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Resources for Professionals Working with Children with Down Syndrome

Carole Zangari, PhD, CCC-SLP

May 4, 2009

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Question

I am returning to full time employment after staying home with my children. I am currently an SLP for the early intervention program in Auglaize County, Ohio. We have had an increase in the number of children with Down Syndrome - currently 6/60, referred

Answer

The Jane and Richard Thomas Center for Down Syndrom at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center is an excellent resource for families and professionals taking care of youngsters with Down syndrome. You can communicate directly with one of their speech-language pathologists, Jennifer Bekins (Jennifer.bekins@cchmc.org) or Shelley Mauk (Shelley.mauk@cchmc.org). They would happy to network with you, answer questions, or provide additional resources as necessary. The professionals in the Thomas Center routinely work on early language development using a variety of therapy tools including a total communication approach. They also provide parent training via a variety of methods including the Hanen approach.

When addressing oral-motor development, and in keeping with the standards recommended by ASHA all oral-motor activities are immersed in activities that include speech because the "vast majority of the legitimate research shows no changes in speech sound productions because of non-speech oral motor exercises" (See Gregory L. Lof, Ph.D., CCC-SLP at www.apraxia-kids.org/site/)

Information regarding the Down syndrome conference in Cincinnati this July is available at: www.imdsa.org/Conference/conference.htm.

Melinda Chalfonte-Evans, PhD, CCC-SLP, is the Coordinator of Speech Pathology services at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center's main campus. She has worked as a diagnostician, clinician, and researcher in the fields of communication disorders and developmental disabilities since 1979. Prior to joining the Division of Speech Pathology, Dr. Chalfonte-Evans served as the Director of Treatment for the Jane and Richard Thomas Center for Down Syndrome at Cincinnati Children's.


carole zangari

Carole Zangari, PhD, CCC-SLP

Dr. Zangari is a faculty member in the SLP Department at Nova Southeastern University (NSU) and Executive Director of the NSU Center for Autism and Related Disabilities Satellite. She is co-author of TELL ME: AAC in the Preschool Classroom and co-edited Practically Speaking Language, Literacy, and Academic Development for Students with AAC Needs. Dr. Zangari teaches AAC courses to students at the master’s and doctoral levels, supervises in the AAC clinic, and coordinates the AAC Lab. She blogs at www.PrAACticalAAC.org


Related Courses

Supporting Literacy Development through Robust Language Intervention for Students who Use AAC
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