HUDSON SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY
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	Priscilla Hernandez, M.A., CCC-SLP, TSSLD. Ms. Hernandez received her graduate training at New York University and completed post-graduate training at Columbia University. A New York State licensed speech-language pathologist, she holds a Master of Arts in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, received her Certification of Clinical Competency from the American Speech, Language, and Hearing Association, is a certified Teacher of Students with Speech and Language Disabilities, and is an authorized Early Intervention service provider. Ms. Hernandez is also licensed to provide evaluations and therapy services in both English and Spanish (soon to include French). Ms. Hernandez has extensive experience working with infants, toddlers, and school aged children in private practice, academic, home, and clinical settings. She is also trained in a variety of research-driven and proven effective intervention strategies including: P.R.O.M.P.T. - This acronym stands for Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets. This technique uses a tactile-kinesthetic approach to cue the patient’s jaw, tongue, and/or lips to manually guide them through a targeted word, phrase or sentence. The technique helps the patient develops motor control and proper oral muscular movements, which is necessary to produce targeted speech sounds correctly. PROMPT therapy is particularly effective with patients with motor speech disorders, articulation problems, apraxia, development disorders, cerebral palsy, brain injuries, and autism spectrum disorders. DIR®Floortime™ – This is a specific child-centered technique highly effective with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. It encourages following the child’s natural emotional interests while challenging him/her towards greater and greater mastery of the social, emotional, and intellectual capacities. It respects and acknowledges the child’s developmental differences, individual interests, and builds a bridge for them to follow us into a world of communication. DIR®Floortime™ emphasizes the critical role of parents and other family members because of the importance of their emotional relationships with the child. As Dr. Greenspan, the developer of this approach, so eloquently put it, we are “joining the child's world and pull them into a shared world.” SOUNDS IN MOTION – This phonemic awareness and early literacy program is primarily used with younger children (PreK through 5^th grade) but is fun for everyone. Older students who are having difficulty mastering sounds and literacy skills are also good candidates. SIM pairs kinesthetic gross motor movements with phonemes to teach articulation, phonemic awareness and sound/symbol association. It helps children become better listeners, readers, speakers, and writers. These receptive and expressive language skills are critical to academic success. This program also services as an early diagnostic tool, to identify children who may need further help with phonemic awareness and literacy. PAYMENT & FEES Please contact us for an updated fee schedule. In addition to private pay, we currently accept payment from some plans under the following insurance companies. Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield GHI / Emblem Health NYC Dept. of Education RSA Vouchers We strive to work with parents and insurance companies to ensure and maximize coverage. Often, however, insurance plans provide limited or no coverage for speech-language therapy. In these cases we encourage you to contact your insurance carrier and speak to them about adding on these benefits to your existing contract. If necessary, we can provide documentation relating to your child’s diagnosis and/or existing medical condition upon request. Private pay plans are also available for other insurances. Invoices are provided to parents wishing to obtain reimbursement from non-participating insurance plans. Speech-language therapy is a commitment to your child’s success. We understand that some families may be unable to meet the financial costs associated with therapy, particularly when long-term services are needed or multiple services such as occupational therapy or physical therapy are required. Whenever possible, we strive to accommodate our families’ needs to optimize patient outcomes and would be happy to speak with you about alternative payment schedules. Facilitating Language Learning With Your Young Child : · Is my child talking enough? · How can I get my child to speak more? · How can I get my child to understand what I’m saying? It’s important to remember there is no quick-fix to language learning. It takes time, persistence, and lots of repetition to learn a language. If you’ve ever tried to learn a second language as an adult, you know first-hand how this feels. As the most important teachers of language, parents and caregivers can do a great deal to foster and develop vocabulary acquisition, language comprehension, and ability to follow directions. Teach your child simple songs with very repetitive words. Read nursery rhymes often, emphasizing the ending words that rhyme and acting out simple actions. Use simplified language with toddlers, leaving out extra words that are difficult for them to understand. For example, instead of “Would you like a small glass of water?” ask “Want water?”. At this age it is more important for them to be able to respond and state a preference than to use perfect grammar and sentence structure. Give your child extra time to listen when giving instructions and be prepared to repeat yourself. Pair your instructions with a gesture for very young children and use simple language. Make sure you have their attention when asking them to do something. Encourage a verbal response to questions. When they provide one, even if it is not fully intelligible, praise their effort with a smile, hug, and “Great job!”. Name people in your child’s life often. “Grandma is coming today. Who’s coming?”, then encourage child to say relative’s name. When they arrive, point to the relative and say, “Who’s here?”. Wait for the answer, but if it doesn’t come then be prepared to model it for them, “Its Grandma!”. Use pictures to remind the child of the people in his/her life and repeat their names while pointing to the picture. Make a family photo book. Use photos you don’t mind getting damaged with fingerprints. Glue them into a book, label each person(s), “read” the book by naming each person, repeat often, have the child repeat as well. This is especially useful for families with overseas relatives that are not present in the child’s daily life, or whom they only see via Skype/FaceTime. Make animal and environmental sounds for and with your child. Reinforce the association with an animal or object by pointing to it in pictures, making the sounds while playing with related toys, and when visiting a zoo or museum. Don’t expect your child to repeat a word correctly right away. It takes a lot of time and repetition to hear a sound or words correctly, and even more time to imitate it. Use everyday opportunities to stimulate language use. Talk about what you’re doing, where you’re going, how you’re getting there, and what you are seeing. Use snack and meal times to talk about how things taste and use action words relating to eating (sweet, salty, sour, crunchy, soft, eat, bite, sip, drink). Don’t force foods on a child but encourage them to taste everything. Respect your child’s wishes if they say they don’t want to eat it after trying it, or show you they don’t like it. This goes a long-way to building trust between you and the child. Next time you ask them to try something, they’re more likely to do so if they know they won’t be forced to eat the whole thing if they don’t like it.
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