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- Colleen
- Ashford
- In-Home Therapy
Vista
California
92084
United States - Ashford Speech and Advocacy
Vista
California
92084
United States
For Apraxia treatment specifically, Colleen specializes in DTTC (Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing) and ReST (Rapid Syllable Transition) approaches. Therapy frequency is 2-4x per week 30-45 minutes per session, depending on the child and the funding source. Over the course of her career, Colleen has seen a lot of overlap between CAS and sensory processing challenges with tactile defensiveness. Because she is committed to a neurodiversity affirming and sensory informed approach with an emphasis on bodily autonomy, she uses tactile cues on her own face and does not engage in PROMPT treatment. Colleen selects target word lists for both approaches with clinical discernment and takes data each session on accuracy on cues used. Colleen aims for a high number of trials (100+) per session and gives positive reinforcement in quick ways that do not distract the child from treatment. Colleen is bilingual and has experience in treating Spanish-English bilingual children, selecting target words that have overlapping targets in both languages. Colleen is committed to cultural responsiveness, she believes a clinician must always keep learning, this includes learning from the adult disability community as well. Colleen will always recommend the child also have access to a form of AAC while they are receiving treatment for Apraxia. As a special education advocate, Colleen will help each family request an AAC eval from their school district and make sure the IEP includes robust AAC access, training and goals for functional communication.
Parents are the experts on their children and are the most important member of any multi-disciplinary team when a child is young. Colleen takes parent input very seriously and incorporate it into the goals she writes and target word lists she develops for DTTC. Parents are invited to be present for every session and she will teach them the tactile cues if they are interested in carrying over skills with home-practice. Parents feel comfortable being honest with her about how much practice they can achieve at home with their child, given their schedules and other life factors. She never wants a parent to feel any guilt related to practice and operates from the assumption all parents are doing the best they can under their current circumstances! Parents of her clients tell her they really feel how much I care about their child and how authentically she celebrates with them the wins their child experiences, one word at a time.
Colleen always recommends AAC for children with CAS. There are no prerequisites to high-tech AAC, and Colleen typically trials a few different programs with the child and family using her iPad or the Voice Options Grant if she is doing the AAC evaluation. If the child already has a dedicated AAC device from insurance funding, school or parent purchase, Colleen always allows the child to have it available during their sessions as it is an extension of their voice that should never be removed. However, AAC will not be the focus of an Apraxia treatment session, it can be targeted in an AAC consult session instead so that a high number of trials can be prioritized. Colleen can assist parents in programming their child’s device, coach them in modeling and advocate for AAC training and access at IEP meetings to the IEP team.