We are proud to offer in-home speech therapy services throughout Los Angeles to a wide array of neurodivergent children and have a passion for tailoring our speech and language therapy to embrace each child's unique strengths, interests and abilities using a Neurodiversity Perspective.
Neurodiversity is a term that was first coined by a sociologist named Judy Singer, who recognized that everyone’s brains develop in a unique way – and these differences are what shape our individual thoughts, behaviors and feelings. It essentially means that that everyone’s brain develops differently and that no two brains are the same. There is a great amount of diversity when considering how brains process sensory information, motor skills, social and communication processes, and how people learn and interact with the world.
Some of the medical diagnoses that are more commonly associated with neurodiversity include:
- Autism spectrum disorder
- Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Down syndrome
- Learning Disabilities such as dyslexia and dyscalculia
- Intellectual disabilities
- Mental health conditions (e.g. obsessive compulsive-disorder, bipolar disorder)
- Sensory Processing disorders
What is neurodiversity-affirming speech therapy? It is essentially when speech language pathologists place an emphasis on a child’s strengths and abilities and their differences are not viewed as deficits. We do not view a neurodivergent behavior as a ‘flaw’ that needs to be ‘fixed’ – instead, we focus on every child’s unique skill sets and how we can best support and develop their communicative abilities in their home, school and community settings.
So you may ask - how do we incorporate neurodiversity-affirming therapy approaches with our clients, when it comes to their speech and language functioning?
1. We create functional therapy goals that aim to help support and improve your child’s quality of life and facilitate easier communication in a variety of settings.
2. We don’t teach and promote ‘social skills’ – instead we educate families on ways that they can best support their child identify and express their emotions/feelings, communicate their thoughts/ideas and take others’ perspectives and problem-solve in a variety of social situations.
3. We strongly believe in the power of self-advocacy and helping children communicate their wants/needs and be their own self-advocates when interacting with others.
4. We create individualized therapy lessons and activities that are child-led! We incorporate therapy goals into activities that the child enjoys and use a play-based approach that focuses on the child’s interests.
5. We educate families on the use of neurodiversity-affirming language when communicating with others about their child to promote increased acceptance and inclusion.
6. We respect your child’s communication preferences and offer family training and support using multiple forms of communication (e.g. augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), signing, verbal speech, gestalt language processing therapy etc.) to discover the communication modalities that work best for your child.
If you have a neurodivergent child and are seeking ways to better support their communication and speech and language skills at home, please contact us for a free phone consultation or email us for more information. Phone: 818-350-3107 Email: info@sunnyspotspeech.com.
Our Los Angeles based private speech therapy practice welcomes families of all cultures, ethnicities and backgrounds. We provide private speech therapy for kids in home, online, at your child's preschool, daycare, private school, or at another community location throughout Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley. Locations include: Northridge, Calabasas, Granada Hills, Encino, Tarzana, Woodland Hills, Topanga, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Universal City, San Fernando, Valley Village, Burbank, Glendale.
For more information on the Neurodiversity Movement, we highly recommend visiting the following websites:
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