Early Intervention
Speech and Language therapy for children between the ages of birth and 3 years old is called Early Intervention. At this level, a child’s language development is very complex and therapy should focus on a combination of direct therapy and parent education. Teaching our children to imitate verbally and nonverbally is the key to establishing spoken language. Our children may first use a combination of sounds, words and gestures to express themselves.
Our primary goal with young children is parent coaching and empowering caregivers to be their child’s best teacher. The Speech and Language Pathologists at Gigi’s Kids are well trained to assess where your child is at in his/her development and determine if intervention is necessary. Our techniques will help you:
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Identify your child’s communication stage and style of communication so that we can plan our initial goals.
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Use everyday routines to naturally teach your child at his or her level.
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Create fun People Play games that teach your child imitation and early requesting through play.
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Keep the games and conversations going at your child’s pace so they stay engaged and remain in a teachable state.
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Following your child’s lead to ensure that they are enjoying the exchange
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Add language in simple ways to expand on what they are already able to say while modeling the next step
Many techniques that our SLPs employ are based on the well known and sought after Hanen Program, It Takes Two to Talk. Amanda Tompkins, the owner of Gigi’s Kids-Speech and Language Pathology is certified in three Hanen Programs that emphasize parent coaching for children with receptive and expressive language delays as well as in the Hanen Program, More than Words for parents of children with Autism. For more information on the Hanen Centre, please visit their website at www.hanen.org
Testimonials
“Working with Amanda has opened my eyes to so much with my son who is 2.5 years old and not talking. Prior to starting speech therapy my son would have countless daily meltdowns over difficulty communicating and it broke my heart to see him get so frustrated and not be able to help him.
I was skeptical at first as to whether or not telehealth speech therapy would work, but I have been proven very wrong! Through simple play and use of gestures my son has flourished with his ability to communicate and his frustration has significantly decreased. He just recently has started using multiple gestures at a time, such as, "eat more" to show me what he wants. Also, more recently through the techniques Amanda has taught me, my son has said four new words! Amanda has taught me how to see the world through a speech and language perspective to the point where I am able to implement the techniques in many different aspects of our everyday life.
I am so thankful we found Amanda and couldn't recommend her more!
-Mom of a 2.5 year old
We are so grateful to have found Amanda for our two-year-old son, Henry. Teletherapy has been a safe, effective alternative to traditional speech therapy and has allowed our son to still receive the assistance he needs during a global pandemic. Amanda is patient, engaging, and extremely creative. She uses techniques such as "following his lead" and has worked heavily on teaching imitation, which is one of the first key elements of communication and language.
Henry has been working with Amanda since he was 22 months old. Since starting speech therapy, Henry has been able to communicate more by learning gestures and by increasing his verbal vocabulary as well. We recommend Amanda to any parent seeking speech therapy for their child.
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Brittany and Ryan
Amanda has been working with our 3-year-old since she was 20 months old. She was evaluated by Head Start and didn’t qualify for services through the local public school district but I just knew something wasn’t right. She used maybe 3-5 words at the time and being a preemie we knew she needed extra support.
Amanda works with her on increasing vocabulary, as well as building sentences, articulation, and expressing herself more through speech & language. Amanda is amazing at using toys, props, games, and whatever is necessary to keep Ava engaged and learning. Despite the pandemic, we’ve been able to continue working together and we see improvement in Ava’s speech & language on a daily basis! Now, she speaks in sentences, has a huge vocabulary, is able to express her thoughts, and sings songs!!! We are so grateful to Amanda and highly recommend working with her!”
Liz & Brad