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Speech Teletherapy Dallas
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Teletherapy Speech-Language Services

Our team of Speech-Language Pathologists in Dallas Texas are here to provide Speech therapy from the comfort of your own home. We aim to inspire and empower our students as we Embrace the Amazing in Every Child from online via your computer, tablet, or phone. Speech Language Therapy online has been shown to be an effective service delivery model with teletherapy working well for most students.

How do telehealth services work? After scheduling services with our front office, you will be given a link to attend a HIPAA protected therapy session. The online system that we use contains many Apps, visual boards and therapeutic games to keep students engaged as they practice their speech sounds, make up sentences about an interactive scene, assemble sentences, and address many other communication and literacy skills. Individual stories and other materials are easily uploaded on the screen for more specific targeting of the child’s goals.

Children as young as Pre-School 3- and 4- have shown success with Online Speech Therapy with the help of a parent – if your child has trouble attending to structured tasks, we may request that a parent or adult attend and help the child stay engaged during their sessions. Not only will this improve your child’s performance but will also help you learn ways in which to best help your child in their communication goals. Many students thrive on computer interaction, but LIVE computer interaction is even better, and it’s customized to meet their needs.

The intake process for teletherapy services is the same; we start with either a Screening or comprehensive Speech-Language Evaluation. Our clinic offers free Screenings where you and your child can meet with an SLP for a “mini-test”. After completing the full Speech-Language Evaluation the SLP writes a report with individual goals for therapy. The evaluation may take place online or in our clinic.

Due to the current health crisis, many insurance companies have made it easier for providers to serve clients remotely. We accept insurance and directly bill Blue Cross Blue Shield, United Healthcare, and TriCare, and the Medicaid plans Parkland, Amerigroup, Children’s, and TMHP. We also offer private pay services on a sliding scale basis and will keep a credit card on file to bill for each session or any copays at the time of service. Please contact us directly to discuss private pay services or additional payment options.

Our team also offers specialized reading tutoring online, which is available nationwide to boost reading decoding, reading comprehension and written composition skills. Our services are tailored to the individual specific needs for a range of students, from beginning readers, Elementary, Junior High and through High School.

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Holiday Grieving

Rachel’s Reflections

When the Holidays Are Not Happy

By Rachel Betzen, M.A., CCC/SLP

rainy-83136_640Holidays are presented to kids as a time for thankfulness, joy, and excitement. However, for many people, the holidays can be a difficult time – children included. Children who have social language challenges may have anxiety about family gatherings, as well as trouble with the upcoming family interactions. Kids who require structure and routine to function would also benefit from some holiday support, which may include going over schedule changes ahead of time, as a safe place to settle down if the crowd becomes overwhelming.

When children are experiencing a lot of anger, sadness, or grief, they may feel more isolated around the holidays, when everyone else seems so happy.

Holidays are also a time of grieving for those who have experienced loss or family turmoil. Holidays represent anniversaries of grief, and just giving a name to a grief is a start toward recognizing their feelings.

Loss for children isn’t just the loss of a family member or beloved pet. It can be experienced due to loss of security and safety, loss of a home, loss of an important social group or support network, or loss of holiday expectations, when parents can’t pull it off for whatever reasons. Loss is more common than we think, and it touches just about everyone.

The warning signs for teachers and parents that a child is grieving can be:

• withdrawal from family activities or friends
• reluctance to engage in conversations
• increased meltdowns, or
• decreased academic performance.

Our students need supportive environments where they are able to give voice to their feelings and needs in a safe place, and work on gratitude for the blessings we have, and the gifts we receive.

Having an attitude of gratitude has to be learned, but it can be taught and nurtured everyday with the Three Basic Gratitude Questions (see below). We can start small, in fact it can be the smallest thing we notice, to help us appreciate the beauty and goodness all around us. The goal is to teach and accept everyday gratitude, so that we do not let sorrows and grief overwhelm us.

Three Basic Gratitude Questions

 

  • Who or what inspired me today?
  • When did I feel peace today?
  • What made me happy today?

Further reading:

When the Holidays Aren’t Joyous: 5 Tips for Helping Children Cope With Loss, by Rob Zucker, author of The Journey Through Grief and Loss: Helping Yourself and Your Child When Grief is Shared

 

Rachel Betzen, M.A., CCC/SLP, is a licensed speech-language therapist and is the founder and owner of Dallas Reading and Language Services.

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Free Workshop

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 12, 2015

Editorial Contacts:
Stephen Betzen, Office Manager, (214) 646-1570, sbetzen@dallasreading.com
Cliff Pearson, Communications Coordinator, (214) 646-1570, cpearson@dallasreading.com

Speech Clinic to Offer Free Workshop for Parents

Therapists to teach signs of language issues in children as they learn reading skills

(DALLAS, November 12, 2015) – Dallas Reading and Language Services announces a free workshop for parents, “My Smart Kid Doesn’t Like to Read, Now What?” with certified and licensed speech-language pathologists Rachel Betzen, M.A., CCC/SLP, and Kate Hardin, M.S., CFY/SLP. This workshop will last from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015 at the Dallas Public Library Children’s Center in Dallas.

“Reading is part of a language hierarchy,” says Ms. Betzen. “At the base of the hierarchy is a representation of experiences and knowledge which children use to build their basic vocabulary and language skills. Reading is another symbol-system imposed on top of our language.”

“If a child experiences a weakness anywhere in this hierarchy, difficulty with higher level skills, such as reading and writing, will result,” adds Ms. Hardin. “This is why children who have speech or language difficulties as preschoolers are at a higher risk of having learning problems in school, particularly when learning to read.”

In this workshop, parents will learn about:

  • Language disorders
  • Developmental reading milestones
  • What to do if they have concerns about their child

About the lecturers:

Rachel Betzen, M.A., CCC/SLP, is the founding speech-language pathologist and owner of Dallas Reading and Language Services. She has worked with children who have displayed a variety of disorders and developmental challenges, as well as children with dyslexia and comprehension problems. Rachel received her Master in Arts degree in Communication Disorders from the University of Houston.

Kate Hardin, M.S., CFY/SLP, is a speech-language pathologist for Dallas Reading and Language Services, and is in her clinical fellowship year. Kate is bilingual (Spanish and English) and is from the Dallas area. Her background in speech therapy includes previous work in private practice clinics, and in both public and charter schools. She has worked with children from pre-kindergarten through 8th grade, including children with disabilities. Kate earned her Master of Science degree in Communications Disorders at the University of Texas at Dallas.

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Dallas Reading and Language Services is a provider of speech-language therapy and reading services to the Dallas community, employing licensed Speech-Language Pathologists and SLP Assistants.

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