Classes for Parents
Speech Therapy Associates, offers Hanen® Programs, which are research-based and designed for small groups of parents. They take a practical approach and help parents learn how to foster their child's language development during everyday routines and activities. The programs are led by a trained speech therapist.
Hanen® programs have three objectives:
- parent education,
- early language intervention,
- and social support.
Parent Education
Parents learn about communication and language so they can help their child’s communication develop. They learn about:
- communication development
- the differences between expressive and receptive language
- the importance of a child’s active participation in frequent, extended turn-taking interactions to set the stage for language learning
- how and why their child communicates
- their child’s stage of communication development which helps set realistic communication goals
- how to respond to children’s communication attempts
Early Language Intervention
Parents learn strategies to use throughout the day so that intervention becomes a natural part of every day. Each child’s communication goals are supported by highlighting specific strategies for individual parents. These goals are developed with the parents and modified over the course of the program. Since it is important for parents to be effective and use the strategies consistently, video feedback sessions play a major role in helping parents see and change their interactive behavior with their child.
Social Support
In Hanen® programs, parents gain both formal and informal social support. The SLP, whose role includes that of group leader, interventionist, coach and counselor provides more formal support. The parent group itself provides informal support through the sharing of experiences with families in similar situations. Parents report that this constitutes an important part of the program.
It Takes Two to Talk™
A Hanen® Program for parents of children under 5 who have language delays. Learn to become your child’s primary language teacher, so your child has opportunities for communication development every day. It Takes Two to Talk™ is designed for toddlers and preschool-age children with specific language impairment, as well as to children with cognitive and developmental delays under age five.
More Than Words™
A family-focused Hanen® Program that gives parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and related social communication difficulties practical tools to help their children communicate.
More Than Words™ is based on the same basic theory as It Takes Two to Talk™. More Than Words also emphasizes the child's everyday activities as the context for learning to communicate. In addition, More Than Words™ incorporates current best practices in treating children with autistic spectrum disorder, making use of predictability, structure and the use of visual supports to enhance learning in children with ASD.
The Program is organized around four major goals:
- Improved two-way interaction
- More mature and conventional ways of communicating
- Better skills in communicating for social purposes
- An improved understanding of language
Speech Therapy Associates
