Child Development & Rehabilitation: Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Clinical Psychology, Behavior Therapy & Special Education.
Our Services
Speech Therapy:
1. Speech-language therapy addresses challenges with language and communication. It can help people with autism improve their verbal, nonverbal, and social communication. The overall goal is to help the person communicate in more useful and functional ways.
2. Communication and speech-related challenges vary from person to person. Some individuals on the autism spectrum are not able to speak. Others love to talk, but have difficulty holding a conversation or understanding body language and facial expressions when talking with others.
3. A speech therapy program begins with an evaluation by a speech-language pathologist (SLP) to assess the person’s communication strengths and challenges. From this evaluation, the SLP creates individual goals for therapy.
4. Common goals may include improving spoken language, learning nonverbal skills such as signs or gestures, or learning to communicate using an alternative method (such as pictures or technology).
5. Examples of the skills that speech therapy may work on include: (I) Strengthening the muscles in the mouth, jaw and neck. (II) Making clearer speech sounds. (III) Matching emotions with the correct facial expression. (IV) Understanding body language. (V) Responding to questions. (VI) Matching a picture with its meaning. (VII) Using a speech app on an iPad to produce the correct word. (VIII) Modulating tone of voice.
Occupational Therapy:
Occupational therapists work to promote, maintain, and develop the skills needed by students to be functional in a school setting and beyond.
For example:
(I) self-care (e.g. dressing, eating a meal, managing toileting needs and managing personal hygiene).
(II) productivity (e.g. emotional regulation, levels of alertness, participation, hand writing and organisational skills).
(III) leisure (e.g. socialising with friends, belonging to a group, participating in hobbies/play and motor skills for PE).
Every child will have a unique set of sensory needs and these needs will alter depending on mood, environment and therapeutic intervention.
For autistic children, an occupational therapist works to develop skills for handwriting, fine motor skills and daily living skills. However, the most essential role is also to assess and target the child’s sensory processing differences. This is beneficial to remove barriers to learning and help the students become calmer and more focused.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy:
Cognitive behavioral therapy is used to treat a variety of conditions including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The talking therapy can help patients manage their problems by helping them recognize and understand how their behaviors, thoughts, and emotions affect each other.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a therapy that aims to get patients to recognize their own thoughts, expectations, and attitudes in order to change false and negative beliefs. It is one of the most common types of psychotherapy and consists of a combination of two approaches; cognitive and behavioral therapy.
Research has found the approach to be effective in treating a broad range of emotional and mental health issues and aims to help the patient identify and challenge negative and unhelpful thoughts. At the same time, the patient can learn practical self-help strategies to cope with their condition.
How Does it Work?
Cognitive behavioral therapy stems from “behaviorism”, a psychological approach that works under the assumption that all human behavior is learned. Therefore, from a behaviorist point of view, new behaviors can be learnt, and existing ones unlearned. The purpose of cognitive behavioral therapy is to change thinking and certain behaviors that prevent positive results.
While other psychotherapy methods involve exploring the past to learn about the feelings of the patient, CBT concentrates more on the “here and now” and on the patient’s current thoughts and beliefs.
In CBT, the counselor helps the patient understand their problem by breaking it into smaller parts. As a result of this, they might find it easier to see how the parts are connected and the impact they have on their thoughts and emotions. The different components the counselor might explore include the situation, thoughts, emotions, physical feelings and actions.
Applied Behavioral Analysis:
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is a scientifically backed therapy focused on understanding how behavior is influenced by the environment and using this understanding to teach new skills. ABA therapy aims to increase positive behaviors (such as communication & social skills) and reduce harmful or disruptive behaviors (like aggression or self-injury) that can interfere with learning
ABA therapy is individualized, data-driven, and adaptable to various settings, including homes, schools, and community environments. It uses positive reinforcement and behavioral modification techniques. It's widely used and supported by decades of research for its effectiveness in helping individuals with autism and other developmental challenges
Behavior analysis helps us to understand:
(I) How behavior works.
(II) How behavior is affected by the environment.
(III) How learning takes place.
ABA therapy applies our understanding of how behavior works to real situations. The goal is to increase behaviors that are helpful and decrease behaviors that are harmful or affect learning.
ABA therapy programs can help:
(I) Increase language and communication skills
(II) Improve attention, focus, social skills, memory, and academics.
(III) Decrease problem behaviors.
(IV) The methods of behavior analysis have been used and studied for decades. They have helped many kinds of learners gain different skills – from healthier lifestyles to learning a new language.
Special Education:
Autistic children thrive in environments tailored to their unique learning styles and developmental needs. Special education settings provide these children with the necessary support, tools, and methods to help them develop essential life skills, communication abilities, and academic achievements. The goal of special education is to ensure that every autistic child can reach their full potential, despite their individual challenges.
Special education for autistic children incorporates structured teaching techniques, individualized attention, and a team-based approach involving professionals from various disciplines. Here are some key features of special education tailored for autistic students:
Below are some key features of special education that ensure autistic children receive the guidance and support they need to thrive:
(I) Individualized Education Plans (IEPs): Tailored education plans that set personalized learning objectives and accommodations based on each child's unique needs and strengths.
(II) Special Education Classrooms or Resource Bases: Smaller, focused environments with trained staff to enhance individualized learning.
(III) Structured Teaching and Routine-Based Learning: Predictable schedules and step-by-step teaching reduce anxiety and promote learning.
(IV) Visual Supports and Assistive Technology: Tools like picture schedules and communication boards aid understanding and engagement.
(V) Behavioral Interventions and Support: Techniques such as ABA and positive reinforcement help manage behaviors and improve social skills.
(VI) Individualized Education Plans (IEPs): Tailored education plans that set personalized learning objectives and accommodations based on each child's unique needs and strengths.
(VII) Parent and Caregiver Involvement: Active participation reinforces learning and promotes generalization of skills at home.
Group Therapy:
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is a therapy based on the science of learning and behavior.
Group therapy is mainly focused on teaching social and communication skills in children with autism. These groups are small groups consisting of 2or more kids, who will be directed by a trained therapist. We have to group the children according to there age, linguistic skill and social- emotions aspects.
How group therapy helps children with ASD:
(I) In a social group, children learn how to behave in a social situation.
(II) Improve their social participation.
(III) Help in the reduction of anxiety symptoms and depression to an extent.
(IV) Group therapy help children to follow the rules of a game and develop their cooperative play skills, this encourages children to communicate well.
(V) Learning of social rules such as greeting others, understanding humour and understanding emotions of others.
(VI) Help them to interpret nonverbal and verbal communication cues.
(VII) Prepare them to follow the rules and thus help them to enroll in a social system.
(VIII) Help to reduce behavioural deviations to an extent.
(IX) The development of social skills can help them to be successful in academic and vocational settings.
(X) Develop their empathy, helping and sharing skills.
(XI) Increase participation in recreational activities.
(XII) Each group therapy has a scheduled outline which includes activities depending on the topic to be taught.
