The Family Capacity Building Model and Our Birth to 3 Clients (0.25 CA PDH)
The literature shows that caregiver-provided interactions give young children with disabilities or delays considerably more opportunities to learn than traditional weekly therapy. It is estimated that while once-a-week 30-minute speech therapy over the course of the year would account for 7,500 learning opportunities, caregiver-child interactions one hour a day seven days a week would account for 220,000 learning opportunities (Mahoney and MacDonald, 2007, McWilliam 2000). Promoting language acquisition during daily caregiver and child routines is key to making progress in our program. This is an overview of our approach!
Your Instructor
Dr. Givona Sandiford is a licensed/nationally certified speech-language pathologist, Certified Autism Specialist, Board Certified Telepractice Specialist, SHRM Certified Professional, and lifelong learner with nearly 20 years of experience working with pediatrics and adults with autism and other speech, language, voice, fluency, swallowing, and feeding disorders in multiple settings including private practices, schools, hospitals, telepractice, outpatient clinics, home health, and skilled nursing facilities. She has served as a peer reviewer for the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders and adjunct faculty for undergraduate and graduate students in the field of Communication Sciences and Disorders. She holds an advanced certificate in assistive technology and enjoys working with the minimally verbal population.
Dr. Sandiford is the owner of Melospeech Inc and the developer of Melodic Based Communication Therapy (M.B.C.T.) ®, which was the subject of her 2008-2012 dissertation research. Dr. Sandiford's research on M.B.C.T. was the recipient of Loma Linda University's School of Allied Health Professions 2013 Outstanding Doctoral Research Award and has been published in and cited by multiple publications in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Sandiford has spoken nationwide on the topic of treatment for minimally verbal individuals with autism and is the creator of several materials and apps to help parents, caregivers, and therapists access care for the minimally verbal population with autism based on her research and experience in the field.