Brooklyn Letters
1139 Prospect Avenue, Brooklyn
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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 -
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!
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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!
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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.
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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!
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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. -
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.
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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.
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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.
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Theo was wonderful and his work with my son has produced some progress. I am grateful for the services Theo provided.
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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!
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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.
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Isabel was WONDERFUL and our son absolutely adored her, and he is making great progress with his reading and writing.
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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!
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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.
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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
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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.
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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!
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Vera was amazing! My 11 yo daughter made progress so quickly and really looked forward to her sessions. She was kept motivated and engaged.
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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. -
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!
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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. -
"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."
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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.
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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!
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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.
AUTISM AND LITERACY:
2 Useful Interventions For Children On The Autism Spectrum Disorder
Improving Literacy for Children with Autism
Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder that makes social interaction and communication challenges difficult, including repetitive behavior patterns. It affects each individual differently, resulting in various symptoms and abilities. ASD typically manifests during early childhood, although the signs may become more apparent as the child ages.
For children with ASD, understanding the main idea behind the text is vital. Not only does it help in reading, but also developing critical thinking skills. The two most beneficial approaches to tackling reading comprehension struggles are direct instruction and shared reading.
Children with ASD often struggle to understand and respond appropriately to social cues like facial expressions or body language. They may find it challenging to engage in conversations or make eye contact. These struggles can take the form of repetitive behaviors and interfere with the child’s executive functioning.
Autism Spectrum Disorder and Reading Comprehension
Among other symptoms, many individuals with ASD also have difficulties with reading comprehension. Some factors can significantly impact their academic performance and critical thinking skills, such as:
- Difficulty understanding figurative language or idiomatic expressions.
- Understanding metaphors, similes, or sarcasm.
- Cultural context is difficult to grasp.
It can hinder their ability to comprehend and analyze complex literature or correctly answer questions about the text.
Reading Comprehension Interventions
1. Direct Instruction
Focuses on high structure and academic content by breaking it down into manageable steps.
One is direct instruction, a methodology characterized by a high structure and exhaustive scripts on the actions to be carried out by teachers and students.
The direct instruction methodology may consist of the following features:
- Structure: DI focuses on systems. It involves routines and procedures that emphasize building up foundational skills first. It allows children with ASD to get comfortable with the learning experience. Understanding sentence structures before reading the full text can be one example of this approach.
- Visual supports: DI may involve charts and visual cues like diagrams. Using them can help children understand more difficult concepts.
- Repetition and practice: Revision is one of the features of the direct instruction method. Educators reinforce and repeat skills and topics to ensure mastery.
- Individualization: Although DI is a structured method, it does make space for keeping the individual’s needs in mind. Teachers tailor instructions according to the learner’s learning styles and unique challenges.
Although DI is structured and academic, positive reinforcement should be important. It’s essential to motivate learners by incorporating rewards and appreciating their efforts.
2. Shared Reading
Highlights the social and communicative aspects of reading.
Shared reading can be beneficial for improving social aspects along with comprehensive skills. It can be particularly helpful for developing literacy skills in your children on the autism spectrum disorder but can apply to individuals with ASD at any age.
The approach is to start with short reading sessions. Educators can make the session longer as the child’s attention and engagement levels boost. Some of the features of this approach are as follows:
- Choice of material: Themes, topics, and illustration types are considered. Every child’s preferences are taken into account, including their learning style. Giving children the choice to select text boosts their confidence and encourages participation.
- Visual aids: Storyboards and other visuals may be incorporated to support communication and comprehension. Educators may also point out images while reading words to help connect the dots between spoken language and visual recognition.
- Predictability: Repeated storylines and rhymes can help children with ASD actively predict and participate.
- Interactivity: Asking open-ended questions and making comments is vital to shared reading. The educator gives children the time to process and respond with queries or feedback.
- Positivity and individualism: Educators may openly connect the themes and content with the individual’s experiences. Making the reading material more relatable can enhance the positive experience. Appreciating the children’s efforts and respecting everybody’s learning pace is crucial.
Shared reading also takes into account the sensory preferences of individuals with ASD. For example, using assistive technologies to help with multisensory reading experiences. Some children may respond better if technology is involved.
Differences Between Direct Instruction And Shared Reading: Which One Is Better?
DI is academic and focuses on skill acquisition. In contrast, shared reading fosters a love for comprehension, interactivity, and critical thinking in general. The more suitable approach is the one that aligns with your goals. Below are some basic differences to help you decide:
1. Method and Structure
- Direct instruction: DI is extremely structured. Look at it as a teaching approach with scripted lessons. Every lesson is a chapter with small steps to clarify the topic for students. The goal is to deliver information efficiently, which is mostly standardized and teacher-oriented.
- Shared Reading: This method is more interactive. It encourages discussing the source material in hand. Open-ended conversations are often a highlight of this method. It promotes social engagement, questions, and discussions and considers each participant individually.
2. Content and source material
- Direct Instruction: DI focuses on academic content. Foundational skills such as phonics are relevant.
- Shared Reading: Shared reading explores more than just academic content. The resources can include storybooks and poems (leisure reading).
3. Flexibility
- Direct Instruction: Changing plans is difficult when following the DI method. It has scripted lessons – like the structure of a school timetable. Therefore, there is less room for spontaneity and adapting according to students’ responses.
- Shared Reading:Shared reading is more spontaneous. It makes room for changes in the teaching plan according to the student’s responses and interest levels.
Overall, DI is more of a passive learning style. On the other hand, shared reading is more interactive, and students can actively engage by contributing their thoughts and interpretations.
Benefits of Literacy for Children with Autism
1. Better communication
Individuals with autism can struggle with communication. With enhanced reading and writing, they can express themselves in all types of social interaction.
2. Ability to pick up knowledge
Better literacy and comprehension skills mean the ability to gain knowledge. Individuals with ASD can improve their self-learning skills. Access to literature and information is empowering and can foster independence and well-informed decisions.
3. Emotional regulation
Enhanced literacy can help people with ASD pick up on social cues and stories. By following others’ experiences, they can better tap into their emotions. These coping strategies can provide mental stability in the long run.
4. Social collaboration
Both direct instruction and shared reading can strengthen social bonds. Children with autism can feel more open toward their peers, family members, and teachers.
5. Executive functioning
Children on the autism spectrum have more chances to engage in literacy activities. It also helps them improve executive functions like time management, planning, and organizing skills.
Without a doubt, developing literacy skills is more than just reading. It also helps form a well-rounded mind for better physical and mental health. Children with ASD can create and follow a daily routine, which can help them lead fulfilling lives.
Recap: Improving Literacy For Individuals On The Autism Spectrum Disorder
So which methodology is better when it comes to comprehension skills? Both are effective approaches in different ways. While direct instruction emphasizes mastery of cognitive aspects, shared reading focuses on social behavior issues.
Both facets are critical for literacy. Teachers and professionals can assess the strengths and weaknesses of both DI and shared reading – and put them to good use. The end goal and personalized approach should be aligned with the student’s characteristics and objectives.
It’s necessary to seek professional help to ensure the right method for individuals with ASD. A personalized approach can foster an inclusive and holistic learning environment.
Early intervention in reading and comprehension skills can facilitate communication, expression, social bonding, expansion of knowledge, emotional regulation, and independence.
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Craig Selinger
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