Dikla Waldman, MS CCC-SLP, TSSLD
Speech Therapist
Cedarhurst, NY 11516
Pediatric Speech Therapist Providing Free Consultation
Specializing in Speech, Language & Autism Spectrum Disorders
Dikla has experience as a speech language pathologist specializing in autism spectrum disorder articulation deficit , language disorder/delay, reading and and voice disorders. Dikla provides therapy for all communication disorders in loving, caring and nurturing environment that promotes progress and growth. As a therapist, Dikla understands the importance of improving children's communication abilities so they can improve their quality of life and their interaction with their environment . Her professional experiences includes therapy at the Department of Education in New York, Lexington School for the Deaf, Schools for children with Autism spectrum , Bilingual schools and schools for children with sever disabilities. She has worked with culturally-diverse students exhibiting communication disorders including those with autism and intellectual disability as well as fluency and phonological processing disorders. Dikla administers intervention strategies that promote functional skills for daily living and provides opportunities to improve social skills and verbal expression for children with communication deficits as well as individuals with Autism spectrum disorder . Dikla contracts augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) including PECs, communication boards, speech-generated and electronic devices to enhance individual abilities to express themselves in all social settings. Dikla provides behavioral modification therapy to reduce undesired behaviors and to increase appropriate social interaction . She ensures that children receive culturally-competent services by identifying etiology of language difficulties (cultural / linguistic differences/ socioeconomic factors/ lack of language exposure / process of acquiring / dialect of English) to identify your child’s personal and individual needs. Dikla have great success with improving the fluency of speech among individual who stutter by decreasing the usage hesitation , repetitions and prolongation during speech production and verbal interaction. The process is to relearn the proper means of producing the elementary sounds of speech and then rebuild their individual’s ability to correctly produce syllables,words, and ultimately, complete sentences in a fluent manner .
Dikla specializes in helping children with Autism. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects the brain’s development affecting language, communication, cognition, and mainly social skills. Autism exists on a spectrum, from a very mild condition of social awkwardness to the severe form in which language does not develop in childhood (but may develop later) with marked impairment in social relatedness. Autism Spectrum can be difficult to diagnose, and it can be confused with other neuropsychological conditions, such as Nonverbal Learning Disability (NLD). However, an accurate autism diagnosis is critical so that important therapeutic services may be instituted.
Dikla educates and counsels patients, family members, and caregivers regarding goals and progress. Her Goal is to improve the lives of children with speech and language challenges in a caring and nurturing way so they can interact with their loved ones as well as the world around them .