Brooklyn Letters IconBrooklyn Letters

1139 Prospect Avenue, Brooklyn

4.9 56 reviews

  • Avatar Emily Matles ★★★★★ a week ago
    We would highly recommend Ally! Our son always asks about her, so very thankful to Brooklyn Letters for introducing us.
    ~ Emily, mom of Brooklyn 2 year old
  • Avatar T Ainsley ★★★★★ 5 months ago
    I cannot express how grateful and rewarding my experience with Brooklyn Letters has been. Her tutor Ms. Daria is so knowledgeable, amazing, kind and awesome. My daughter has made so much progress in Literacy and Math and it's all … More thanks to Ms. Daria. I know my daughter is sad that she can no longer work with Ms. Daria, as she looked forward to their sessions every week. Thank you again!
  • Avatar Natalie Levon ★★★★★ 4 months ago
    Nicole has been an amazing therapist!! She played a tremendous role in our daughter’s speech progress and overall development. She has come such a long way and we are so happy with the therapy she received!
  • Avatar Colin Peters ★★★★★ 6 months ago
    We could not be happier with the services Valerie provided! She is very thoughtful and knowledgeable and provided significant guidance to support our daughter's speech development outside of our scheduled sessions. She established … More a great working relationship with her, and she will definitely be missed! Your business model is amazing and it was an absolute pleasure working with Valerie. I've referred your organization and Valerie to the Executive Director of our daughter's school and friends/colleagues who are in need of speech therapy services.
  • Avatar Lil Amatore ★★★★★ 7 months ago
    Christina was absolutely wonderful. She went out of her way to win my son over and it worked. He looked forward to her visits and his speech improved so much under her care. She was super flexible and it’s clear she truly cares. We adore … More Christina and we’re going to miss her. Almost sad he improved so much! She’s simply amazing and we can’t say enough how great she is. I would recommend her services to anyone and everyone, without hesitation. Thank you so much for connecting us with her!
  • Avatar Heather Liljengren ★★★★★ a year ago
    We cannot say enough good things about Effie, the ASL teacher, who was so engaged and effective with our 2 year old daughter from the very first session! Effie gladly included our whole family in the sessions! Her expertise and fantastic … More personality gave our daughter a way to communicate that she was so desperately seeking. The coordinators at Brooklyn Letters were so helpful and communicative…I would highly recommend their services!
  • Avatar Brigid Bower ★★★★★ 11 months ago
    Samantha Dalmas was fantastic! We saw her for a feeding therapy evaluation and while she doesn’t think my daughter needs more feeding therapy sessions at this time, but she gave me lots of tips to try. If my daughter's doctors want … More to see more progress at her next appointment, I wouldn’t hesitate to reach out to Samantha again.
  • Avatar Duygu Başaran ★★★★★ 11 months ago
    Brooklyn Letters was recommended to me through a friend's speech therapist friend in NJ. The articulation evaluation for my daughter went well. We were pleased with Kristin's services.
  • Avatar Kelley Peters-Patel ★★★★★ a year ago
    Melissa was wonderful. Our daughter warmed to her immediately and by the time she left, had already started "practicing" some of the techniques Melissa had shown her. I will not hesitate at all to reach out to Melissa again, should … More the need arise.
  • Avatar R Elmore ★★★★★ a year ago
    Aileen was INCREDIBLY helpful to us, both in assessing possible origins of my grandson's food aversions, as well as informing us of various available interventions to consider.
    I can’t thank you and Brooklyn Letters enough for connecting
    … More us with Aileen. In all our feeding therapy journey we have not gotten anything near the kind of benefit that we did from her. Her knowledge, professionalism, and responsiveness have put us on the path of progress with my grandson and has also made us feel genuinely well cared for.
  • Avatar Christine Weiher ★★★★★ 2 years ago
    We were amazed with Allison! She met my son at 2 1/2 years old, not speaking much at all, and over a computer, and she was able to develop a bond and friendship, so much so that he would look forward to his weekly computer time with Allison. … More I was not sure how the speech therapy would go- but we are so happy that we tried it out and continued. It allowed my son to gain confidence in his speech, make a new friend :), and also give him the skills and a bit of understanding of how to shape his mouth or where to place his tongue to make the proper sounds. We were extremely happy with Allison- she was fantastic to work with.
  • Avatar Andrea Saffady ★★★★★ 2 years ago
    My sessions with Karen have been extremely helpful. My speech has improved tremendously. In fact, I just finished 2 hours of conducting interviews with a consulting client via MS Teams and I have an upcoming conference call. Both my … More neurologist and neurosurgeon remarked about how good my speech is. Much of the day it is perfect, although I still have some rough spots when I get tired or speak too quickly. One of my granddaughters is a speech pathology student at Ithaca College. She sat in on 2 sessions while she was home for winter break, and she was very impressed with Karen.
  • Avatar Jacob B ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    We were delighted with Christie. First, and most importantly, our son made great strides under her guidance. So great, that we felt he no longer needed help! She was incredibly patient and kind with him and our son really responded to … More her. Christie was also great with me and my wife. She provided thorough and informative updates on our son's progress and which exercises she was using with him, so we could reinforce what she was teaching him. All in all, we had a fabulous experience with Christie and would highly recommend her.
  • Avatar Jessica C ★★★★★ a year ago
    Theo was wonderful and his work with my son has produced some progress. I am grateful for the services Theo provided.
  • Avatar Melissa Stevens ★★★★★ 2 years ago
    Highly recommend Jill. She is a total pleasure to work with. After a few months working with Jill, my son is reading above grade level and LOVES to read. Mission accomplished!
  • Avatar Demet Evren ★★★★★ 2 years ago
    Paige was great and we had been really happy with her. I would highly recommend her! I recommend Brooklyn Letters to whomever asks for a speech therapist.
  • Avatar Jeizel Rosenthal ★★★★★ 2 years ago
    Isabel was WONDERFUL and our son absolutely adored her, and he is making great progress with his reading and writing.
  • Avatar Lesley Duval ★★★★★ 3 years ago
    Theo was fantastic with our 4yo son. We were very worried that his progress would fall off when we had to switch to remote sessions, but Theo kept our son happy and engaged through the screen. Highly highly recommend!
  • Avatar Samantha Packard ★★★★★ 3 years ago
    We've been working with Theo from Brooklyn Letters for close to 4 months now and the results are apparent; our daughter has vastly improved her speech in a relatively short amount of time. We make "Theo Day" a celebration … More in our house with pancakes for breakfast, and the enthusiasm is matched in the sessions. Theo is fun, patient, professional, and caring, and he gives us the tools to take the lessons beyond the session. Thank you Theo, and Brooklyn Letters, for helping our daughter express herself.
  • Avatar Travis Ricca ★★★★★ 3 years ago
    I worked with Alina to enhance my pronunciation, tone, and pacing while communicating socially and in a work environment. She was great to work with and clear about goals and learning objectives. The improvement from day 1 has been tremendous! … More
  • Avatar Enrico Bermudez ★★★★★ 3 years ago
    Cathy has been excellent with us and our son. We will sorely miss her. He has improved significantly with Cathy’s help. Cathy was a true partner with us, especially as we pursued additional help through our son’s school system.
  • Avatar Kayne Elisabeth Wilk ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    We really loved working with Alina, she is so fantastic. Patient yet firm, and determined the best course of action very clearly and succintly for us. And it all transitioned so well to Zoom as well. I will definitely be back in touch for … More services for our other child after summer break!
  • Avatar Jen S ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    Vera was amazing! My 11 yo daughter made progress so quickly and really looked forward to her sessions. She was kept motivated and engaged.
  • Avatar susie tofte ★★★★★ 3 years ago
    The work that Allison P. did with our daughter over the years has been invaluable to us. Our daughter had such a good relationship with Allison, and it allowed them to work really well together - even remotely these past 6 months. This … More year, Allison went above and beyond by helping us throughout the neuropsych eval we did, trying to re-open our daughter's IEP at her school, and eventually landing her at our chosen school. She was in contact with our daughter's teachers, with the neuropsychologist, and made herself available as a reference to speak on behalf of our daughter's learning differences.
    Allison stopped by our house last week to give our daughter cupcakes and say goodbye, and I literally cried with appreciation for what an amazing speech therapist she has been. She has been our daughter's biggest champion. The new families that she will work with this year are lucky to have her.
  • Avatar Alicia Perez-Katz ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    Sydney was great! Our son was sad to end his sessions with her, which says a lot. We appreciated her honest assessment of his skill level, and he now has materials to self monitor and practice. Thank you!
  • Avatar Kristin Ames ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    Our experience with Theo was terrific. Theo was great with my son. He developed a positive relationship with him based on sincerity, respect, trust and a deep personal connection. In their lessons, Theo was encouraging, creative and kind. … More He helped our son understand how to differentiate the sounds he made when he spoke, and gave him great exercises to practice every week between lessons. Our son was sorry to have the lessons come to an end, but recognized that Theo had helped him as much as possible and it was time for him to stop. Theo explained to him (and us) how to keep working to get the last 5%, and encouraged him to keep working on the exercises on his own. I have recommended Theo to another parent who noticed my son's improvement and inquired for her own son.
    We are all grateful to have gotten to know Theo, and we greatly appreciate all the work he did to help our son.
  • Avatar Aisha Holder ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    "I have nothing but wonderful things to say about Michelle Macroy-Higgins. We are extremely pleased with her work with our daughter. I was so grateful for my daughter to have a speech therapist who is a researcher (specialty in late … More talkers), graduate professor and practitioner. Her expertise was clearly evident in our conversations and work with our daughter. She was very responsive to my questions and often sent articles and other materials about language development that I found helpful. Thankfully, my daughter's speech improved tremendously. Michelle developed such a warm relationship with my daughter. My daughter was always excited to see Michelle and would greet her at the door with a big hug. Lastly, I would add that Michelle always demonstrated empathy with me as a mother who was initially worried about her daughter's language development. I could go on and on about how pleased we were with Michelle's work."
  • Avatar Andrea Peartree ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    Theo is a wonderful Clinton Hill speech therapist. We were really pleased with him. Our son showed drastic improvement, not only in his speech but in his confidence.
  • Avatar mario costa ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    Alexa has been an enthusiastic, reliable, well prepared and caring teacher for our 6 year old daughter. She has been able to improve and increase our daughter's confidence lesson by lesson with patience and competence; through varied … More and productive didactic practice. Alexa has engaged our daughter in several activities that always kept her motivated and eager to learn literacy. My wife and I, both of us are educators, feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to observe Alexa's pedagogical skills. Alexa has had a big impact on our daughter literacy growth. Thank you Brooklyn Letters!
  • Avatar Lily Alt ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    We were absolutely DELIGHTED with Marsha's services. She was wonderful. We found her to be kind, fun, engaging, very knowledgeable. She provided us with clear instructions and additional written handouts each week. She engaged our … More son with different techniques and toys, and showed us how to use her techniques when we were interacting with him. I actually just texted her on Saturday - Our son finally said "more" - one of the target words we had been working on with her. It was a total joy to hear, and I had to share it with her - she wrote back immediately to congratulate us. I am so appreciative of her expertise, and wish we could have seen her for longer. I recommended her to another family in our neighborhood who is looking for a speech therapist.

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Effective Treatment for Childhood Apraxia of Speech: A Comprehensive Guide for Manhattan Families

Effective Treatment for Childhood Apraxia of Speech A Comprehensive Guide for Manhattan Families

Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is a complex and often misunderstood communication disorder that affects how a person plans and coordinates the precise movements required for speech. At Manhattan Letters, our mission is to provide Manhattan families with an in-depth understanding of apraxia, along with practical guidance, research-based strategies, and success stories to help navigate the challenges of this condition in Manhattan, NYC.

As Featured In:

Effective Treatment for Childhood Apraxia of Speech: A Comprehensive Guide for Manhattan Families

Effective Treatment for Childhood Apraxia of Speech A Comprehensive Guide for Manhattan Families

Our licensed speech therapists travel directly to homes throughout Manhattan, including Battery Park City, Bowery, Carnegie Hill, Central Harlem, Central Midtown, Chelsea, Chinatown, Civic Center, Clinton, Columbus Circle, Cooperative Village, Diamond District, East Harlem, East Village, Financial District, Flatiron District, Garment District, Governors Island, Gramercy Park, Greenwich Village, Hamilton Heights, Harlem, Hell’s Kitchen, Hudson Square, Hudson Yards, Inwood, Kips Bay, Lenox Hill, Lincoln Square, Little Italy, Lower East Side, Manhattan Valley, Marble Hill, Meatpacking District, Midtown, Midtown East, Midtown South, Morningside Heights, Murray Hill, NoHo, NoLita, Peter Cooper Village, Roosevelt Island, Seaport District, SoHo, South Street Seaport, Stuyvesant Town, Sutton Place, Theatre District, Times Square, TriBeCa, Turtle Bay, Union Square, Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Washington Heights, Waterside Plaza, West Harlem, West Village, Yorkville. We also travel to the Bronx, Riverdale and Yonkers, offering personalized and expert speech therapy services.

Understanding Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)

Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS), also known as verbal apraxia or developmental apraxia of speech, is a neurological disorder that impairs the brain’s ability to coordinate the precise muscle movements needed for clear and coherent speech. Unlike other speech disorders caused by muscle weakness or physical abnormalities, CAS is fundamentally a motor planning disorder. It affects the way the brain sends signals to the muscles involved in speaking, including the lips, tongue, and jaw.

CAS can be present from a young age, but the severity of the disorder and the symptoms can vary widely. Some children may only exhibit mild speech difficulties, while others may struggle significantly with verbal communication. Regardless of severity, early and targeted intervention is critical in helping children with CAS improve their communication skills.

Looking for a clear, structured roadmap for your Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) sessions? This visual hierarchy outlines the complete Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing (DTTC) protocol, detailing the progression from simultaneous speech to spontaneous production, alongside necessary cueing strategies.

Training/Certifications
Training/Certifications

Symptoms of Childhood Apraxia of Speech

Symptoms of Childhood Apraxia of Speech

Children with CAS may present a range of symptoms that distinguish this condition from other speech and language disorders. These symptoms may include:

  • Inconsistent Speech Errors: Children with CAS often produce inconsistent errors when attempting to say the same word multiple times. For example, they might pronounce a word correctly once and then struggle with it in subsequent attempts.
  • Difficulty with Motor Planning: CAS involves challenges with the brain’s ability to plan and execute the movements required for speech. This difficulty can lead to distorted sounds and difficulty producing speech smoothly.
  • Sound Omissions and Additions: Children may unintentionally leave out sounds (e.g., saying “at” instead of “cat”) or add extra sounds to words, making speech difficult to understand.
  • Limited Speech Sound Repertoire: Many children with CAS have a limited range of sounds they can produce correctly, contributing to unclear or immature speech patterns.
  • Challenges with Multisyllabic Words: Longer and more complex words, particularly those with multiple syllables, can be notably difficult for children with CAS to pronounce.
  • Inconsistent Stress Patterns: The rhythm and stress patterns of speech may sound irregular, with inappropriate emphasis on certain syllables.
  • Groping Movements: Children with CAS may appear to struggle physically with their mouth movements when attempting to articulate specific sounds or words. This visible effort, known as groping, is a key characteristic of apraxia.
  • Vowel Distortions: Vowel sounds can be particularly challenging for children with CAS, often resulting in distorted or omitted vowel sounds in speech.

The presentation of CAS symptoms can vary from child to child. While some children may have only a few of these symptoms, others may exhibit a broader range of challenges. Proper assessment by a skilled speech-language pathologist is essential to distinguish CAS from other speech disorders and to develop an effective treatment plan.

At Manhattan Letters, we understand the unique challenges Manhattan families face when navigating a CAS diagnosis. Our Manhattan, NYC speech-language pathologists provide targeted evaluations and tailored therapy to help children achieve clear and confident communication.

Co-Occurring Characteristics and Additional Challenges in CAS

In addition to speech production difficulties, children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech often experience other developmental and learning challenges. These may include:

Language and Literacy Issues

  • Delayed Language Development: Children with CAS might experience delays in developing expressive and receptive language skills, including vocabulary, sentence structure, and grammar.
  • Expressive Language Challenges: They may struggle with constructing sentences, using correct grammar, and organizing their thoughts when speaking.
  • Difficulties with Reading, Spelling, and Writing: Many children with CAS also face challenges with literacy skills, which are closely linked to phonological awareness and speech development.
  • Social Communication Challenges: Some children may have difficulty with pragmatic language, which involves using language appropriately in social contexts.

Sensory and Motor Coordination Challenges

  • Gross and Fine Motor Delays: These can impact overall coordination and physical tasks, such as writing or participating in sports.
  • Motor Clumsiness: Children with CAS might appear less coordinated in everyday activities.
  • Oral and Limb Apraxia: Beyond speech, apraxia can affect the ability to perform coordinated movements with the mouth, hands, and other body parts.
  • Feeding Difficulties: Some children with CAS may also experience challenges with eating and swallowing.
  • Oral Sensory Sensitivities: Hypersensitivity or hyposensitivity in the mouth can affect speech and feeding behaviors.

Diagnosis of Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is well-researched, but tools for differentiating it from pediatric dysarthria are lacking. Since both motor speech disorders share overlapping symptoms—and can co-occur—differential diagnosis is difficult. This tutorial will (a) assess clinician confidence in differentiating CAS and dysarthria and (b) provide a systematic procedure to facilitate accurate assessment.

Manhattan Letters offers comprehensive therapy services that address these challenges, providing Manhattan families with the tools and strategies needed for holistic development in Manhattan, NYC.

Understanding the Causes of Speech Apraxia

Understanding the Causes of Speech Apraxia

The exact cause of Childhood Apraxia of Speech is not fully understood, but it is widely believed to have a neurological basis. Potential contributing factors include:

  • Genetic Predisposition: Some research suggests a hereditary link, with CAS more likely to occur in families with a history of communication disorders.
  • Neurological Factors: Developmental differences in the brain areas responsible for speech and motor planning may contribute to CAS.
  • Associated Conditions: CAS can sometimes be associated with other neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
  • Brain Injuries: Acquired apraxia of speech can occur following a brain injury, stroke, or other neurological event, though this is more common in adults.

It’s important to note that CAS is not caused by poor parenting, lack of stimulation, or emotional or behavioral issues. It is a motor speech disorder that requires professional intervention for improvement.

Effective Treatment Approaches for Childhood Apraxia of Speech

Treating CAS involves a structured and systematic approach to improve a child’s ability to produce clear and consistent speech. Treatment is most effective when it is intensive, individualized, and grounded in research-based practices. Key components of CAS treatment include:

1. Intensive Speech Therapy

  • Frequent, focused speech therapy sessions (often several times per week) are critical for building the motor skills needed for speech.
  • Therapy emphasizes repetition and practice of speech sounds, words, and phrases to improve speech consistency.

2. Articulation Therapy

  • Speech-language pathologists use articulation exercises to help children learn how to position their mouth, tongue, and lips to produce specific sounds correctly.

3. Phonological Awareness Training

  • Activities such as rhyming, sound matching, and segmenting sounds in words help children develop the underlying phonological skills necessary for both speech and literacy.

4. Cueing Techniques

  • Therapists may use visual (e.g., demonstrating mouth movements), tactile (e.g., gently guiding mouth movements), and auditory (e.g., emphasizing the sounds) cues to help children produce sounds accurately.

5. Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)

  • For children with severe CAS, AAC tools like speech-generating devices, picture boards, or sign language may be used temporarily to support communication while verbal skills develop.

6. Parental and Caregiver Involvement

  • Involving family members in therapy ensures that techniques are reinforced at home. Therapists provide guidance on how to practice speech exercises in everyday situations.

7. Consistent Practice and Repetition

  • Regular practice of speech sounds and words outside of therapy sessions is essential to reinforce new skills and promote progress.

Our Manhattan, NYC therapists are trained in proven therapy methods such as Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing (DTTC), Rapid Syllable Transition Treatment (ReST), and PROMPT Therapy, ensuring Manhattan families receive the best possible support for their children.

For a detailed description of the underlying theory and clinical decisions involved in DTTC, refer to Dr. Edythe Strand’s article.

Proven Therapy Methods for CAS

Research supports several effective approaches for treating CAS, including:

  • Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing (DTTC): Focuses on motor learning principles through repetition, sensory cues, and gradual support reduction.
  • Rapid Syllable Transition Treatment (ReST): Designed for improving speech fluency by practicing transitions between sounds and syllables.
  • PROMPT Therapy: Uses tactile prompts to guide the physical movements needed for speech.
  • Linguistic Approaches: Targets phonological and functional communication skills alongside motor-based techniques.

Is Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing (DTTC) effective for young children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)? Review the findings of this multiple single-case study that examines the use of DTTC intervention in children as young as 2.5 years old.

How Manhattan Families Can Support Their Child with CAS at Home

Parents play a vital role in supporting their child’s speech development. Manhattan Letters encourages Manhattan families to:

  • Incorporate Visual Aids: Help children see how sounds are made.
  • Encourage Repetition: Regularly practice simple words and phrases.
  • Model Correct Speech: Repeat words correctly without overly emphasizing mistakes.

We provide Manhattan, NYC families with resources and strategies to make home practice effective and enjoyable for children with CAS.

Schedule a Free Consultation Today

If your child has been diagnosed with CAS or you have concerns about their speech development, early intervention can make a significant difference. At Manhattan Letters, our experienced speech-language pathologists provide in-home and remote therapy throughout Manhattan, NYC.

Contact us today to schedule a consultation and take the first step towards helping your child communicate with clarity and confidence. Manhattan Letters is here to support Manhattan families every step of the way, offering personalized and expert care in the heart of Manhattan, NYC.

FREE CONSULTATION!!!
Call: (347) 394-3485,
Text: (917) 426-8880
Email: manhattan@brooklynletters.com
(we respond to email right away!)