Helping Your Children Become Better Communicators
Theraspeak Speech & Language Therapy (Theraspeak New York, LLC) is a private, boutique therapy practice. We service families in Westchester, Rockland, and Bergen County in the comfort of their own home and in our clinic in the heart of Tarrytown, NY. We work with children from ages two through early adolescence to improve their communication skills while supporting their confidence, emotional and cognitive development.
Our Approach
We consider our therapy style to be family-centered, evidence based, child-led, functional, and fun! We pride ourselves in making all clients feel as if they are our only client. We work closely with families to create a functional therapy plan and support their child's journey to improved communication.
We are a neuro-diversity affirming practice meaning we believe that all children have strengths and unique qualities that they bring to the world. We don't force our clients to adhere to social norms but instead provide them with the support they need to thrive in a way that is most true to themselves.
Our goal is to enhance speech and language by showing children that communication is fun and not task-oriented. We encourage communication in the child's preferred mode while incorporating sensory preferences and interests into every session.
Meet Us
We are two passionate speech-language pathologists who also happen to be the best of friends. We built our practice around our desire to deliver quality services on a more personal basis. We strive to make parents feel comfortable, involved and educated in the development of their child's speech and language.
Our sessions continue beyond your scheduled session time as we maintain steady communication with families and provide resources and strategies to practice in your home and community.
Theraspeak is state licensed in NY & NJ and nationally certified.
Melinda Ferreira-Vargas, M.S., CCC-SLP, TSSLD
Melinda received her Master of Science in Communication Disorders from Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, NY. She has worked with children from early intervention through adolescence in special education programs, public and charter schools. Melinda's clinical interests include children with early language delays, speech-sound disorders and gestalt language processors. She has a passion for connecting with families and coaching them on how to further enhance their child's speech and language development.
Prior to becoming a speech-language pathologist, Melinda worked as a preschool ESL teacher, making her well versed in early childhood development. In addition, Melinda has extensive experience as an evaluator for preschool aged children and has supervised several graduate students during their clinical externship. She is a licensed member of the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA), holding her Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology. Melinda is a New York State licensed Teacher of Students with Speech and Language Disabilities. She has additional training in PROMPT therapy and the Natural Language Acquisition Framework for Gestalt Language Processors.
Reach out to her at:
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Katia Dinis, M.S., CCC-SLP, TSSLD
Katia received her Master of Science in Communication Disorders from Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, NY. She has worked with children from early intervention through elementary school in special education programs, public and private schools. Katia has over 10 years of experience in working with children of various ages to achieve their literacy and academic goals. Her clinical interests include working with children with speech-sound disorders and learning disabilities. Within the school setting, Katia has experience conducting evaluations and creating functional treatment plans. In addition, Katia has spent years supervising graduate students during their externship.
Katia has a passion for instilling confidence in children and giving them the tools they need to succeed socially and academically. She is a licensed member of the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA), holding her Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology. Katia is also a New York State licensed Teacher of Students with Speech and Language Disabilities.
Reach out to her at:
Our Boutique Therapy Clinic
Our Services
We offer a range of pediatric speech and language services for children of all ages and abilities from children working on one sound to those with global delays. Depending on your child's needs and our experience, we will determine if we are a good match and move forward with an in-person assessment.
Speech Sound Disorders
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Childhood Apraxia of Speech
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Dysarthria
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Phonological Disorders
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Articulation Disorders
Your child may have difficulty with one or many sounds. Others may have a hard time understanding what they say. This can cause frustration, decrease confidence and impact reading.
Receptive Language
Therapy
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Listening/Reading Comprehension
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Language Processing
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Following Directions
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Perspective taking
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Understanding Social Cues
Some children may have difficulty understanding language. They may have difficulty following directions, understanding academic work or "reading the room." It may take them a little longer to process what others say or execute tasks.
Expressive Language Therapy
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Vocabulary
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Grammar
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Sentence structure
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Overall expression of wants and needs
Your child may have difficulty formulating complete thoughts, explaining things, expressing their wants and needs or remembering words.
Gestalt Language Processing
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Echolalia
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Scripting
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Natural Language Acquisition
Your child may produce scripts from shows they like to watch or repeat what they have heard others say throughout the day. He or she may use phrases instead of words or simple sentences to communicate. For example, they may say, "I hope you like and subscribe!" when finished cleaning up or reading a book. A child like this is typically a gestalt language processor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you accept insurance?
No. We are a private pay practice only. We run our practice this way in order to provide an ample amount of time for research and planning, coaching parents, and driving to you. Working this way allows us to provide the highest quality of care.
We can provide you with a monthly super-bill upon request. When submitting a super-bill it is possible for you to receive reimbursement for services rendered depending on your insurance plan.
Please contact us for rates.
How long are therapy sessions?
Therapy sessions are typically provided 1-3 times per week and are typically 30 or 45 minutes in duration. This is determined by clinical recommendation, the child's individual needs, and family preferences.
Where is the therapy provided?
Therapy services are provided in our office at 1 Neparan Rd. in. Tarrytown, NY or in your home or child's school.
What is the process for signing my child up?
You can email us at hello@theraspeakforme.com or fill out the contact form at the bottom of our page to set up a time to speak. We will then schedule an in-person consultation where we would get to know your child and asses his or her strengths and needs. Together we will then develop functional and appropriate goals that will be addressed in therapy sessions.
What payment methods do you accept?
We accept cash, check, all major credit cards, HSA/HFA cards
I am unsure if my child needs speech therapy. What can I do?
You can can first contact us to set up a free-phone consultation. Here we can answer some of your questions and schedule an in-person screening.
A screening will provide some insight into your child's needs and is the first step before an evaluation. Based on your child's screening results we will determine if a complete evaluation is needed.
Where are you located?
We provide services in New York (Westchester & Rockland) and New Jersey (Bergen County.) All services will be provided in your home or child's school/daycare.
As of March 2024 we will be providing services in our clinic located at 1 Neparan Rd. in Tarrytown, NY.
How long does it take to see progress?
Progress truly depends on a variety of factors such as severity of disorder, parental involvement and consistency of sessions. We strongly encourage parent collaboration and support in practicing what is done in therapy at home. Therapy is not a quick fix and takes time. We create short-term and long-term goals for this reason. Our short-term goals may be achieved faster (weeks or months) while long-term goals can take much longer (months to years.)
What is Gestalt Language Processing?
There are two ways that we develop language. Most of us are analytic language processors. We process language in small parts then progress to larger and more complex language, such as, sounds to single words, single words to phrases, phrases to sentences and so on. Gestalt language processors learn language in chunks first. They are often called "intonation babies" as they have rich intonation and can use lengthy scripts of language. They also may present with echolalia (repetition of words or phrases.) Some children may process language as both an analytic and gestalt language processor. For children that are gestalt language processors we often have to play detective to figure out where their gestalts are derived from and what they mean as they are indeed meaningful. We would love to help you figure out what kind of language processor your child is, uncover the meaning behind their gestalts and help guide them to self-generated language!
What is PROMPT therapy?
Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets (PROMPT) is a tactile-kinesthetic (touch and feel) approach where the PROMPT-trained therapist manipulates the child's articulators to help them produce target sounds and syllable shapes. This is often used with children with severe speech sound disorders such as apraxia of speech but can be used on any child struggling with sound production. We target words and phrases that are functional and meaningful for the child to work on in therapy. This is one tool we may use to provide speech-sound therapy. We are PROMPT-level I trained.
What is a boutique private practice?
A boutique style practice is one that is small, intimate and caters to the client's needs. We pride ourselves in being this kind of practice; one that creates meaningful relationships with every family they serve. Life happens and things change, so if you need to change your therapy time, increase/decrease days of service or have us see your child in a different location, we will not hesitate to work with you. In addition, we encourage parents to reach out to us at anytime. If you want to share something cool your child did over the weekend, have a thought on something you want us to check out in our next session, or want to chat, we are here! This is the kind of relationship we strive for. We are always looking for ways to better serve you and provide your child with the quality therapy they deserve.
