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- Beth
- Deiter
- No
- In-Home Therapy for Arlington Heights and Surrounding Neighborhoods
Arlington Heights
Illinois
60005
United States - Beth Deiter, Ltd.
Arlington Heights
Illinois
60005
United States
My therapy process is unique for each child I meet, although some basic procedures remain consistent. Initially, I complete an evaluation that looks not only at their articulation skills in words, but their oral-motor skills, and their ability to sequence between increasingly complex combinations of sounds. I try to establish the underlying cause of the speech concerns. If motor-planning skills are impacting the child's ability to speak/communicate with others, I try to establish where the breakdown is occurring, the level of stimulability, and the areas of his/her life that are affected the most. This information is collected via parent report, medical report, direct observation, standardized testing, and informal speech/oral-motor tasks. Then, with input from the parents, teachers, and child (if possible), I create the most appropriate goals based on his/her skills, stimulability, and overall communication in everyday life. I use a play-based model for therapy that includes structured play based on the child's preferences. I select challenging and meaningful tasks/targets and embed them into the play, so as to elicit a high number of responses, while keeping the child engaged and motivated. I use a variety of verbal, visual, gestural, and phonetic cues to assist as needed. I travel to families' homes for therapy, creating an extremely comfortable and functional environment that easily fosters the involvement of parents. If possible and if appropriate, services may be provided on a more frequent basis; however, because of their engagement in the therapy process and home practice plan, parents are extremely helpful in encouraging a child to practice his/her skills throughout the week.
In addition to being involved in our local Apraxia group, several years ago, I founded a nonprofit organization based here in Chicago/surrounding suburbs called C.I.T.Y. of Support (Children In Therapy and You). The mission of our nonprofit is to create a dynamic community, both online and in person, that supports all families navigating the needs of their child in therapy, regardless of diagnosis. Everyone is included in our community, and so, even if a child has not yet received a diagnosis, they are welcome to participate in any of our social media platforms, virtual discussions, family playdates, education classes, and outreach/awareness campaigns. We have outreach programs at several NICU departments in the area as well as a dedicated "Accessibility Support Collection" of therapeutic tools/toys/resources at a local library, and with continued support, we hope to expand these initiatives to reach even more families. I am extremely committed to the success of our organization, constantly creating/revising events that are meaningful and relevant for parents and the community.
As mentioned previously, I travel to families' homes for therapy, creating an extremely comfortable and functional environment that easily fosters the involvement of parents. If possible and if appropriate, services may be provided on a more frequent basis; however, because of their engagement in the therapy process and home practice plan, parents are extremely helpful in encouraging a child to practice his/her skills throughout the week. Parents are provided with a HIPAA-approved email from my electronic medical records each day following the therapy session that includes a summary of the day's targets, progress, and suggestions for home practice. I always encouraged to reach out to me with questions/concerns.
I strongly believe in the value of AAC, for our goal is to create effective and efficient communicators. Many times, families will say that they understand their child's efforts at home, and yet listeners in other daily settings may have more difficulty (i.e. school, the park, friend's houses). In order to provide a child with access to all of these communicative experiences, although prioritizing verbal expression, the use of AAC should always be considered, I have often seen that by incorporating AAC into our therapy sessions, it not only helps to decrease the child's level of frustration, but it can also encourage overall language development. In addition to augmenting a child's verbal expression with gesture cues/simple sign language cues, I also use PECS picture cards in various formats (individually, in a field of many, on a core language board, and/or when uploaded to a device). These pictures are helpful in encouraging communication initiation, requesting, expressing preferences, protesting, commenting, and re-telling simple events, among other functions. Either if a child is not responding to this low-tech option or if he/she has outgrown the pictures, I encourage the family to schedule an AAC evaluation with another therapist who specializes in that area, either at school or in the community. With training, I am fully supportive of integrating the device into our therapy plan; however, this is admittedly not my area of expertise.