. That means, our talented private speech therapists are bright-eyed and are honored to be providing services to each child! Our Speech-Therapists are eager to share their clinical knowledge via in-person conferences, phone talks, countless emails and text messages, highly customized home programs and family training to make a difference in each child’s abilities!

The Child’s Ecosystem & Skill Progression

In order for Speech Therapy to be effective, each child must be able to demonstrate skills outside of the therapy environment. Each child is surrounded by their own ecosystem. If the important adults in each child’s life are not trained in targeting speech therapy goals, progress will be affected. We train parents, teachers, grandparents, nannies, babysitters, etc in our vivid and clear home programs. Each adult has access to specific instructions and understands how to offer support to the child toward speech therapy goals. To keep everyone updated, we offer free speech therapy progress reports and phone conferences.

The Bottom Line

In Conclusion, at Chatterboxes, our team feels that Highly-Individualized speech therapy is not possible in an Insurance-accepted paradigm due to limitations on time and resources driven by financial constraints

Our mission at Chatterboxes is to increase each child’s ability to succeed with better speech therapy services and transform the process of speech therapy to be a highly-customized, delightful and effective experience for kids and parents.

Eager to learn more? Contact Heather for your Complimentary Initial Consultation at 617-969-8255, or visit us at www.TeamChatterboxes.com

Proudly Serving Massachusetts via our two easy access locations:

35 Bedford Street Lexington MA 02420

10 Langley Road, Newton Centre 02459

Cozy Up with Your Kids & Read these 10 Festive Christmas Books!

By Chatterboxes

1. How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss:

This holiday classic follows the Grinch, a grouchy, solitary creature who attempts to put an end to Christmas by stealing Christmas-themed items from the homes of the nearby town Whoville on Christmas Eve.

Written in rhymed verse, the language is lively and engaging. With bright and colorful illustrations, there is plenty for you and your child to look at and talk about

2. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Rick Bunsen: Children ages 3-6 will love to read this book retelling of the classic 1964 holiday TV special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

All of the other reindeer make fun of Rudolph and won’t let him play in their reindeer games because he’s different. But when Christmas is almost cancelled because of a huge snowstorm, Rudolph comes to the rescue with his wonderful shiny red nose.

3. The Bernstein Bears and the Joy of Giving by Jan and Mike Bernstein: Brother and Sister Bear can’t wait for Christmas and all the presents they will open. But during the Christmas Eve pageant, something special happens! The Bear cubs learn a very valuable lesson about the joy of giving to others. This book is great to read to your child as a reminder of what is important this holiday season

4. A Wish to Be a Christmas Tree by Colleen Monroe and Illustrated by Michael Glen Monroe:

This charming tale of an overgrown pine always being passed by for Christmas, and what his woodland friends do to help him, is sure to become a Christmas classic.

With delightful illustrations by wildlife artist Michael Monroe and enchanting text from Colleen Monroe, the birds, deer and squirrel of this story help make their special friend’s wish come true.

5. Olive, the Other Reindeer by Vivian Walsh and Illustrated by J. Otto Seibold: Olive is merrily preparing for Christmas when suddenly she realizes “Olive… the other Reindeer… I thought I was a dog. Hmmm, I must be a Reindeer!” So she quickly hops aboard the polar express and heads to the North Pole. And while Santa and the other reindeer are a bit surprised that a dog wants to join their team, in the end Olive and her unusual reindeer skills are just what Santa and his veteran reindeer team need. Colorful graphic illustrations accompany this zany dog story from the well-known author and artist team, Vivian and J. Otto Seibold.

6. Dream Snow by Eric Carle (Board Book): It’s December 24th, and the old farmer settles down for a winter’s nap, wondering how Christmas can come when there is no snow! In his dream he imagines a snowstorm covering him and his animals in a snowy blanket.

But when the farmer awakens, he finds that it has really snowed outside, and now he remembers something! Putting on his red suit, he goes outside & places gifts under the tree for his animals, bringing holiday cheer to all.

7. Olivia Helps With Christmas by Ian Falconer: Christmas is coming, and Olivia is incredibly busy.

She has to wait for Santa, make sure Dad sets up the tree, watch Mom make the Christmas dinner, oversee the care with which the stockings are hung, and, of course, open her presents! Whew, being helpful during the holidays is exhausting!

8. The Wild Christmas Reindeer by Jan Brett: This year, Santa asks Teeka to get his reindeer ready to fly on Christmas Eve. She’s happy but a little worried, too. She’s never worked with the reindeer before and she’s not sure they’ll want to come in from the tundra, where they run wild and free. Once she finds them, Teeka’s strong hand does more harm than good, and soon the reindeer are wilder than they were before she began training them. How will she ever get them ready to pull Santa’s sleigh on time?

9. Santa Mouse by Michael Brown and Illustrated by Elfrieda De Witt: We love this charming story about a tiny mouse with no name who lived a very lonely life in a very big house. He loved Christmas dearly and had a special present for Santa, but how could he possibly give it to him?

After all, he’s only a mouse. And how did a little ordinary mouse become Santa Mouse, the helper Santa could never do without? Find out by reading this adorable book with your child.

10. A Charlie Brown Christmas Adapted by Tina Gallo and Illustrated by Scott Jeralds The beloved Peanuts holiday special about Charlie Brown, his friend Linus, a sad Christmas tree that’s rescued, and the meaning of Christmas first aired on television in 1965. As 2015 marks the 50^th anniversary of A Charlie Brown Christmas TV Special, this charming, full-color abridgment of the animated classic is the perfect book to read with your child this Christmas.

Articulation Testing: What to Expect

By Chatterboxes

The process of testing of any kind can be nerve-racking, especially when you have concerns about your child’s development. Knowing what to expect can help ease your worries and in turn, you can help your child understand and be prepared for the testing process.

If you have concerns regarding your child’s speech/articulation skills (i.e. the way in which he pronounces words, sounds, phrases and sentences), it is likely your child’s therapist will select the Goldman Fristoe Test of Articulation, or (GFTA-2). Here’s a more in-depth look at the GFTA-2:

The Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation- Second Edition (GFTA-2):

The GFTA provides a wide range of information by sampling both spontaneous and imitative sound production. This includes single words and conversational speech. Descriptive information about the individual’s articulation skills is obtained through three sections of the GFTA-2, which include: Sounds-in-Words, Sounds-in-Sentences, and Stimulability.

Sounds-in-Words uses 34 picture plates and 53 target words to elicit the articulation of 61 consonant sounds in the initial, medial, and/or final position, as well as 16 consonant blends (groups of two or three consonants in words that makes a distinct consonant sound, such as “bl”) in the initial position.

Sounds-in-Sentences provides a semi-structured observation of the individual’s spontaneous sound production used in connected speech by asking him/her to retell one or two simple, picture-based stories that the speech-language pathologist has previously read aloud.

Stimulability can be used to assess the individual’s ability to correctly produce a previously misarticulated sound when asked to watch and listen to the examiner’s production of the sound.

This test can provide a record of growth in articulation skills across a broad time span. The wide range allows tracking articulation skills from preschool through primary and secondary school years and into young adulthood with the same instrument.

A significant milestone in the normal language development of very young children is their ability to produce at appropriate ages the various consonant sounds. When screening preschool children, speech-language pathologists use the first level of testing and the colorful, appealing pictures of Sounds-in-Words. This gives the speech-language pathologist the ability to screen very young children for possible delays in the development of articulation skills.

The GFTA-2 also has the ability to screen for expressive language difficulties. The individual must retell the stories in the Sounds-in-Sentences section in their own words. During the duration of this task, the speech pathologist may become aware of deviations in an examinee’s vocabulary and syntax (structure of sentences) that indicate the need for an evaluation of language as well as articulation.

How to Prepare Your Child for Articulation Testing:

You can explain to your child that he will be asked to take a look at some pictures in a book of some very common objects (cup, girl, duck, etc). He will be asked to label these pictures, and may have to say the word a few times.

From there, (if age appropriate) he will be told a few short stories with pictures. He will be asked to retell the stories using the picture cues. The first story is about a little boy having a bad-day; and the second story is about a boy and girl who go fishing.

Finally, he may be asked to complete stimulability testing, whereas the therapist will model specific sounds and sound combinations to learn if your child can produce particular sounds with direct instruction.

The Chatterboxes Way:

At Chatterboxes, we feel an important piece of testing is to collect a Spontaneous Speech/Language Sample during play. That said, your child will be engaged with age-appropriate toys/materials either before or after the standardized testing described above. We feel the collection of this spontaneous speech & language sample should be analyzed and considered alongside of testing results in order to obtain a comprehensive clinical impression of the child’s articulation skills.

A typical evaluation may last 45 minutes, and parents may choose if they would prefer to be present in the room with their child, or wait in the waiting room. Following the testing, you will receive our initial clinical impressions as to their child’s articulation skills.

A comprehensive written report with specific sound errors and goals and strategies is shared with you 10 days following the evaluation. Your child’s therapist will then contact you to discuss the report, review the recommendations and answer your questions via scheduled phone conference. If therapy is indicated, and you would like to pursue services with our practice, visits can be scheduled at this time.

For more information, or to discuss your child’s articulation abilities, please contact Heather at anytime via email at Heather@teamchatterboxes.com or call our Newton Centre location at 617-969-8255.

Chatterboxes Wins Boston Parent’s Paper Best of Best 2015!

By Chatterboxes

Chatterboxes of Newton Centre and Lexington Centre won Boston Parent’s Paper’s Family Favorite Award for Best Speech & Language Practice in 2015. Each year, readers of Boston Parent’s Paper vote for their family favorite in a variety of categories, and the winners are published annually.

Chatterboxes’ mission is to provide best-in-class services to children and families dealing with Speech, Language & Feeding difficulties. Boston Parent’s Paper noted, “Parent’s who’s children have speech and language difficulties trust the passionate therapists at Chatterboxes. Each child benefits from a customized individual therapy plan that meets their needs in an environment that is calming and fun.”

Chatterboxes is honored to be presented with this amazing award and are so fortunate to be given the opportunity to develop relationships with local families and provide the best care possible within our scope of practice.

Chatterboxes offers two locations: Newton Centre and Lexington Center and have been in operation for over 8 years. For more information about our services, visit www.TeamChatterboxes.com, or call 617-969-8255.

Targeting Articulation with the Cycles Approach

By Chatterboxes

What is The Cycles Approach?

The Cycles Approach is designed for children who have multiple speech sound errors, exhibit patterns in sound errors, and are very difficult to understand. The goal is to facilitate the emergence of speech patterns. Carefully chosen target words are chosen to help children develop auditory (how it sounds) and kinesthetic (how it feels) models of target sounds and improve self-monitoring skills.

What is a cycle?

A cycle is the amount of time it takes for all targets to be practiced. A typical cycle may last weeks to months. Within each cycle, each sound within a pattern is targeted for about 60 minutes. At the end of each cycle, sounds/patterns are recycled: those that have been acquired are removed and new, more challenging sounds/patterns are added before the next cycle begins.

A typical session incorporating the Cycles Approach:

1) Review of the previous session’s target words.

2) Auditory Bombardment with amplification: The child listens to a list of 12 words through an amplification device. The child is not required to repeat the words, but simply listen to them attentively.

3) The child makes flashcards of the target words by coloring or pasting pictures representing the target words. The child produces the words during the activity.

4) Experiential Play or Language-Based Activity: The Child engages in a fun, motivating and meaningful play activity involving the target words. Activities are designed to facilitate both articulation and language skills.

5) Stimulability Probing: The child produces a list of potential target words for the next session. The sounds which are the easiest for the child to produce are chosen.

6) Amplified auditory bombardment is repeated with the same list of 12 words.

7) Home practice for a least 2 minutes per day is strongly recommended. This can include simply reading the target word list to the child and having him practice saying each of the words 1-2 times.

5 Ways You can Support a Child with an Articulation Disorder in your Classroom.

By Chatterboxes

Once a child has started working with a Speech-Pathologist, and have shown some consistency in therapy, the child will be working on a target sound. The child will now need support outside of the therapy environment in order to produce that target sound correctly. You can help this student in generalizing this sound in the classroom.

5 Tools for Classroom Teachers to Generalize an Articulation Target:

Model the Sound, Not the Letter.
1. Ex: “Ruby, Let’s hear your RRRRrr Sound” as opposed to “Ruby, can you say the ‘R’ again?”

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Therapy Spotlight: PROMPT Therapy

By Chatterboxes

PROMPT was developed in the 1970’s by Deborah Hayden, and has been refined over the past 30 years. Chatterboxes’ SLP’s are trained in PROMPT.

Prior to beginning PROMPT, the Speech-Pathologist assesses the child’s motor speech system, in terms of structure, function and integration.

Aspects of the motor speech hierarchy, such as phonatory control, mandibular control and lingual control are all taken into account during the development of a PROMPT therapy plan.

Brittany Doyle M.S, CCC-SLP providing a play-based PROMPT session

Once target sounds, sound combinations, or words are selected, the SLP begins to incorporate these target words into therapy. During a typical PROMPT session, the SLP may be seated on the floor with the child.

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Understanding Your Child’s Standardized Test Scores

By Chatterboxes

Understanding speech and language testing scores takes you back to the basics of statistics and the bell curve. Typically, speech-language testing scores are based on normative sampling in which test makers administer the test to a large group of children. Your child’s scores are compared to the sample to see how their skills compare to peers. With most speech-language tests, you can expect to derive the following scores:

Raw Score: The raw score is typically either the total number correct or the total number of errors.

Standard Score: The standard score is determined by the raw score and is a conversion that allows for comparison to the normative sample. The median standard score is 100. The standard score and percentile rank essentially provide the same information, but most people find the percentile rank to provide a clearer benchmark for their child.

Percentile Rank: The percentile rank is also determined by the raw score. It tells you the percentage of peers your child scored above. For example, a percentile rank of 40% means that your child performed higher than 40% of peers. The median percentile rank is 50%. The following guideline can be used for understanding the significance of percentile ranks:

1-16%	Below Average	Your child may have a severe delay.
17-49%	Low Average	Your child may have a mild or moderate delay.
50-99%	High/Above Average	Your child does not have a delay.

Test Age-Equivalent: A test age equivalent is also derived from the raw score. It indicates the age to which your child’s skills can best be most compared. This score should be interpreted with some caution since sometimes a delay in skills also involves a difference in skills. For instance, a child who is 4 years old and receives an age-equivalency of 3 years old may present differently than a typical 3-year-old child. Age equivalencies are best used as severity measures for this reason.

For more information on our Evaluations & Therapy, or to schedule a visit for your child, visit www.TeamChatterboxes.com

Communication Milestones (Ages 4 to 5 Years)

By Chatterboxes

RECEPTIVE LANGUAGE:

• Pays attention to a short story and answers simple questions about it.
• Hears and understands most of what is said at home and in school.

EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE

• Makes voice sounds clear like other children’s.
• Uses sentences that give lots of details (e.g., “I like to read my books”).
• Tells stories that stick to topic.
• Communicates easily with other children and adults.
• Says most sounds correctly (except a few including l, s, r, v, z, ch, sh, th).
•Uses the same grammar as the rest of the family.