Offering Speech and OT!
We provide pediatric rehabilitative services in SC and NC!
We are excited to offer our families what they need in a whole-child based practice.
Currently serving these areas:
many areas in SC and South Charlotte, Matthews, Pineville email us to find out if we serve your area!
Telehealth: all areas of SC and NC (telehealth)
NOW OFFERING TELEHEALTH SESSIONS
Meet our Founder/Owner:
Hilary Frank MA, CCC-SLP:
Hilary is a dynamic, professionally certified Speech Language Pathologist and the founder of Chatterbugs LLC. Hilary believes in a team approach to patient care and high quality speech, language, and feeding therapy. Hilary's passions are accessibility, inclusion, and education.
Hilary believes establishing Chatterbugs was the beginning of a place where families can trust in the quality and care we put in everything we do.
Chatterbugs clinicians coach families and collaborate with other SLP’s and professionals such as: Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, doctors, and teachers.
Hilary's background and training:
- use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (devices to speak for clients with speech difficulties or children who are difficult to understand) and in treating children with an array of Feeding difficulties.
- specialized training under Kristen Brackett, Feeding Specialist through the UNC Chapel Hill Specialty Training Program in Interdisciplinary Pediatric Feeding Intervention.She works closely with their team in a collaborative whole-child approach by providing private feeding therapy (http://uncfeedingteam.web.unc.edu/how-to-make-an-appointment/) .
Training completed:
-
Krisi Brackett's Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing Disorders: A Medical, Motor, Behavioral Approach
-
Food, Function, and Feeding: A Collaborative Approach to Pediatric Feeding Difficulties
-
Melanie Potock’s The Stacking Model: How Feeding Disorders Develop
-
PROMPT- Intro to Prompt
-
Debra Beckman Oral Motor Intervention
-
Cheri Fraker Food Chaining
-
Ellen Carlin's Tongue Tie and Oral Dysfunction
-
Now You're Talking: Learning the Language of UNITY Language System
-
Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP)
-
Moving Forward with LAMP
-
Effective Early Intervention Using Play and Other Interventions to Treat Sensory Deficits and Motor Skill Development in Children Birth to 3
-
Treatment of Picky and Problem Eaters Using Food Chaining Therapy
-
The DIRr/Floortime Approach
-
Self Regulation in Children: Keeping the body, Mind and Emotions on Task in Children with Autism, ADHD, or Sensory Disorders
-
Providing Access to Language and Curricular Content with Core Vocabulary
-
Nancy Kaufman’s 'Children Who Struggle to Speak: Establishing Effective Vocal-Verbal Skills for Children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech and Other Speech Sound Disorders
-
A Sensory Motor Approach to Apraxia and related Motor Speech Disorders
-
Tobii Dynavox: Snap+Core and Solutions for Children with Complex Communication Needs
Speech/Language
Feeding / Dysphagia
SPEECH
We provide personalized speech therapy via our highly trained and personable SLP's.
We use:
-
play based therapy
-
oral motor tools
-
Talktools
-
books/literacy
-
movement
-
and more
LANGUAGE
-
We provide customized language therapy based upon your child's areas of concern.
-
Reading difficulties, Phonemic awareness, Reading comprehension, Use of various language skills
-
Our team works with you to learn about your child and their individual needs. We review what their needs are in the school, community, and home setting.
Impairments We Treat:
Our SLP's are qualified to provide feeding therapy and perform feeding evaluations. We have treated various feeding disorders and difficulties. We have completed various continuing education in this area and feel confident we can help you with strategies , resources, and guidance.
Our SLP's have been trained with various evidence based feeding practices. We adopt a medical-motor-behavioral-team based approach. We work alongside UNC Chapel Hill Feeding Team to provide outpatient feeding therapy.
As the parent or guardian, you can trust that we are confident in our abilities to provide solutions, provide appropriate strategies, and continue to seek out answers with your child's individual needs in mind.
We address Feeding Impairments or difficulties associated with:
-
Long and stressful mealtimes
-
Delayed oral motor skills
-
Drinking from only one type of bottle or cup
-
Unable to straw drink or open cup drink
-
Oral/Pharyngeal Dysphagia
-
Requiring thickened liquids or adjusted table foods
-
Tube feeding dependent
-
Averse to spoon presentation or table food
-
Refusal of most foods; requiring different meals at meal times
-
Grazing- eating while walking around, playing- not sitting down at the table for meal times
Speech and language delayed
Apraxia of Speech
Dysphagia
Cerebral Palsy
Autism
Down Syndrome
Genetic Diagnoses
Hearing impairments
Fluency/Stuttering impairments
AAC-
Augmentative Alternative Communication
SLP's have a variety of niches and each of us do not have the same background and training. AAC incorporates pictures OR devices to aid in communication and language for a child with difficulties using verbal speech.
AAC is another area of practice which typically caters to children with:
Apraxia of Speech/CAS, Down Syndrome, Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Genetic diagnoses, or Speech/Language delays, etc.
AAC requires a SLP who is trained or learning about the various modalities to access language and the various language systems. There are many to choose from and we take into account your child's needs, strengths, and abilities.
AAC is a valuable resource and supplement to give our "Chatterbugs" their voice and aid in comprehending language, as they learn. We believe in using AAC as early as possible to increase learning opportunities.
We want to equip and empower them to use their voice!
We have been trained in a variety of AAC devices and programs. These include:
Consultations for Schools, Families, Professionals
Do we attend IEP meetings?
Would we assess your current therapy plan and give suggestions?
We have families ask us about providing a second opinion evaluation or provide input/discuss their current therapy plan with a different provider.
-
We are willing to discuss your current plan and progress. Based upon our professional expertise, we can provide additional resources, referrals, suggestions, and alternatives to your present plan, if you request.
Please call us to determine the rates based upon your need.
-
We are also able to visit your school or organization and provide training in the corresponding areas of need (ex. AAC, IEP meetings, feeding therapy, etc) for a set fee.
Please call us to determine the rates based upon your need.