As a local, non-profit organization we are proud to offer impactful services that improve the lives of children and families and strengthen our community. These services often occur outside of our clinics and are supported by the United Way of Central Carolinas as well as many other public and private funders.
In fact, your patronage of CSHC also supports our community efforts! Read below to learn more about our efforts to ensure everyone in our community has access to the speech, language, literacy and hearing services they need to communicate and succeed.
Our community-based services include:
- Language and Literacy Programs
- Preschool Screenings
- Charter School Services
- Yola (Yoga-Language)
- Workshops for Parents, Teachers and Childcare Providers
Language and Literacy Programs
Our language and literacy services have been divided into three different programs, each tailored for a different age range for children birth to eight years (click for more info). In addition, we can tailor our services for various sites such as childcare centers, pre-k classrooms, elementary schools and after-school sites. Services can be provided during the school year or over the summer with varying levels of intensity and frequency.
These services use research and evidence-based strategies to create significant and lasting change for children in our community that are at-risk for academic challenges and particularly reading failure. Services for children age 3-5 (APPLE a Day program- SM) focus on the development of key skills including phonological awareness, vocabulary development, language comprehension and oral expression.
Our services for children under 3 years (Sound Beginnings program- SM) work to establish and strengthen early communication and a variety of foundational language skills that provide a basis for complex language and future literacy.
Our Advancing Language Through Literacy- SM (ALTL) program is designed for school-aged children the focus is maximizing a child’s literacy potential by systematically building vocabulary and higher-level phonological awareness, increasing the complexity of their language skills and improving written expression as well as other skills such as categorization and semantic organization.
For more information regarding our Community Language/ literacy Impact Program- SM, contact our Director of Speech-Language Services, Angie Rikard, at arikard@charlottespeechhearing.com.
Preschool Screenings
Early identification of speech-language difficulties is critical to a child’s development and future academic success. Each year we provide approximately 1500 screenings, over 50% of which are provided at no cost, to children in the Charlotte and Monroe areas.
Screenings are available for children ages 2-5 years at childcare facilities in Mecklenburg or Union county at a rate of $15 per child. Discounts may be given if the facility is sponsoring the screening with no cost to the parents.
Screenings may also be available AT NO COST for children ages 2-5 at childcare facilities that have more than 50% of families receiving some type of federal or state subsidy (CCRI assistance, WIC, etc.).
To find out if this valuable service is available to the children at your facility, please contact Angie Rikard: 704 523-8027 ext. 225, arikard@charlottespeechhearing.com.
Charter School Services
CSHC is in a unique position to help charter schools meet the IEP and other LEA requirements for students with speech-language and/or hearing disorders. We currently serve multiple charter and residential schools in the Charlotte area and have been doing so for well over a decade. Our speech-language pathologists and audiologist are highly qualified to work with students of all ages with a variety of needs including augmentative communication and autism spectrum disorders.
Services we can provide to schools include: speech-language and hearing screenings, speech-language evaluations, individual or group therapy and RTI (response-to-intervention) services, inclusion services, FM system set-up, routine maintenance of hearing aids and FM systems (including re-programming), teacher workshops on working with students with special-needs or other topics, and parent workshops or consultations.
We have a full suite of hearing diagnostic equipment and sound booth at our Charlotte and Monroe clinic locations if a hearing screening indicates more intensive testing is required.
As a not-for-profit entity that has served Charlotte since 1967 we often are able to utilize grant or other funds to help cover certain services such as screenings and teacher/parent trainings. Our goal is to add value for your teachers and school and successfully address the communication needs of your students and their families while minimizing the costs to your organization. It is our mission to provide a full range of speech-language and hearing services to everyone in need.
For more information please contact Angie Rikard: 704 523-8027 ext. 225, arikard@charlottespeechhearing.com.
Yola
Yola, short for Yoga-Language, is led by SLPs who are also certified pediatric yoga instructors. This interactive activity is provided in groups of 5-12 children based on age (ages 4-6 years or 7-9 years) and intertwines movement, high-level language concepts and literacy while strengthening fine- and gross-motor skills as well as mindfulness; a key skill for children. Mindfulness aids a child’s executive function and has many proven physical and mental health benefits-even after just a few weeks.
For more information please contact our Director of Speech-Language Services at (704) 523-8027 or via email at arikard@charlottespeechhearing.com.
Workshops for Parents, Teachers and Childcare Providers
Speech-Language Pathologists from Charlotte Speech and Hearing Center are specialists in adult learning and have been providing parent/teacher workshops to the Charlotte community for over a decade. We’ve presented to groups such as the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library’s Children’s Staff, Head Start teachers and at the NC State Convention for Speech Language Pathology. Click here to view a list of our current workshop topics.