Speech Therapy at Inner Circle Autism Network

Inner Circle’s SLPs will thoroughly review your child’s medical history, developmental milestones, and current concerns before administering standardized tests that are specifically designed to assess various aspects of communication. These tests may include measures of speech sound production, receptive and expressive language skills, fluency, voice quality, and social communication abilities. From the results of these tests an individualized treatment plan will be developed to address your child’s unique speech and language needs.

Common goals include:

• Increasing functional communication
• Improving speech articulation
• Enhancing understanding of language
• Expanding vocabulary, sentence structure, and grammatical skills
• Developing social communication skills
• Fostering social communication skills including turn taking, eye contact, and understanding conversational rules
• Expanding social engagement
• Reducing communication anxiety and repetitive behaviors
• Improving narrative and storytelling skills
• Enhancing nonverbal communication such as body language, gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact
• Increasing speech fluency

Yes! Children with autism often struggle with social interaction and understanding social cues. Speech therapy aims to enhance their ability to engage in conversations, understand non-verbal communication, interpret emotions, and appropriately respond in social situations.

Expressive language refers to a child’s ability to express their own thoughts and feelings through speech.

Receptive language refers to a child’s ability to understand what is being communicated to them through speech.

Inner Circle’s comprehensive speech therapy programs address both types of language skills in accordance with a child’s needs.

AAC refers to any system or method of communication used to supplement or replace verbal communication for children who have difficulty with speech or language.

Some common AAC methods are:

• Picture Exchange Communication Systems (PECS)
• Communication Board or Choice Board
• Voice Output Communication Aids (VOCAs)
• American Sign Language (ASL)
• Text-to-Speech Apps or Devices

At Inner Circle, we recognize that every child is unique and as such requires an individualized approach to treatment. This means that there is no magic formula or quick answer and the length of treatment depends on several factors including skills, needs, goals, rate of progress, attendance, intensity of services, and other factors. Speech therapy can range from several months to several years. 

Your child’s SLP will medically recommend a treatment plan which will include the number of visits recommended per week or month. Often insurance will also have limitations on the number of visits allowed in a calendar year.

Absolutely! We want to make things as easy as possible for you. This is why our speech program is offered at the same time as regularly scheduled ABA therapy. An SLP will evaluate, design, and implement your child’s speech treatment plan while maximizing collaboration with the ABA team.

The duration of speech therapy depends on several factors including skills, needs, goals, rate of progress, attendance, intensity of services, and other factors. Speech therapy can range from several months to several years.

A typical speech therapy session can vary depending on your child’s age, needs, and goals as well as the specific approach and techniques used by the SLP.

A session typically begins with a warm-up activity or review of previously mastered skills and then the bulk of the session will be dedicated to working on specific goals using a variety of activities and materials such as games, toys, computer programs, and interactive apps to engage your child’s interests and abilities.

Yes! Nonverbal communication is an important part of any child’s social and communication skill development. Nonverbal communication includes body language, facial expressions, eye contact, and gestures. Nonverbal communication is incorporated into every speech therapy session.

Your child’s SLP will provide updates on progress, demonstrate techniques for home practice, and offer strategies for facilitating communication and language development outside of therapy. This may include specific activities, exercises, or strategies to work on between sessions to help with generalization and carryover.

Yes! Below is a current list of our current in-network providers, however if your insurance is not listed, we will work to find you options for services. 

• Arkansas Medicaid
• Summit Community Care
• Empower Healthcare
• Arkansas Total Care
• CareSource
• Blue Cross Blue Shield
• United Healthcare
• Cigna
• UMR
• Soonercare
• Qualchoice
• Oklahoma Complete Health
• Humana Healthy Horizons of Oklahoma
• Aetna Better Health of Oklahoma

Costs associated with speech therapy depend on a number of factors, including the treatment plan, number of sessions, and your insurance coverage.

There are various signs that indicate a child might benefit from speech therapy. Some signs to look for are:

• Limited speech development
• Difficulty understanding language
• Articulation or pronunciation challenges
• Stuttering
• Limited social communication skills
• Language delays
• Oral motor or feeding challenges
• Repetitive language
• Minimal language use

Yes! Speech and language communication skills are essential components of friendships and social interactions. Inner Circle’s speech therapy programs are designed to give your child the tools they need to communicate in social situations. 

Yes! Minimally verbal or nonverbal children can greatly benefit from speech therapy programs designed to help them learn and develop speech and language skills used in communication.

As with our treatment plans, progress is measured on an individual basis. Regular progress reporting helps our speech-language pathologists (SLPs) adjust plans as needed and monitor your child’s progress. 

Yes! Articulation and speech clarity are two of the main components in Inner Circle’s speech therapy programs.