Preschool Language Intervention Program grows in 2013

The Preschool Language Intervention Program provides high-quality speech and language intervention services to preschool children in both group and individual therapy sessions. In order to meet the growing demand for services within the community, the program expanded in the spring 2013 semester by offering services to six children concurrently. This resulted in a 50 percent increase from the previous classroom size of four children.

The unique group-centered format of the program allows children with speech and/or language delays to receive services targeting social language needs in addition to individual speech and language goals. Emphasis is also placed on emergent literacy, pre-writing and basic numerical skills throughout group sessions.

In addition to the services delivered to the children, the Preschool Language Intervention Program provides WMU speech-language pathology and music therapy (and occasionally occupational therapy) graduate student clinicians with the opportunity to engage in inter-professional education. The program is run as a group effort by graduate student clinicians, leading to a high degree of team cohesion and allowing the cohort to practice team service delivery. Parents of the preschool children are also encouraged to observe therapy, which leads to increased clinician-parent communication to promote carryover of intervention techniques in the clients’ homes.