Our Approach
Treating the whole child
We don’t just focus on speech and language. We consider every aspect of your child’s development, to make sure they’re fully supported as we work toward our goals.
Relationship-based
Building a strong connection with your child is our first priority. We tune into them and adapt to their pace and interests, so that your child feels safe and comfortable throughout the therapy process.
Neuro-diversity affirming
Instead of trying to make your child fit a mold, we honor and work with their individuality. Using a strengths-based approach, we recognize and build upon what your child does best, meeting them exactly where they are.
Multi-sensory support
Regulation is the key to all learning and development. We integrate strategies that cater to your child’s sensory, physical, and social-emotional needs, creating an optimal environment for them to learn, grow, and develop their language skills.
Play-based learning
Your child makes sense of the world through play
Some approaches focus on behavior and rewards, which is not the way children learn naturally.
To truly teach and support language development, we meet your child on their level. That means entering their world, reading their cues, and following their lead.
More than toys — play is a window into your child’s development
Play and language develop simultaneously. And the way your child plays reveals their strengths and challenges.
Together, we work toward structured learning objectives through gradual skill building, increasing the complexity as your child progresses — all in an engaging, joyful way.
Rich play equips your child for success in all areas of life
Play-based learning helps your child develop essential skills that are foundational not just for academics and social interactions, but for becoming a more well-rounded person.
Problem-solving
Negotiation
Empathy
Impulse control
Storytelling
Self-advocacy
Collaborative treatment
Your child’s language progress is a team effort
Therapy sessions, while vital, are just a fraction of your child’s learning and growth experience. The magic happens in the everyday moments, where there are endless opportunities for practice and encouragement.
Understand exactly how to support your child
We empower you with the strategies, insights, and confidence you need to support your child's language.
By working together and ensuring these tools are incorporated consistently, we create a nurturing environment where your child can thrive.
Align efforts across your
child’s support network
We actively engage with your child’s teachers, other therapists, counselors, and caregivers to ensure we're all moving in the same direction. This collaboration allows us to understand your child's environment comprehensively, adapt our strategies to fit into their daily routines, and make informed adjustments to our treatment plans.
Hear from parents like you
“Impressed with how easily and quickly she related to our son”
We couldn't recommend Arefa more highly! Our son was delayed in speaking, and we started working with Arefa when he was 20 months (introduced through referral from our pediatrician). We were immediately so impressed with how easily and quickly she related to our son. She is able to engage with him so well, keeping his attention and encouraging him to verbalize with her within the first session. She also partnered with us on how we could best support his learning and development between therapy sessions. We've now "graduated" out of needing Arefa's services, as my son is now speaking/verbalizing right on track for his development. We're so grateful to Arefa for her help and guidance, and my son is still so excited to see "his friend Arefa" when we're out in the neighborhood. Also worth mentioning, all of my son's grandparents overlapped with one of Arefa's sessions in our home at some point. Every single one of them was so impressed by how well she worked with our son and how much they learned by observing her!
- Jessica Prager
“Goes above and beyond to communicate with us and our son’s teachers”
We’ve had a wonderful experience with Key to Growth. Our son has made great progress with Arefa over the past several years in terms of catching up to his age cohort for speech and comprehension. She goes above and beyond to be communicative with us as well as our son’s teachers in terms of how we can all support him. She developed a treatment plan for our son to determine which areas of his speech and comprehension most needed attention / development and she discussed the game plan with us and keeps us in the loop on his progress after every session. Lastly and most importantly, our son really connects with her and is excited to see her. She has a really strong ability to meet him at his level and she is warm and inviting, and she makes the sessions fun for him while making sure to teach the topics that are key to our son’s development. I’d highly recommend her to any families looking for speech therapy.
- Katherine Rollag
“Quickly adapted her strategies to my son’s individual needs and challenges”
Arefa was my son's speech-language therapist for over two years. She worked with him at our home and was absolutely incredible with him. I was present for most of my son's sessions and Arefa always took the time to speak with me about both what was working and ways that I could better support him. She really made it about our whole family, which was very helpful and important to me. Arefa was in frequent contact with my son's teachers and other therapists. Thankfully, because of this open communication she was able to understand that while he was making progress at home, he was really struggling with language at school and in other social settings. Arefa was able to quickly adapt her strategies to suit my son's individual needs and evolving challenges. Arefa is a gifted therapist who is engaging, smart and kind. We feel very fortunate to have had her as our son's therapist and could not recommend her more highly.
- Melissa Friedman