Rehabilitation Specialists, Inc.

Maybe you are a parent like me: making a list, checking it twice, and slowly purchasing your holiday gifts each pay. Maybe you’re like my dad and do all of your holiday shopping on Christmas Eve at 8 PM. However you purchase holiday gifts, sometimes we all need a little inspiration. From following some wonderful accounts on social media, like the speech-pathologist ran @learnwithless on Instagram or @theminimalists across various media platforms (podcasts, YouTube, Instagram), I have adopted a “less is more” approach to Christmas this year. I like the saying, “Something they want, something they need, something to wear, something to read” as a jumping off point to my holiday gifts for my own children. You as a parent to kiddos coming to speech, however, may be interested in gifts that can help with your child’s communication goals. Fear not: we have created this handy 2019 gift guide 😊 We tried to curate “out of the box” gifts that will still bring value to your child’

Although the term “Neurological Soft Signs (NSS)” sounds like it may be referring to  signs of a stroke or other impairment, it actually refers to something much more subtle. The reason we say “sift” signs is because NSS refers to a series of testable reflexes, movements, and sensory experiences that may suggest that there is a neurological abnormality this is not related to a specific area of the brain or a specific disorder. Many of these signs are developmental and can be just a delay that is “grown out of.” However, they are also precursory signs that another more serious impairment may be the underlying cause of these abnormalities. Neurological soft signs are typically broken into three subcategories: 1.        Sensory integration which may include a.        Low muscle tone (hypotonia): signs of this would include toe-walking, difficulty feeding, a lax tongue, a floppy head as a baby, delayed physical milestones, any muscle floppiness (ex: eyelids, arms, etc.) b

Childhood Apraxia of Speech Since I have been at Rehabilitation Specialists, I have worked with many children with the diagnosis of Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). However, I have been hesitant to write a blog post about this disorder. There is so much misinformation on the web as a whole; yet, there is so much good information on www.apraxia-kids.org that I felt like I did not want to be redundant. However, When I was a student at Duquesne University, I was fascinated by this motor speech disorder and actively asked to work with individuals with this diagnosis. I believe this is why for my last rotation of clinicals, I was sent here to work with Kathy Helfrich-Miller. Kathy retired this January and asked Julie and I to take over her life’s work. However, she has not completely left Rehab Specialists-- she still mentors us in many ways! So, as she taught me everything I know about apraxia, I asked her to be the guest expert for this installment of “5 Questions With…” series.

Working in both the private practice and school setting since my time here at Rehabilitation Specialists, I have heard this question often from both sides. My typical answer is, “I am certain your child is getting good therapy in the school setting and is making progress on their goals, but sometimes kids just need a little extra help.” This is the simple answer, but a lot of the time, I don’t convince a parent this way. So, today, I will be getting into a few different caveats of this answer and hopefully help a few parents out there understand the main differences between school therapy and private practice therapy. First, I think we need to talk about funding resources. Speech therapy funding in the school setting is free to families if the child qualifies for services. This is a major reason families will want to just have their child receive speech in school, which I totally understand as a budgeting parent myself. The funding comes from the state level for special educatio

Hello all! Happy New Year! If you follow us at all, you may have noticed that we took a few weeks off from the blog and social media for the holidays. We are back and ready to take any suggestions for blog ideas or questions you may have about what we do or what you can do for a loved one who may have a speech or language issue. In our office, we have had two retirements and two new hires this last month! Nicole Ezikanyi joined our team as our new full time office manager and Madison Minick joined us as an SLP Aide working at our contracted sites. Kathleen Helfirch-Miller, our wonderful boss since Julie and I both graduated from graduate school, officially retired as of the new year. You will still see her around here though, helping us take over the ship! Additionally, Sharon Helfrich, our wonderful Office Manager for 17 years, is also retiring. Both Kathy and Sharon are going to be spending a lot more time with their grandkids! Look for updated photos on our website of all