Programs & Services

Speech-Language Pediatric Program

Suzanne Ménard, Program Coordinator

Objective
Established in October 2001, the mandate of the Pediatrics Program is to provide therapeutic services to children in Laval with specific speech/language impairments. The program provides individual or group therapy to children who present with significant and persistent difficulties with speech and language, and may also involve the child’s family or caregivers.

The Speech-Language program is built around the following service and therapeutic goals:

• to support parents and the family as they adapt to the difficulties of communication with the child
• to help children with language and communication deficiencies to identify their aptitudes, develop their capabilities and maximize their skills
• to promote successful integration into their physical and social environment, and the fulfillment of their full social potential.

This marks the first time that these services are locally accessible to pediatric clients (previously, clients had to leave the Laval region to obtain them).

Program personnel work with representatives of other centers in the region to create a comprehensive and integrated network of therapeutic services for the children of Laval. This includes members of the following: Sainte-Justine Hospital , the Montreal Children’s Hospital , CHARL, CLSC, the Centre de réadaptation en Déficience Intellectuelle Normand Laramée, the Laval and the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Boards

Approach
The Pediatric Rehabilitation Program provides comprehensive bilingual services in speech and language rehabilitation. To maintain a continuity of services and support between the hospital and the schools, our team members maintain close ties with the children’s educators and daycare workers. Our team then develops individual treatment programs, provides support and counseling for children with a communication disorder, and also involves the client’s families in the rehabilitative process.

Our multidisciplinary team is composed of several different types of practitioners from medical and paramedical disciplines. This team evaluates a child’s needs and then provides services that may involve any or all of these disciplines. Our multidisciplinary team includes:

Occupational therapist Physiatrist Physiotherapist

Psychologist Social Worker/liaison agent Speech Therapist

Clientele
The program is available to children in Laval aged 2 to 5 years and to children 8 to 18 years old who present with a specific speech/language disorder. Typically, such disorders are characterized as significant and persistent difficulties with verbal communication, producing problems in expression and/or comprehension, which limit the verbal interactions, socialization and schooling of the child.

Admissions Procedure
To be admitted to the program, children must be evaluated by the multidisciplinary team or by a recognized speech therapist, and be available for additional evaluations. In all cases, the existence of a disorder must be well documented. A description of additional specific admissions criteria can be made available on request.

Research, Teaching and Continuing Education
Though the program is quite new, links to research are already well developed, including a link to the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation (CIRR/CRIR), and we have developed research projects to scientifically study children with speech and language difficulties. In addition to research initiatives, our program emphasizes innovation in the field of teaching, providing training to Speech and Occupational Therapy students from McGill University and the University of Montreal. Staff members of the Pediatric Program are also frequently exposed to continuing education initiatives.

Links
Pediatric hospital of the McGill University Health Center: www.thechildren.com

Contact Information
For more information about the Pediatric Rehabilitation Program, please contact: