Anonymous
Post 01/03/2015 11:02     Subject: Re:13 year old with language disorder
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:See Melina Mccrary, an awesome Speech language therapist who specializes in junior high kids and language disorders- she's so good with social thinking too!

Mmccrary@continuumgroup.net

She's fantastic!



Great, thank you for the rec!


This is OP again. To the pp that recommended Melina Mccrary, did your child see her & if so, can you elaborate a bit on your experience with her? What exactly was your child's issue, experience, result.... I have looked her up and am considering contacting her.
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2015 10:33     Subject: Re:13 year old with language disorder
Anonymous wrote:See Melina Mccrary, an awesome Speech language therapist who specializes in junior high kids and language disorders- she's so good with social thinking too!

Mmccrary@continuumgroup.net

She's fantastic!



Great, thank you for the rec!
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2015 09:59     Subject: Re:13 year old with language disorder
See Melina Mccrary, an awesome Speech language therapist who specializes in junior high kids and language disorders- she's so good with social thinking too!

Mmccrary@continuumgroup.net

She's fantastic!

Anonymous
Post 01/02/2015 21:25     Subject: Re:13 year old with language disorder
Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you, I will look into Skillbuilders and Carol Kamara. Guidance on what we can do as parents, is exactly what we need. We never got that from our speech therapist. We were always asking her what we should be doing at home (games, shows, books, activities) to support his weekly sessions but just never got any feedback. Just told to do the weekly hw she gave him.


And Mary Camarata for a phone consult is also on my list. Thank you.
Anonymous
Post 01/02/2015 21:23     Subject: Re:13 year old with language disorder
OP here. Thank you, I will look into Skillbuilders and Carol Kamara. Guidance on what we can do as parents, is exactly what we need. We never got that from our speech therapist. We were always asking her what we should be doing at home (games, shows, books, activities) to support his weekly sessions but just never got any feedback. Just told to do the weekly hw she gave him.
Anonymous
Post 01/02/2015 18:43     Subject: 13 year old with language disorder
PP here again: Dr. Kamara's report resulted in my obtaining and maintaining an IEP from DCPS. She's highly respected and is the master of understanding how speech-language therapy can have a positive academic impact for reading and writing, especially for the older child, and what that therapy should look like.
Anonymous
Post 01/02/2015 18:33     Subject: 13 year old with language disorder
22:43 here. My DS did Earobics which helped with auditory issues. The FastForWord helped with processing speed, IMO. They don't do exactly the same things.

Try Skillbuilders in McLean and Annandale. Explain you need someone to work with a teen.
Anonymous
Post 01/02/2015 10:56     Subject: 13 year old with language disorder
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Parent with a 14 y.o. with APD and also GTLD. His processing speed is at 50% of his verbal comprehension. The sophisticated stuff does not come out easily because of the processing speed. He also has problems with any language-based schoolwork - stick him in art, PE, music and math and he's fine. He has a long-standing IEP because we got an early diagnosis. He was very much helped by FastForWord at age 11, not to mention speech therapy for five years. But it is not too late for your kid. You just need the right therapist.

Carol Kamara in Rockville has evaluated my kid and has given speech-language goals for him as teenager. The school won't pay, but I am planning on getting him back into private therapy shortly. I highly recommend her.


Thank you for the helpful post. I am looking into FastForWord now. I have decided to put him back in speech therapy. We spent a year at a large speech therapy place that came highly recommended to us but got stuck with a new therapist who was very sweet but had limited knowledge. I would love more recommendations from everyone for a good therapist, especially someone who works with teens with processing issues. I will look into Carol Kamara, although we prefer VA (near Arlington/McLean).


We talked to the Camaratas about Fast Forward, but they told us there aren't any actual studies that prove it works -- other than the studies funded by the company. There's a lot of anecdotal evidence for it, but then I also came across several posts that while it came with an initial skills bump, they didn't last. In fact, Fast Forward seems to work about as well as much cheaper computer programs like HearBuilders or Earobics.

If you can connect with Mary Camarata for a phone consult, I would do it. She has such a wealth of knowledge about practical application of language therapy and things to help in school settings.


+1. I would do a phone consult too. We saw her husband and it was helpful.
Anonymous
Post 01/02/2015 10:21     Subject: 13 year old with language disorder
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Parent with a 14 y.o. with APD and also GTLD. His processing speed is at 50% of his verbal comprehension. The sophisticated stuff does not come out easily because of the processing speed. He also has problems with any language-based schoolwork - stick him in art, PE, music and math and he's fine. He has a long-standing IEP because we got an early diagnosis. He was very much helped by FastForWord at age 11, not to mention speech therapy for five years. But it is not too late for your kid. You just need the right therapist.

Carol Kamara in Rockville has evaluated my kid and has given speech-language goals for him as teenager. The school won't pay, but I am planning on getting him back into private therapy shortly. I highly recommend her.


Thank you for the helpful post. I am looking into FastForWord now. I have decided to put him back in speech therapy. We spent a year at a large speech therapy place that came highly recommended to us but got stuck with a new therapist who was very sweet but had limited knowledge. I would love more recommendations from everyone for a good therapist, especially someone who works with teens with processing issues. I will look into Carol Kamara, although we prefer VA (near Arlington/McLean).


We talked to the Camaratas about Fast Forward, but they told us there aren't any actual studies that prove it works -- other than the studies funded by the company. There's a lot of anecdotal evidence for it, but then I also came across several posts that while it came with an initial skills bump, they didn't last. In fact, Fast Forward seems to work about as well as much cheaper computer programs like HearBuilders or Earobics.

If you can connect with Mary Camarata for a phone consult, I would do it. She has such a wealth of knowledge about practical application of language therapy and things to help in school settings.
Anonymous
Post 01/02/2015 10:10     Subject: 13 year old with language disorder
Anonymous wrote:Parent with a 14 y.o. with APD and also GTLD. His processing speed is at 50% of his verbal comprehension. The sophisticated stuff does not come out easily because of the processing speed. He also has problems with any language-based schoolwork - stick him in art, PE, music and math and he's fine. He has a long-standing IEP because we got an early diagnosis. He was very much helped by FastForWord at age 11, not to mention speech therapy for five years. But it is not too late for your kid. You just need the right therapist.

Carol Kamara in Rockville has evaluated my kid and has given speech-language goals for him as teenager. The school won't pay, but I am planning on getting him back into private therapy shortly. I highly recommend her.


Thank you for the helpful post. I am looking into FastForWord now. I have decided to put him back in speech therapy. We spent a year at a large speech therapy place that came highly recommended to us but got stuck with a new therapist who was very sweet but had limited knowledge. I would love more recommendations from everyone for a good therapist, especially someone who works with teens with processing issues. I will look into Carol Kamara, although we prefer VA (near Arlington/McLean).
Anonymous
Post 01/01/2015 22:43     Subject: 13 year old with language disorder
Parent with a 14 y.o. with APD and also GTLD. His processing speed is at 50% of his verbal comprehension. The sophisticated stuff does not come out easily because of the processing speed. He also has problems with any language-based schoolwork - stick him in art, PE, music and math and he's fine. He has a long-standing IEP because we got an early diagnosis. He was very much helped by FastForWord at age 11, not to mention speech therapy for five years. But it is not too late for your kid. You just need the right therapist.

Carol Kamara in Rockville has evaluated my kid and has given speech-language goals for him as teenager. The school won't pay, but I am planning on getting him back into private therapy shortly. I highly recommend her.
Anonymous
Post 01/01/2015 21:46     Subject: 13 year old with language disorder
Time for more speech therapy and a better therapist.
Anonymous
Post 01/01/2015 21:18     Subject: Re:13 year old with language disorder
Anonymous wrote:So, back to the original post, which is about a 13 year old. OP, does your son have an actual diagnosis? You said he has no IEP or 504. How long ago was his evaluation? To what extent do his communication issues seem to affect his daily functioning?


OP here. DS has a language processing disorder diagnosis from 2 years ago. I tried to get a 504 but school has denied. They say he's totally fine. His language skills affects his academics in that he has difficulty writing well, reading comprehension, math word problems... He is really quiet so he has limited friends (although he's not disliked in general) and doesn't really have any close friends. When he does talk, he has difficulty getting the words out, and the substance of his speech is not sophisticated, as in he says stuff that sounds like something someone much younger than him would say. He just "seems" younger than his age, which probably explains why he gets along with younger kids.