Although our office is based just north of Toronto, we are pleased to offer most of our programs and services through virtual care (telepractice).
Families from across Ontario seek out our services because of our unique focus on friendship for kids, teens, and young adults. We’ve worked with clients from North Bay to Toronto, from Windsor to Ottawa, and many places in between! Offering our services virtually means that we can accommodate all interested families in all of our programs, rather than only those local to our office.
Each family is encouraged to seek the services that are the best fit for them. Our virtual services feel very much like an in-person service. For younger children, much of our support is provided by coaching parents during interactions with their child. Whether on the floor or at a table, it will feel as if your therapist is sitting in your home with you. We do not want families and younger children sitting at a desk in front of a screen. Instead, we ask you to position yourself and your child naturally and place a device nearby so that the clinician can see and hear your interaction. For kids who are distracted or upset by the clinician’s presence on screen, we can easily “disappear” by turning off our cameras and coaching parents by phone through an earbud in their ear—something that is not possible in person.
For older kids, teens, and young adults who want to participate in a group but are easily distracted, we work with each family to plan the best ways to help them participate. For some kids, this means doing something active right before their session; for others, it might mean moving around a bit during the session, using a fidget toy, or doodling. We use many strategies to keep clients engaged in our group sessions, such as lots of opportunities to contribute their ideas and to participate in breakout rooms with other clients. As long as there is motivation to participate, we’ll make the virtual format work for your family!
Our clinical team includes only registered speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists with extensive experience in working with neurodivergent clients and their families. Our staff are all Master’s-level trained clinicians and our rates are based upon current recommended fees for speech-language pathologists in Ontario. When comparing what appears to be the same program through different services, families should ask about the experience and credentials of the provider, how many total hours of service are involved and whether the service is for children/teens only or if there is also a parent learning component. All of our programs include interactive weekly parent/caregiver sessions so that kids, teens and young adults can be well supported in taking their skills outside of their sessions with us.
Yes. All of our programs are delivered by speech-language pathologists or occupational therapists registered to practice in Ontario. They are therefore eligible under the OAP funding and/or extended health benefits which cover SLP or OT services. The Ontario Autism Program does allow families to use their funding a number of ways, including parent education, as long as it is for the child/teen registered with the OAP. We are happy to answer any questions about funding that you may have. For families who need to confirm that our services will be covered by their extended health benefits prior to working with us, we can provide a letter about our services that can be submitted to your insurer.
Please note that families are billed directly for our services.
Connections SLP does not offer traditional social skills groups. Our focus is on helping our clients make meaningful connections with others of their choosing, rather than simply with whomever happens to be attending the group at the same time. Often, kids and teens who come to us have had negative experiences in social skills groups because the other members, behavior expectations, and/or goals of the group were not a good fit for them.
Our focus is on helping our older clients determine and achieve their own goals in ways that build upon their strengths and interests. Additionally, we firmly believe that for clients who are trying to find their place in the social world, a supportive adult who knows just how to help is a key piece of the journey. This means that we include parents or other trusted adults in all of our services so that they can act as a knowledgeable and supportive coach during and after sessions. By helping parents learn how and when to coach, our clients can continue to succeed long after their time with us is complete.
Families of younger clients always leave each session with a specific plan to apply the strategies and concepts introduced in that week’s session to their activities, interests, and routines. Each week builds upon the previous one, and participants leave our programs with a set of tools that allows them to continue to achieve their social goals beyond the duration of their time with us.
Our client services coordinator completes an intake phone call with every family at no charge. We gather preliminary information about what each client is looking for and share details about the programs and services we offer that may be a good fit for your family.
Our director then meets with each family for a 60-minute Initial Social Learning Consultation (ISLC) to learn more. It’s very important to us that our services are truly the right fit for each client—we want to meet you and work with you to create the right support plan for your family. For older children/teens and young adults, this is also an opportunity for them to meet us, understand what we do, and choose whether they feel they would like to move forward. You will leave the ISLC with a feel for our team, additional resources, and either a plan to move forward with Connections SLP or an alternate plan including resources and referrals if it is determined that our services are not right for your family at this time. There is a fee for this clinical service.
Families who want to ask questions of our director before booking an ISLC will be offered a 15-minute “Get to Know Connections SLP” appointment at no charge. This is not a clinical appointment, and the focus is on answering questions about our services to help clients determine whether they want to move forward with us.
We provide a very focused service, built on our passion for and expertise in working with children, teens, young adults and their families. We therefore do not offer general communication assessments or therapy. We are happy to review previous assessments or therapy summaries prior to starting any of our services or programs. We’ll always work with your family to build on these as we work together to determine your child or teen’s current strengths and needs in order to set goals and provide personalized strategies.
Yes, we are always happy to collaborate with whomever is supporting your family, but our extensive experience tells us that more is not always better. Before we begin to work with your family, we will take the time to understand how our team and the time you will spend with us will be helpful for you. We know that sometimes decisions to introduce other professionals are made because funding has suddenly become available, but we want to ensure that seeing us will make a difference for your family and that you have the time and ability to think about and use the strategies developed in our sessions together.
