While it’s true every child develops speech and language on their own timeline, delays in specific milestones such as talking or a newly found medical diagnosis can leave many parents with a lot of questions unanswered.  

Speech Works by Elissa is dedicated to educating both parents and other professionals about speech-language development, as well as provides intervention and treatment strategies.  Speech Works by Elissa specializes in speech, language, and auditory processing using an integrated winning combination of the most progressive therapeutic strategies and techniques to guide families on how to meet each developmental milestones needed to develop speech, language and auditory processing skills.

It is very common for parents to have many unanswered questions when initiating services at Speech Works by Elissa.  Many parents report that their child has previously attended traditional speech therapy with limited to no progress in their child’s ability to verbally communicate as their typical peers do. They are often unaware of the progressive treatment approaches available for their child.  At Speech Works by Elissa, parents are introduced to new techniques that produce a startling and dramatic effect in the development of motor, verbal and auditory processing capabilities in children who once had little to no capability for verbal communication.

Speech Works by Elissa has developed a unique integrated set of therapeutic activities and curriculum for developing verbal speech, language and auditory processing skills.  Speech Works by Elissa appears to be able to tackle the root cause of the problem for the individual focusing on both functional communication and daily living needs.

Speech Works by Elissa has had great success at combining every progressive technique available that works best for an individual based on their most successful learning style, whether it be visual, tactile, kinesthetic and/or auditory.  Speech Works by Elissa will utilize an individual’s strengths to overcome their weaknesses.

Speech Works by Elissa is renown for obtaining rapid progress through use of repetition and positive reinforcement.  Speech Works by Elissa has created a Lovaas Influenced curriculum for each speech-language technique utilized, which basically entails breaking down each goal into extremely small obtainable steps.  This allows the client to be successful and achieve progress at a very quick rate.  Speech Works by Elissa has had much success with the ability to guide a delayed child through speech-language-auditory development in order to hit milestones needed for their proper functioning level.

One of the many techniques Speech Works by Elissa uses is called Oral Placement Therapy (OPT), which is a  type, of oral-motor therapy used by Speech-Language Pathologists (SLP) to target specific movements needed for standard speech production through a combination of therapy techniques. This therapy also differs from traditional speech therapy in that the strategies continue to utilize auditory and visual stimuli while adding the tactile and proprioceptive sensory systems. This allows the client to feel the movements as well as hear and see them.

While Speech Works by Elissa treats patients with a variety of diagnosis’, Our specialty is working with individuals with difficulty in motor planning, oral motor placement for speech production, and/or auditory processing for language development using a motor and behavioral approach.

Motor planning for speech production is a highly refined and specific series of movements of the tongue, lips, jaw, palate, and muscles for speech breathing, that are necessary for intelligible speech. The act of speech begins with an intention to communicate. Next, an idea forms, outlining what the speaker wants to say. The words for the desired message are put in the correct order, using the correct grammar. Each word contains a specific sequence of sounds and syllables that must be correctly ordered together.

“All of this information is translated from an idea, and information about order of sounds and syllables, into a series of highly coordinated motor muscle movements. The brain must tell the muscles of these articulators the exact order and timing of movements so that the words in the message are properly pronounced. Finally, the muscles themselves must work properly with enough strength and muscle tone to perform the movements needed for speech.”

“Usually, once syllables and words are spoken repeatedly, the speech motor act becomes automatic and requires less effort. The child doesn’t have to think about how to say the word or phrase. At this point, speech motor plans and programs are stored in the brain and can be quickly accessed and put together effortlessly when they are needed.”

Helping a child develop the capability of speech needs to be individualized and typically there is no short-term, quick-fix, therapy available. Many of Speech Works by Elissa’s patients require many years of ongoing work using various techniques and strategies as they progress from the development of one physiological capability to another. During this process, time is spent training parents, caregivers, and home instructors to systematically apply techniques at home and not be entirely dependent on a routine of frequent visits to her office. This makes the process more economical for families, offers an approach with a more rapid rate of progress in speech development, and reinforces the positive parent-child bonds between that are essential in this effort.

“My mission is to provide the highest quality services in identification, diagnosis, and treatment of individuals with disorders, by integrating the most progressive and diverse techniques, and delivering them with respect, integrity, and compassion.”, states Elissa R. Mandel (owner of Speech Works by Elissa)

Elissa describes her services “as being a lot like developing a physical fitness routine that is largely effective because of the constant reinforcement and presence of a trainer.”