Finding their Voice
Language skills are important, not only for academic success, but for social-emotional wellness as well. Speech-Language services are available in-house at RCS, so students can receive the help they need through individual and small group sessions during the school day, including through collaboration between the SLP and teachers within the academic classroom. Our Speech and Language Therapist Mrs. Martinez has helped children find their voice at Radcliffe Creek for over 25 years!
Speech-Language Services at Radcliffe Creek
A child may be challenged in the area of expressive language (what the child can express), receptive language (what the child understands), auditory processing and memory (the ability to listen to, remember, and use oral information), social pragmatics (social skills), and/or speech articulation and fluency. Often, children will struggle with more than one of these areas, as they tend to go hand-in-hand.
At Radcliffe Creek School, students receive the speech-language support they need to foster academic and social success. Screenings, evaluations, and treatment are provided by certified speech-language pathologists like Radcliffe's all-star, Ms. Malorie Martinez. Speech-language intervention services are provided based on the child’s needs, ranging from support in the classroom through consultation with teachers, to individual and small-group sessions one to three times a week, to intensive therapy provided daily in a speech-language class that is part of the child’s schedule. During classroom intervention, the speech-language pathologist and the classroom teacher collaborate to create lessons which are rich in oral language and auditory processing/listening skills. This is invaluable time when students receive instruction and guided practice utilizing speech-language skills and strategies within the academic classroom.
A student’s individualized speech-language objectives are addressed using multi-sensory instruction, utilizing a student’s strengths and unique learning style, allowing the child to experience success and then build on that success. Students may work on such skills as sentence formulation, vocabulary building, word-retrieval, and narrative production. They learn strategies to compensate for weak auditory processing and memory. At Radcliffe Creek School, neurodiversity is supported and celebrated. Students receive support and guidance in the area of social communication in a neurodiversity affirming environment. Speech-language therapy sessions regularly involve curricular material, and classroom teachers provide accommodations for auditory processing and memory difficulties, as well as oral language practice and social pragmatic guidance within their academic classes on a daily basis.