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.
BOOSTING RECEPTIVE LANGUAGE SKILLS
Ways to Boost Receptive Language Skills
Discovering effective methods to enhance receptive language development is essential, whether you’re an SLP or a parent striving to support your child’s growth (if you’re a parent and haven’t yet connected with a speech therapist, I strongly recommend you do so, especially if receptive language concerns are present!).
#1: Simplify The Message!
Our initial approach should involve empowering the child and setting them up for success. Presently, research suggests limited options to enhance attention and memory. If these aspects impact the child, the key focus is providing support mechanisms to help them overcome these challenges.
When conveying important information to a child, it is vital to use straightforward language. We should communicate slightly above the child’s comprehension level when enhancing receptive language.
Take a moment to pause when delivering four or more directions in a single breath. Such situations can swiftly overwhelm our youngsters. Break down instructions into smaller segments. Always aim for accomplishments to boost confidence!
#2: Utilize Visual Aids
Some children are visual learners and thrive with visual aids rather than auditory input. They might face attention issues or struggle with working memory. Visual aids offer a reference point for these children. People of all abilities rely on to-do lists, planners, and note-taking because retaining everything in memory is challenging! Teaching our kids to use visuals as support is entirely acceptable.
Visual aids encompass objects, pictures, gestures, written lists, or schedules. The choice depends on the child’s preferences and reading level.
Remember, receptive language involves understanding language input, which can also originate from writing and gestures!
#3: Embrace Picture Books!
As if we needed more reasons to appreciate books! Picture books (including wordless ones) are fantastic tools for honing receptive language skills. While reading or even merely perusing a book, you can ask the child to locate specific pictures on the page. You might ask, “Where’s the dinosaur?” or “Touch the dinosaur,” targeting various objects within the book. The “I Spy!” book series is purposefully designed for this approach, but virtually any book can be used.
Verbs can be targeted with prompts like “Who is jumping?” while pointing to or tapping the leaping character. To focus on attributes, inquire, “Where’s the big one?”. Enhance understanding of functions by asking, “Which one is for cutting?”. This exercise addresses following simple one-step directions and identifying objects, verbs, attributes, and categories.
Improvements Achieved through Receptive Language Therapy
Receptive language therapy can yield numerous advantages for your child’s development and daily activities, such as:
- Enhanced capacity to comprehend those around them.
- Improved proficiency in communicating effectively with peers and adults.
- Strengthened skills for accessing academic learning.
- Heightened engagement in the classroom.
- Increased comprehension of others’ thoughts, opinions, and actions.
- Augmented self-esteem.
- Elevated independence.
- Heightened social interaction with peers.
Foundations For Developing Receptive Language Skills
- Attention and Focus: Building the ability for sustained effort, engaging in tasks without getting distracted, and maintaining focus long enough to complete the job.
- Pre-language Abilities: These encompass non-verbal communication such as gestures, facial expressions, imitation, joint attention, and eye contact.
- Social Competence:Involves engaging in reciprocal interactions, whether verbal or non-verbal, cooperating with others, and understanding and adhering to social norms.
- Play Proficiency: Voluntarily participating in self-directed activities that bring pleasure and joy. These activities may not necessarily have a goal-oriented nature.
Enhancing Receptive Language Abilities
- Eye Contact: Before giving instructions, ensure you have the child’s eye contact.
- Limit Instructions: Avoid overloading the child with multiple instructions at once.
- Simplify Language: Tailor your language to a level the child can comprehend, typically just above their expressive language level.
- Break Instructions Down: Divide verbal instructions into smaller parts. Instead of saying, “Get your lunchbox and your hat and go outside,” say, “Get your lunchbox.” After they follow that, say, “Now get your hat,” and finally, “All right, you can go outside.”
- Repetition: Ask the child to repeat the instruction to confirm their understanding.
- Use “First/Then”: Utilize this sequence to guide the child through the steps of the command. For instance, “First get your jacket, then put on your shoes.”
- Seek Clarification: Encourage the child to ask for clarification if unsure. They can request a repetition or explanation, like saying, “Can you say that again, please?”
- Demonstrate: Physically show the child how to execute the instruction to provide a visual understanding.
- Visual Aids: Incorporate pictures, gestures, body language, and facial expressions to assist the child’s comprehension and memory.
- Provide Descriptions: Narrate everyday activities to the child, using descriptions to guide their actions.
- Highlight Key Words: Emphasize the word you want the child to grasp and use to illustrate its different applications in various situations.
- Engage in Play: Regularly engage, model how to play with toys, and discuss the child’s play activities.
- Minimize Background Noise: Reduce or eliminate background noise like television or music to reduce distractions during interactions.
- Face-to-Face Interaction: Maintain eye contact by positioning yourself face-to-face with the child when communicating.
- Visual Aids: Utilize signs, pictures, or other visual aids to enhance the child’s understanding.
- Books: Explore books that capture the child’s interest, discussing the images and the story. Encourage predictions and explanations related to the storyline.
FREE CONSULTATION!!!
Call: (347) 394-3485,
Text: (917) 426-8880
Email: [email protected]
(we respond to email right away!)
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Craig Selinger
Owner at Brooklyn Letters
Craig Selinger is the dedicated owner of Brooklyn Letters, a reputable private practice renowned for its exceptional services. Together with his team of skilled professionals, they extend their expertise across a wide range of locations, including Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Bronx, Westchester, Long Island, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
With a New York State license as a speech-language therapist (pathologist) and a learning specialist, Craig boasts an impressive track record spanning over two decades, during which he and his team have helped more than a thousand families, establishing Brooklyn Letters as a respected practice in the field.
Craig's proficiency encompasses a diverse array of domains, including addressing early childhood speech-language delays, skillfully managing expressive and receptive language disorders, and adeptly tackling language learning obstacles such as reading, writing, executive functioning, social and pragmatic communication. He also demonstrates mastery in speech production concerns, i.e., articulation and enunciation.
What sets Craig and his team apart is their dedication to providing comprehensive care. They actively collaborate with the finest professionals in the NYC metro area, including neuropsychologists, mental health therapists, and allied health professionals. This network of expertise ensures a holistic approach to each client's unique needs.
Latest posts by Craig Selinger (see all)
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