frequently asked questions
(FAQs)
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Valued Voices mission is to help every child find their voice. Together, we raise children’s voices up in the world through inspiring self-expression.
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Your voice is your most valuable tool in life. It allows you to connect, express, be heard, and love. We’re called Valued Voices because we know that your child’s communication isn’t limited to their words. It’s also how they connect with their eyes, their hand gestures, and their body movements. We value every child’s voice and every family’s unique situation as they look to strengthen their bonds with each other.
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Valued Voices is a family! We are a connected and supportive team of Speech-Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, and directors that are here to support your kiddo, which means supporting the whole family too. As a team, we have weekly team meetings, monthly individual meetings with supervisors and we love connecting outside of work for dinners, celebrations, and team retreats! Everyone that comes into our doors feels the love and connection and you will instantly become part of our big, beautiful Valued Voices family.
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Depending on your plan, and whether you are in-network or out-of-network (OON), insurance may cover a percentage of your therapy costs. Valued Voices is in-network with Kaiser, United Health Care PPO and Cigna PPO (speech only for Cigna). If we are OON with your insurance provider, do not worry, we will take care of all the research for you! First, you will need to schedule a consultation with us, then send us over your insurance card and we will verify your insurance benefits. Finally, we will review these benefits with you during your consultation. For both in-network and OON families, we will take away some of the stress by submitting authorizations and billing to your insurance provider for you at no additional fee. For OON insurance, the information received is never a guarantee of payment but we will always do the best we can to work with you with your insurance provider.
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Our center offers complimentary in-person or virtual consultations with a board certified and licensed Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) or Occupational Therapist (OT). From there, we will discuss with you the best program for your kiddo. We believe in quality of service and supporting your kiddo, so finances are always something we are more than happy to work with.
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You can receive therapy from an SLP or OT without any referral, however, whether you are in-network or OON, it is always best to check with your insurance provider in order to provide you with any coverage info. Don’t worry, we got you covered and will take care of finding out all the information for all our families.
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If you would like to speak with a therapist about your concerns, you can book a complimentary consultation. After your consultation or screening, your therapist will provide you with recommendations as to next steps. Sometimes, a comprehensive evaluation may be recommended or we may just ask you to jump right into therapy with us. We also offer our FREE online assessment. In just a few minutes you can learn whether your child is developmentally on track for their speech, language and motor milestones.
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If you would like to speak with a therapist about your concerns, you can book a complimentary consultation. After your consultation or screening, your therapist will provide you with recommendations as to next steps. Sometimes, a comprehensive evaluation may be recommended or we may just ask you to jump right into therapy with us. We also offer our FREE online assessment. In just a few minutes you can learn whether your child is developmentally on track for their speech, language and motor milestones.
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Yes! We offer speech, language and/or motor skills screenings. During this 30-minute appointment, we will obtain a quick case history, listen to your concerns and your goals, and get to know your kiddo through utilization of a standardized screening measure, informal assessment, and lots of play! From this information, we will determine if there are any areas where we can offer our support and will discuss with you the next steps.
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Our youngest is 10 months and our oldest 92! Although our center is primarily pediatrics, we welcome everybody!
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Absolutely! In fact, part of our commitment to your kiddo is being committed to you too. Family is a very important part of our philosophy at Valued Voices and one of our core values. Parents and other family members are often invited into the rooms to observe and/or participate in sessions. We intentionally design each session to allow time for family and therapists to discuss progress, what was done during the therapy session, and to provide strategies and activities you can implement at home. Home programs are provided to parents to increase carryover in all settings and help kiddos be more successful in reaching their goals. Parent education is an integral part of your kiddos’ success.
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The frequency and duration of therapy will vary based on each person. Your SLP and/or OT will be able to make clinical recommendations after your screening or assessment, but at the end of the day it is up to you and your family to select a frequency based on needs, scheduling, and funding. We are here to support you every step of the way.
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Yes! Valued Voices believes that a collaborative and multidisciplinary connection between your child, their family, and any other professionals and supports on their team helps to achieve results and reach the highest level of success. We highly recommend monthly meetings to collaborate and stay connected with everyone on your child’s team.
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Each therapy session is designed for your kiddo, drawing upon their strengths, interests, and goals. We are a child-centered center, which means we love to follow your child’s lead, empower their imagination, and expand their expression by carefully creating language and/or movement opportunities within some of their favorite activities. We wrap up each session by connecting with parent/family members and sharing the progress, tips, and activities to continue at home.
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Every child is on their own journey, which means progress is variable from child to child and depends on a lot of factors. At Valued Voices, we work with the whole family to achieve your kiddo’s goals. We have helped children under 5 use 2-3 word combinations with 75% accuracy, increase their vocabulary up to 94%, produce early developing sounds with 76% accuracy, tolerate hygiene routines with a 58% increase and put on clothes with 75% increase. We have helped kiddos over 5 formulate grammatically correct sentences with 87% accuracy, follow directions with 87% accuracy, ask and answer questions with 83% accuracy, form letters with 90% accuracy and increase independence of hygiene routines with a 67% increase. Again, each child is on their own journey, but with the right supports all children can feel seen, heard and acknowledged.
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The first step would be to schedule a complimentary consultation (in person or online). After that, we will either set up an appointment for a screening, evaluation or jump right into therapy. In the meantime, our dedicated team will work with you to verify insurance benefits and provide you with all the information you need to get your kiddo started.
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While it is true that children show some variation in language acquisition, it is also true that a skilled SLP can usually identify children who may need extra support in the areas of speech and language skills. The earlier you intervene and get your kiddo the support they need, the sooner they can feel heard, seen, acknowledged, and understood by others. My philosophy: “when in doubt, rule it out.” Do not wait and see, instead, be proactive and book a consultation today
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Let me first start by saying I am not a huge fan of milestones as a rule book, as I think they bring unnecessary stress and worry, but I do love them as a guide to help up support our children. Typically, by 12 months of age: your child has anywhere between 1-14 words, by 18 months: anywhere between 10-170 words, by age 2: anywhere between 50-440 words, and by age 3: anywhere between 250-1000+ words. You can see that the ranges vary and that from age 2-3 there is a huge jump in vocabulary as the brain is rapidly expanding and developing at this time. Early intervention is so important so if you suspect your child is behind with their speech and language milestones, contact us today.
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Using information from our consultation, screening, parent questionnaire, review of prior records, and any evaluation that we may have done, your child’s therapist(s) will create goals based on your child’s strengths and areas of need. First, we create a treatment plan which we will review together, creating goals that are individualized for your kiddo. Then, we monitor these goals throughout the sessions and through 3 and/or 6 month progress reports. We will track your kiddo’s progress every step of the way and make any adjustments when needed.
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At Valued Voices, we treat your child, not their label. Labels themselves are not bad; it’s all in how you see it. We believe children with Autism simply see the world from a particularly unique perspective. We see that unique outlook as a gift. If you suspect your child may have Autism and are looking for a formal diagnosis, we have a wonderful network of professionals to help support you in this process.
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Typically, a 1-2 year old is 50% intelligible to unfamiliar listeners, a 3-4 year old about 75-80% intelligible to unfamiliar listeners, and about 100% intelligible to unfamiliar listeners by the time they reach 5.
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While every child is different, potty training usually begins around 18 months. I recommend watching for signs of your child’s interest in using the toilet and encouraging their exploration. Signs of readiness may include asking for a diaper change, wanting to wear pull ups, or wanting to sit on the toilet or child’s potty chair.
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Typically, independent spoon and fork use is expected by 2-2 ½ years of age. By 3, the child should be able to scoop effectively during meals without a lot of spillage. A child is expected to use a knife for cutting and spreading around age 5. Chopsticks are typically used successfully around age 5 (assuming the child is frequently introduced to and allowed to practice with chopsticks regularly in the home or community).
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Children are expected to legibly write their names in all capital letters around age 5.
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Usually children are expected to put on all upper body and lower body clothing independently by age 4 to 4 ½.
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Sensory processing varies from person to person. Sometimes, benign auditory stimuli like a vacuum cleaner or toilet flush can cause more fear or anxiety than is typical. These reactions usually stem from hyper-responsivity to auditory input and may coincide with difficulties with self-regulation. However, it is common for very young children to be frightened of new or sudden noises, and it is only cause for concern if the child is older and is frequently distressed by familiar noises.
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Sensory processing varies from person to person. Sometimes, benign tactile stimuli like water or sand can cause more fear or anxiety than is typical. This is a result of the central nervous system registering the input as harmful or dangerous and prompting a flight, fight, or freeze reaction.
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Sensory processing is the general term for how our body takes in information from the environment (sensory input) through our receptor organs (like our noses, eyes, mouth, skin, etc.), decodes that information, and then uses it to inform our motor reactions.
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Gross motor skills include any action that uses large muscles of our body (i.e., your arms, legs, core, or any combination of those muscle groups). Examples of these include, skipping, jumping jacks, and riding a bike. In contrast, fine motor skills usually involve only the small muscles of the hands. These can include handwriting, scissor skills, utensil use, coloring, buttoning, shoe tying, etc.
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Sensory integration is a method of therapy where a trained clinician presents specific types of sensory input to the child in order to facilitate an adaptive response. What this basically means is looking for increased attention or regulation, improved posture, or bilateral use during the activity. It is the clinicians’ job to present the “just right challenge” using the sensory input to promote a more organized and efficient nervous system processing.
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When sensory processing or motor coordination are challenging, children can have difficulty tolerating frustration, filtering sensory input, and feeling secure in their bodies. Minor disagreements can result in big emotional reactions or aggression. An OT works to help develop coping strategies while addressing underlying sensory processing to improve regulation and independence with daily routines.
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W sitting is never encouraged as it stretches the ligaments and tendons at the knee joint. Encouraging your child to shift to a ring sit, criss-cross sit, or side sit is always preferred. If you notice your child really is having a hard time breaking the habit, it may be time to consult with an OT to determine if there is an underlying range of motion or sensory processing concern.
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Yes! Occupational therapists at Valued Voices typically address sensory based feeding concerns and feeding aversions due to trauma. These typically present as texture aversions, very limited diet, and/or food avoidance that is not otherwise caused by oral motor coordination deficits or swallowing challenges.