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- Morgan
- Schmelzer
- No
- 6325 Jackrabbit Lane, Suite A
Belgrade
Montana
59714
United States - Mosaic Rehabilitation
Belgrade
Montana
59714
United States
Dependent on a child's age, I aim to combine play based and structured practice opportunities. Often in play, this looks like multiple successful trials before making a toy move, taking a turn, or performing a play action. These sessions often follow a child's lead from the activities that they choose, with appropriate targets that have been previously selected. Older children typically see more structured trials at the table, still following high interest activities and topics. I strive to use these functional targets across communication partners, so therapy often will transition into the larger gym area of the clinic to be incorporated with peers and other adults. Therapy follows a DTTC prompting approach, utilizing tactile supports as needed, prosody changes, and visual sounds cues. Targets are increased as success is established. For example, "stop" may transition to "mom, stop!". Family is welcome to be present, or session is reviewed in the last few minutes with activities and demonstration for carryover at home.
My involvement is primarily within educating the parents in the clinic, as well as supporting other therapists in the office. I frequently share ideas back and forth between school teachers and therapists to collaborate team based care for shared clients. My goal is to support an Apraxia Walk closer to the Bozeman community, as well as attend the intensive boot camp training in the future.
Parents are always present for the initial evaluation and first sessions. They are welcome to sit in on therapy session to observe how prompting works best for their child, and contribute ideas for meaningful targets. Families that choose to stay for further sessions are incorporated into the session as additional communication partners, and coached to understand successful vs unsuccessful trials. Parents often return demonstrate strategies as needed for home carryover. Parents who would rather wait in the waiting room, participate in review of session each day with demonstration and written report for home activities.
I have worked with a variety of AAC needs both in and out of the Apraxia community, ranging from picture exchange to high tech eye gaze devices. I strongly encourage families to support their children's communication across all modalities, particularly when behaviors are present and communication breakdowns are frequent. I have experience assessing, funding and programming devices to find your child’s best match. AAC is always available during speech sessions and modeled throughout, alongside verbal targets.