Speech-language services.
In-Office and Online Appointments
Come visit us at our Point Loma office! In addition to clinic appointments, North Star’s online services make it easy for your child to receive an evaluation and therapy on your schedule. We accept Tricare Prime, Tricare Select, San Diego Regional Center (SDRC) payments, self-determination program (SDP) payments, health savings account (HSA) payments, flexible spending account (FSA) payments, and private pay. Our rates are as follows
25 minutes: $67.50 -$75
50 minutes: $135 -$150
Evaluation: $310 -$350
Prices include prompt pay discount for HSA, FSA, and private pay when payment is made on the day-of the appointment.
Each speech-language therapy appointment includes individualized, evidence-based treatment, parent coaching, and a personalized home plan.
Speech-Language Parent Coaching
Research evidence suggests that children with speech and language delays and disorders whose parents receive parent coaching make faster progress that children whose parents don’t. Most speech-language therapy includes parent education, where the therapist might speak with you for a few minutes at the end of the appointment and give you a handout with strategies to practice at home. Parent coaching is different. During parent coaching, you are included as an active participant throughout each speech-language therapy appointment. North Star’s parent coaching includes didactic instruction, opportunities to practice with your child, self-reflection, and feedback. If your child already receives speech-language therapy with a different provider and/or you prefer to receive weekly therapy from an in-network provider, supplemental parent coaching, once or twice per month, can help you learn strategies to speed your child’s progress, reduce stress, and feel empowered in how to guide your child.
Contact us for more information.
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)
North Star completes evaluations for speech generating devices (SGDs) for Tricare Prime and Tricare Select enrollees. We can also complete evaluations and make recommendations for individuals who wish to self-fund purchase of a speech generating device.
In addition, North Star is thrilled to partner with the California Department of Rehabilitation to offer access to the Voice Options Program through a grant from the CA Public Utilities Commission. Through Voice Options, any Californian who is nonspeaking, nonverbal, or has difficulty communication can receive a free augmentative-alternative communication device and up to three house of training or therapy. Read more about the Voice Options Program and how you can get a free iPad with an AAC app (such as TouchChat, LAMP Words for Life, Proloquo2Go, Proloquo4Text) to use as an AAC device.
Contact us for more information.
Speech-Language Evaluations
North Star assesses and diagnoses language impairment and delay, speech sound disorder, and childhood apraxia of speech. North Star’s speech-language experts have extensive experience evaluating children, including those diagnosed with autism, minimally verbal or nonverbal communicators, and children from 12 months to adulthood. An initial speech-language evaluation has several purposes:
Determine if your child’s skills are age-appropriate
Decide if North Star can meet your child’s needs
Make recommendations about necessary services
Establish goals for therapy.
All evaluations include 50 minutes with your child/family and a comprehensive evaluation report.
Evaluations can be conducted online or in-person in your home. Learn more about our evaluations, schedule an evaluation now, or contact us for more information.
Speech-Language Therapy
The goal of speech therapy is to bring your child’s skills to an age-appropriate range. Speech-language therapy looks like play, but it’s play with a purpose. At North Star, your child’s speech-language pathologist (SLP) will use toys, books, and games to engage your child while coaching parents or caregivers in speech-language facilitation skills.
North Star specializes in speech-language pathology and parent coaching for: early intervention (babies and toddlers), children diagnosed with autism and early signs of autism, speech sound disorders, childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), child language disorders, minimally-verbal children or nonverbal children, and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) users.
Learn more about speech-language therapy, schedule an appointment now, or contact us for more information..
Not sure about online therapy? Check out our blog post for more information about how online therapy works even for very young children, autistic children, and children with attention difficulties.
AAC Training
North Star’s expert speech-language therapists are experts in augmentative-alternative communication and can provide you with high-quality training in how to program and use an AAC device with your child or loved one. North Star’s speech-language therapists also specialize in programming and implementation of AAC for autistic individuals, including use of AAC for gestalt language processors.
Take the guesswork out of teaching your toddler to talk.
As a parent, you don’t get taught how to do things; you just figure it out as you go. Which inevitably leads to questions. Should I use flashcards? Apps? Sign language? My child is hard to understand… Is that normal? You deserve access to high-quality tools to help you teach your child to talk. Because let’s be honest… it’s not easy!
Lighting the Way, North Star’s on-demand parent training course, is designed to help you learn both the art and the science behind teaching your toddler to talk. Research suggests that children of parents and caregivers who receive coaching at 6 months of age have more advanced language skills at 4 years of age (Ramirez, 2019).
Now is the ideal time to learn skills to enhance your child’s development!