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Pediatric Speech-Language Pathology Program

Speech-language pathology services are available to pediatric inpatients (PICU, Tisch Hospital, and Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine) and outpatients. In addition, a Preschool Program sponsored by the Department of Education at the Rusk Institute also provides a full range of speech-language pathology services.

The Speech-Language Pathologist is trained to diagnose a patient’s communication disorder and evaluate its impact on everyday functioning, school, and social interactions. It is important for the speech-language pathologist to determine the type of disorder and the level of severity in order to help plan for the rehabilitation needs of the child and to assist the team in understanding how to communicate with the child with a communication problem.

Parent/caregiver education and counseling is an integral part of the rehabilitation program to help families understand the child’s disorder and to learn language facilitation techniques that will help the child to carry-over the skills learned in treatment to the home setting.

Different types of acquired communication problems may be present in children, such as dysarthria, aphasia, cognitive communication disorder and different developmental communication disorders such as a phonological disorder, developmental language delay, language disorders, and childhood apraxia of speech.

Services are provided to pediatric patients with the following conditions or diseases:

  • Cerebral palsy
  • Spina bifida
  • Hydrocephalus
  • Traumatic brain injury
  • Stroke
  • Dysautonomia
  • Spinal cord injuries and diseases
  • Brain and spinal cord tumors
  • Pervasive developmental disorders
  • General developmental delay

Bilingual Spanish Speech-Language Pathology services by a certified bilingual specialist are available.

Speech-language pathologists who work with children in the pediatric unit are certified by the Board of Education (Teacher of Students with Speech and Language Disabilities-TSSLD) which allows them to provide services to children who receive funding from the BOE.

Contact: 212-263-6026

Location: 5th Floor Speech-Language Pathology Unit
Pediatric Department
Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine
400 34th Street
New York, NY 10016