Partners In Learning will offer a new program providing special needs children speech therapy in a fun way. The program will be offered in the child’s natural environment ó in the home or child care center.
Partners In Learning has hired Shelby Barton, a veteran speech therapist, to provide the new services. The group also offers on-site inclusive classrooms, screenings, support groups, and center/home based play therapy.
“In addition to working directly with the child, what makes this format so effective is the opportunity to make an impact on the environment so that the child continues to learn from the caregivers when the therapist is not present,” said Barton. “The child’s potential to make progress is multiplied and I find that one of the most exciting facets of this therapy model.”
Barton has more than 20 years of experience in the field of speech therapy with geriatric and pediatric populations. She has spent the last nine years working with the preschool population through Rowan-Salisbury Schools.
She has worked part time for Partners in Learning for the past four years using this therapy model. Her experience includes work with children diagnosed as having developmental apraxia, autism spectrum disorders, hearing loss, language and phonological delays, Down syndrome, Smith Maginis syndrome, oral motor dysfunction and cerebral palsy in addition to more typical language and phonological delays.
She has also worked with dysphagia patients in the adult geriatric realm and plans to pursue additional training in pediatric swallowing disorders.
Individual therapy costs may be covered by Medicaid and insurance. To learn more about Partners In Learning speech therapy, call 704-638-9020.