Karen Kabaki-Sisto is an ASHA-certified speech-language pathologist and applied behavior analysis instructor who has spent 20 years working with a vast population of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Pervasive Development Disorder, Asperger’s Syndrome, and social (pragmatic) communication disorder. Her specialty is helping people w/ autism to start, maintain, and end naturally-flowing conversations via her private practice and her iPad app 'I Can Have Conversations With You!
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Frequently Asked Questions
The goal of speech therapy is to help your child communicate effectively with other people across all environments. This may take the form of using gestures, simple signs, verbal speech, and Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).
Some other common things speech therapists can help with:
Nonverbal skills, such as signs or gestures
Forming speech in a clearer way
Communicating thoughts and feelings clearly
Understanding and responding to questions
Discerning facial expressions and their corresponding emotions
Noticing and understanding body language
Feeding and swallowing
Stuttering
You can get your child an AAC device a few ways:
Add it to your child’s IEP. If your child has an IEP, you can request that an AAC device be made part of it, and that they always have access to it in school. (Some schools will allow you to take the device home, too.)
Ask your child’s doctor. You can request an evaluation for an AAC device through your child’s doctor. This requires an evaluation, and your child’s insurance should cover part (or all) of the costs.
Buy one yourself. Many AAC devices are just apps installed on regular iPads or a tablet. They can be a bit pricey, but getting insurance to pay for AAC devices can take a long time.
Children to adults
Virtual
Asha-certified, Speech Language Pathologist
Female
English