Services / In-Person Local

Services

In-Person Local Services

Families who are local to the Herndon, and the DMV area - who will visit our center weekly to work on purposeful motor skills to spell to communicate. We will also coach you to spell with your loved one.

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What's Available

What to Expect During Your First Visit

Your first appointment with our clinic will be two hours long. We will assess skills to determine a starting point for weekly sessions. This is not a determination of whether your loved one is a candidate for our program -- all nonspeaking, minimally speaking, and unreliably speaking individuals are candidates. This is merely to better understand your family member's unique presentation. Based on this first session, your S2C Practitioner will make recommendations for ongoing services.

Individuals

One-on-one sessions with a Registered S2C Practitioner

Groups

In-Person groups for fun socialization with other nonspeakers

Consult

Services are offered at an interval or an as-needed basis.

FAQs

Spelling to Communicate teaches individuals with motor challenges the purposeful motor skills necessary to point to letters to spell as an alternative means of communication (AAC). The goal is to achieve synchrony between the brain and body. Skilled and rigorously trained communication partners teach purposeful motor skills using a hierarchy of verbal and gestural prompts. As motor skills improve through consistent practice, students progress from pointing to letters on letterboards to spell to typing on a keyboard. Accordingly, communication moves from concrete to abstract as motor skills progress.

S2C is appropriate for anyone age 5 or older who is nonspeaking, minimally speaking or unreliably speaking. Just as with traditional education, we adapt to the individual learning needs of a specific student. We know that all students can and want to learn.

For families traveling to Growing Kids Therapy Center from outside the greater metropolitan Washington, DC region: We offer a launch series of four appointments, scheduled as two appointments per day on each of two days. Over those two days, your speller will work with a practitioner on the letter boards, and you will receive in-person coaching to build your own skills as their Communication and Regulation Partner (CRP). All sessions are video recorded and will be saved in a secure digital folder, along with written transcripts of the sessions, which is accessible only to you and those you share it with. If you’re interested in beginning, please fill out our intake form so that we can contact you when an appointment becomes available.
 
For families who reside within the greater metropolitan Washington, DC region: We offer a new client appointment which lasts two hours. During that time, one of our practitioners will introduce your child to using the letter board and assess the unique needs of their sensory-motor processes to better determine how to support their journey to communication. We will answer your questions and develop a plan for ongoing services. This appointment is designed to be the first step leading to regular appointments with one of our practitioners. If you’re interested in beginning, please fill out our intake form so that we can contact you when an appointment becomes available.

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