The Speech Collab

Welcome! I studied Speech Communication Disorders in the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia for my Bachelor's degree, and completed my Master of Science at James Madison University in Communication Science Disorders. I currently hold state licenses to practice speech language pathology in Virginia and California, as well as my American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Certificate of Clinical Competence (ASHA CCCs). I have experience working with children with a variety of ages, medical diagnoses, and speech/ language needs. My interests lie in articulation and phonological disorders, childhood apraxia of speech, and expressive and receptive language disorders. I have have worked in in-patient rehabilitation, schools, and in-home pediatric therapy. I love working with children, and finding activities that are salient for your child's skill development. Every day is an opportunity to learn and grow! See you soon! Megan ————————————————— PRICING Consultations 15 minute phone or video conference consultations will be provided complimentary to discuss your area(s) of concern. Evaluations Formal Assessment and Goal Development will be billed as a flat fee, determined by the areas of concern noted. This includes direct assessment with your child as well as 15 minutes of debriefing between the parent(s) and SLP to discuss the results and treatment plan. Formal Evaluation Report/ Medical Necessity Report can be written by request at the hourly rate of $200 per hour. Speech and Language Sessions Individual therapy session length and frequency will be recommended based on your child's needs, ranging from 30-60 minutes. Treatment sessions will be billed at the rate of $200 per hour. Please see the FAQ for further details about insurance billing and superbills. As part of the No Suprises Act, clients are entitled to receive a Good Faith Estimate (GFE), which estimates the cost associated with services. A Good Faith Estimate will automatically be provided to clients who are uninsured and/ or who plan to pay out of pocket for services. ————————————————— FAQ Where will our speech session take place? Throughout the San Francisco Bay Area in California! Sessions are typically conducted in the client's home where they are most comfortable and familiar, in an effort to maximize skill generalization, parent/ guardian coaching, and at-home carry-over opportunities. The location or format of the therapy session (i.e. tele-therapy) can be modified as agreed upon by the SLP and child's family as appropriate for the child's development and goals. How are you keeping my family safe from COVID-19? TheSpeech Collab will remain up to date with CDC guidance. The SLP is fully vaccinated and will send out a COVID-19 screener for each family to complete prior to each family's therapy session if it is in the home. Families will not be charged a no-show/ cancellation fee when they are symptomatic or have tested positive. What should we expect and how can we prepare for our assessment date and time? The assessment will take 1 to 2 sessions depending on your what we are looking to assess. Please complete all paperwork (questionnaires, consents, notices) as accurately as possible prior to the start of the session. Have your child wear clothes that they are comfortable in, and try to give them a snack and bathroom break prior to the start of the session if possible. If you are unsure about how to answer a question, please feel free to ask, or to leave it blank. We will start with a small observation. As your child warms up to the therapist, we will transition to our other assessment measure(s) and can discuss questions and concerns as they arise. Can I leave my child(ren) unattended with you while you complete your therapy session? No. An adult (18+ YO babysitter, aunt, parent) must be in the house with the SLP and child(ren) at all times. If this is not possible at the time we've scheduled, let's look for a new time that will work. Your level of involvement in your child's therapy session is completely up to you. You can participate for the full length to learn alongside the SLP how to teach your child specific skills, you can choose to come in for a portion of the session, or you can be present just for a brief summary of the therapy session. Can my child's sibling(s) be in the session? This depends on the goals that we are targeting. If our goal is for your child to practice asking for a turn during a game, it's great to have a sibling present! If our goal requires focused learning time (e.g. learning to make the "R" sound), it may be easier for your child to focus without having siblings around. How are goals developed? Goals are will be recommended by weaving together parent concerns, your child's strengths and weaknesses, and the findings of the assessment. How long and how often should each session be for my child? This is child dependent, and will be recommended following your child's assessment. However, it is recommended that your child's session be at least 30 minutes in length so that your child can be given many opportunities to practice the target skill. Additionally, it is recommended that your child participates at a minimum of 1x per week. Your child's focus, interests, age, and your availability also play a role in determining session length and frequency of sessions. Research suggests that distributed practice is generally more successful for a child to develop and maintain a skill over the long term. What is your cancellation policy? We kindly ask that you provide a minimum of 24 hour notice if you are unable to meet at your scheduled speech time with no penalty. A make up session will be offered as there is availability. You will receive a "last-minute-cancellation" session per calendar year. Schedules are dynamic; we will do our best to accommodate you and your family's! Do you take insurance? What if you don't take my insurance? At this time, we only accept a few Blue Shield of California PPO plans. Alternatively if you don't have a Blue Shield plan, we can offer you a superbill. A superbill is essentially an itemized health receipt that you can submit to your insurance for out of network benefits with your insurance plan. You are liable to pay the full cost at the time of the session, but if your insurance plan includes out of network benefits, you may be able to get reimbursed or apply it to your deductible. Please call your insurance company to find out the details of your specific plan. Payment will be collected at the time of services through Stripe via SimplePractice. How long will my child need to be in speech and language therapy? This depends on a multitude of factors including the number of sessions your child's consistency in attending and participating, completion of weekly homework with family outside of scheduled speech sessions, your child's motivation/ interest in learning skills taught in therapy, the complexity and severity of your child's area(s) of need, and parent/ guardian involvement. What if my child already receives speech therapy services through their school IEP? While assessment drives speech and language therapy services regardless of the setting, there are fundamental underpinnings between services received in a school system and privately which differ. A student's IEP goals are developed based on your child's ability to access the public school curriculum, and sometimes require evidence of your child underperforming. Areas that you would like to have targeted that aren't addressed in the school setting can be addressed in this setting. Additionally, private speech therapy is a great tool that allows for collaboration and generalization between school and home as well as increasing the frequency at which your child practices his target skill(s). We can provide insights and support (as needed) to you regarding the IEP document and process. Please reach out if there are additional questions that you have. —————————————————