Communication Bridges provides individual and group speech and language therapy in Irvine, Tustin, Newport Beach and neighboring parts of Orange County. In addition, in-home sessions that include parent / caregiver training are also available.
Areas of Specialization
- Articulation and Phonological Disorders
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Auditory Processing Disorder
- Apraxia of Speech
- Receptive Language Disorders
- Expressive Language Diorders
- Learning Disabilities
- Oral Motor Disorders
- Stuttering and Fluency Disorders
Free Initial Consultation
Communication Bridges provides a free initial speech and language consultation for families in the Orange County area. This aims at gathering information and understanding the needs of the child and family. Prior evaluation reports are also reviewed, if available. The consultation provides an opportunity for the therapist to gauge not only the deficiencies in terms of speech and language, but also the areas of strength and toys or activities that are motivating for the child. It allows for parents and caregivers to voice questions, concerns, and their expectations.
During the consultation, the therapist will provide the caregivers with initial impressions, and with a general treatment plan. A more detailed treatment plan with specific goals and objectives will be prepared if the general treatment guidelines and recommendations are deemed appropriate by the family. As a policy, we aim to be as helpful as possible and provide current, empirical, and research-based information. Our goal is to make the process as simple as possible for our families, while ensuring that we provide the highest quality services that are individualized and effective.
Contact Us today to schedule your free initial consultation.
Specialized Treatment Techniques
Therapeutic Listening Program: Listening With the Whole Body, Vital Links
Listening plays a vital role in the sensory integration process. In fact, some believe that the auditory system is the ‘missing link’ in sensory integration modalities. Both research and clinical experience have shown that using sound-based interventions for clients with sensory processing difficulties can increase treatment effectiveness. This program incorporates Therapeutic Listening® Modulated CDs to create individualized, home-based programs for clients.
P.R.O.M.P.T. Technique, PROMT Institute
The PROMPT (Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets) approach to therapy is a technique where the therapists fingers are placed on the clients face, jaw and under the chin to facilitate articulatory postures. It is however, more than an approach to elicit speech sounds. It is considered to be a holistic approach to develop functional communication skills.
Muscle Based Oral-Motor Therapy, Sara Rosenfeld-Johnson, Talk Tools Innovative Therapists International
Sara Rosenfeld-Johnson has developed tools for improving oral strength and coordination (lips, tongue and jaw). This program works on refining of precise tongue placement required for articulation, and enhancing breath support for adequate respiration, phonation and resonation. Talk Tools come in the form of various horns and straws. Each tool works on building specific oral motor targets. The program also uses functional and fun exercises to practice desired skills. The tools and exercises are also recommended for home programs to ensure best results. These are typically implemented for children with significant oral motor weakness.
It Takes Two To Talk, Hanen Center
This program was developed by The Hanen Center and is based on research that recognizes that how parents communicate with their children impacts the children’s communication skills. In this program, parents learn practical ways to help their children learn language during everyday routines and activities. The program emphasizes educating parents about stages of communication development, setting realistic goals and objectives, learning and using effective strategies to promote their child’s communication and language development.
Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)
The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is an augmentative communication system developed to help individuals quickly acquire a functional means of communication (Bondy and Frost, 1994). PECS is appropriate for individuals with limited speech skills. It consists of the use of pictures for communicating in functional, meaningful and natural settings.
Picture Communication Symbols (PCS), DynaVox & Mayer-Johnson
The PCS library produced by the Boardmaker Plus® software consists of over 10,000 simple line drawings designed to represent words and short phrases to support children and adults with communication challenges. PCS can be used to augment expressive communication and improve comprehension. We incorporate PCS based activities during the session for children with limited speech skills. A copy of these symbols is also provided to parents for additional practice and generalization.
Social Stories
Social Stories are a tool for teaching social skills to children with autism and related disabilities. Social stories provide an individual with accurate information about common situations. This is important because children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often find social situations difficult or confusing. The situation is described in detail and focus is given to what is expected of the child and the reactions he may encounter. The story is usually brief with clear, specific language designed to eliminate ambiguities that confuse children with ASD. The goal of the story is to increase the child’s understanding of, make him more familiar and comfortable in social situations.
