Brooklyn Letters
1139 Prospect Avenue, Brooklyn
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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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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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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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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.
Wilson/Fundations or Orton-Gillingham:
Enhancing Literacy Skills with Structured Instruction
Serving You Since 2010! We Are Caring Speech-Language Pathologists & Educators Traveling throughout the NYC Metro area!
No need to leave your home! We come to you, providing speech-language and feeding therapy, literacy, and math tutoring. We offer remote and in-home sessions based on your own schedule! With one-on-one attention, we can help you make measurable progress! Free remote meet & greets, no fee 15-minute initial phone consults, and no contracts: pay as you go!
Wilson and Orton Gillingham Reading Programs
Introduction
Developed by the Wilson Language Training Corporation, Fundations, and Wilson are two highly regarded programs considered corporate versions of the renowned Orton-Gillingham approach. With shared instructional strategies and principles, these programs provide structured, systematic, and explicit teaching methods to support individuals with language-based learning differences. This blog explores the similarities, differences, and benefits of Fundations, Wilson, and the Orton-Gillingham philosophy.
Understanding Orton-Gillingham
Dr. Samuel T. Orton and educator Anna Gillingham pioneered the Orton-Gillingham approach in the early 20th century to assist individuals with dyslexia, a learning disorder affecting reading and language processing. Orton-Gillingham recognizes the importance of structured, explicit, and personalized instruction tailored to address the unique challenges faced by individuals with dyslexia.
Key Principles of Orton-Gillingham
- Multisensory Approach: Engaging multiple senses, like visual, auditory, and kinesthetic, promotes effective learning and memory retention. This approach involves using visual aids, auditory cues, and hands-on activities to reinforce learning.
- Systematic and Cumulative Instruction: Orton-Gillingham advocates a step-by-step, sequential teaching approach. Concepts are introduced gradually, with each new skill building upon previously learned material, ensuring a solid foundation for further progression.
- Explicit Instruction: Concepts are explicitly taught, practiced, and reinforced, leaving no room for assumptions. This approach fosters mastery and a deeper understanding of language skills.
- Individualized Instruction: Recognizing the uniqueness of learners, Orton-Gillingham emphasizes tailoring instruction to meet individual needs and accommodate diverse learning profiles.
Fundations: Classroom-Friendly Implementation
Fundations, developed by the Wilson Language Training Corporation, is a classroom program designed for whole-class instruction in early literacy skills. It's hares similarities with Wilson and Orton-Gillingham, employing multisensory, systematic, and explicit teaching methods. Structured and sequential phonics, spelling, and handwriting instruction enable gradual skill development.
Wilson: Individualized Orton-Gillingham Tutoring
Wilson, another program developed by the Wilson Language Training Corporation, provides highly structured Orton-Gillingham tutoring. It adheres to the principles and philosophy of Orton-Gillingham, offering explicit, systematic, and multisensory instruction to individuals with language-based learning differences. The program’s comprehensive curriculum includes various materials, instructional techniques, and strategies to support reading, spelling, and writing development.
Benefits and Adaptations
Fundations and Wilson, as corporate versions of Orton-Gillingham, have been adapted and standardized to make the Orton-Gillingham approach more accessible for widespread implementation in different educational settings. They provide comprehensive support for early literacy skills, emphasizing multisensory instruction, explicit teaching, and systematic skill development. While Fundations suits whole-class instruction in general education settings, Wilson caters to individualized tutoring.
Conclusion
Fundations, Wilson, and the Orton-Gillingham approach serve as effective tools for enhancing literacy skills among individuals with language-based learning differences. By incorporating multisensory, systematic, and explicit instructional methods, these programs provide structured and personalized instruction that addresses the specific needs of learners. Whether implemented in a classroom or through individual tutoring, Fundations, Wilson, and the Orton-Gillingham philosophy offer valuable support in promoting reading, spelling, and writing success.
TESTIMONIALS
An advocate for special needs children through and through, and amazing in her dedication and practice. Cassie is a reading specialist who has worked one on one with our 6-year-old son for the last 9 months (Aug 2016-May 2017). Our son brings challenging avoidance behaviors and impulsivity to their sessions. Cassie uses the Orton-Gillingham approach and improvises with clever multi-sensory ideas to engage him. Through practice, she learned that if she uses gentle squeezes on his arm corresponding to syllables/letter sounds, it allows him to stay engaged. She is always very flexible, while firm, and creative in adjusting or rearranging tasks based on his needs and attention level. She makes a point of creating success for her students and having the session ended on a positive note. He has made incredible progress in his phonology and reading, which he then applies in school, using the specific tools Cassie has taught him. He loves reading and is very proud of his skills. She has provided detailed reports after each session, along with strategies and activities to practice. She is an advocate for special needs children through and through, and amazing in her dedication and practice.
– Emily, mother
I am so grateful to her. Amy is a fantastic speech therapist, reading strategist, and confidence-builder! My now-7-year-old son was having difficulty with enunciation, and, perhaps relatedly, hesitating to try reading aloud. I was concerned about taking him to a speech therapist because I did not want to make him (more) self-conscious. A year ago, Craig at Brooklyn Letters recommended Amy, and the whole family has come to rely on her. My 7-year old’s speech is much clearer than it was, and Amy has taught him a bunch of different strategies to try if he is unsure how to make a sound or read a word, which greatly reinforced his reading learning at school. Amy saw immediately how to win my shy son’s confidence (ask him to explain how to play chess to her), and targeted her strategies to his strengths (numbers and sports!) so that he could work on the new skills while feeling good about himself. My son looks forward to Amy’s weekly visits immensely (it is also really helpful that she comes to our house!). Amy recently told me that she thought he was ready to graduate from their sessions, and I immediately felt like this would be a real loss for him and for me as a parent because I have so come to value Amy’s advice. So I persuaded her to work with him once a week on Spanish (Amy is bi-lingual), which he has just begun at school, and on homework strategies. I am so grateful to her.
-Deidre
Speech-Language Therapist (Pathologist) and a Learning Specialist
MEET SOME OF OUR LITERACY SPECIALISTS WHO TRAVEL TO YOUR HOME
Dana
M. Ed., Certified New Jersey Special Education Teacher/Developmental Specialist-Pre-K through Grade 3 and Teacher of Students with Disabilities
Derek
MA, NYS Certified Pre-K-6th Grade, NYS Certified Childhood Education And Students With Disabilities
Tamara C.
M.A. in Secondary Education English Teacher Specialization, Certified Structured Literacy/Dyslexia Interventionist
Dan B.
M.S. ED., NYS Certified Childhood General And Special Education (Grades 1-6)
Isabel F.
M.S. Education for General & Special Education, NYS Certified Educator of Childhood General & Special Education
David K.
Masters in Special Education. Teaching credential in Multiple Subjects (General Education, Elementary K-6) and Special Education (mild-moderate disabilities). Trained in the Orton-Gillingham approach to Literacy.
Julia B.
M.S.Ed. in Literacy Education (Grades 1-6), Bachelor of Science in Childhood and Special Education (Grades 1-6)
Peter W.
Special Educator And Childhood Literacy Specialist, Pre-K 4th Grade, MS, PhD
Chat with Us Today! Our literacy specialists are ready to help you right now!
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Call: (347) 394-3485, Text: (917) 426-8880
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Craig Selinger
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