After working in public education for a combined 29 years (special education and general education), Emily and Michele connected over their genuine desire for their students’ success not only academically but socially. With their unique backgrounds of speech therapy, deaf education, working with second language learners and children with autism they identified the importance of bringing the private and public education environments together to lessen the gap between what is needed in a classroom and how children are performing in a one-on-one setting.

Their specializations include the following: 

Speech Sound Disorders refers to any difficulty with the production of speech sounds which impact a person’s ability to be understood.

Language Disorders refers to the difficulty with children understanding and expressing themselves. They may have difficulty following directions, learning new words, formulating sentences and/or having conversations. 

Fluency Disorders refers to the interruption in the flow of speaking characterized by atypical rate, rhythm, and disfluencies (e.g., repetitions of sounds, syllables, words, and phrases; sound prolongations; and blocks), which may also be accompanied by excessive tension, speaking avoidance, struggle behaviors, and secondary mannerisms (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association [ASHA], 1993). People with fluency disorders also frequently experience psychological, emotional, social, and functional impacts as a result of their communication disorder (Tichenor & Yaruss, 2019a).

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) explores a variety of ways to communicate besides talking including low-tech and high-tech options.  Our team has worked with a variety of AAC including PECS (The Picture Exchange Communication System), Proloquo2Go and more.

Social Thinking Curriculum uses a step-by-step methodology for teaching social emotional concepts impacting children and young adults’ ability to develop friendships and relate to others.

The SCERTS Model helps children become competent social communicators while minimizing problem behaviors that interfere with learning and the development of relationships.

The Auditory-Oral Approach is based on the fundamental premise that acquiring competence in spoken language, both receptively and expressively, is a realistic goal for children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Literacy Interventions provide a multisensory approach to improve decoding, blending, word recognition, spelling, and reading fluency. Below are some programs available from our certified teachers. 

Orton-Gillingham is a direct, explicit, multisensory, structured, sequential, diagnostic, and prescriptive way to teach literacy when reading, writing, and spelling. It’s also a one-on-one teacher-student instructional model. Its use in small group instruction is not uncommon. A successful adaptation of the Approach has demonstrated its value for classroom instruction. 

Texas Reading Academy ensures all educators are highly trained in the science of teaching reading, provide evidence-based literacy instruction, and promote critical thinking, listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. The mission of the Texas Reading Academies is to equip educators with the knowledge and skills needed to implement evidence-based literacy instruction, assess student progress, and use data to inform instruction so that all Texas children develop a strong foundation in reading and writing. Our teachers are trained in the science of reading. 

Structured Learning Approach is direct instruction that can be done one on one and in small group settings. It is data driven instruction, allowing each child to acquire new levels of skills at their individual pace. Our staff is familiar with the VB-Mapp and the direct instruction needed for targeted communication goals which is important for some children with autism.

English Language Learners (ELLs) Early childhood education can play an essential role in preparing young English language learners (ELLs) for later success in school. Children who have an opportunity to develop basic foundational skills in language and literacy in preschool enter kindergarten ready to learn to read and write (Ballantyne, Sanderman, & McLaughlin, 2008). Our team has worked with ELLs for several years and utilizes the best teaching methods to ensure English language development and academic language.