Integrated Speech and Behavior (IS&B) is committed to every child having a joyful and personally expressed life with genuine relationships, meaningful interventions, and tailored technology.
ABOUT US
We are a team of passionate and licensed Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) committed to meaningful, research-based outcomes.
Our clinical experience spans the fields of Speech-Language Pathology and Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), which allows us to teach communication through behaviorally-oriented interventions. Together the individual, parent, and therapist work to identify behaviors and skills that significantly increase quality of life and communication, while decreasing less productive and challenging behaviors.
WHY INTEGRATED SPEECH AND BEHAVIOR?
CREDENTIALED & LICENSED
CREDENTIALED & LICENSED
IS&B employs SLPs with a rare combination of skills in speech, behavior, and technology. We work in the business of humanity and the path is not always linear. Our team understands that together with the family, we will create a program that moves and grows with the individual.
EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE
EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE
The staff of IS&B has experience working in public schools, private schools, clinics, and homes in the areas of: speech-generating devices, apraxia, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Pivotal Response Training, ABA/Verbal Behavior, literacy, and Social Thinking.
REAL-LIFE APPLICATION
REAL-LIFE APPLICATION
IS&B looks at the whole individual within a global context to ensure that skills are practical and doable within a day-to-day routine, integrating communication fully into the individual’s life in functional and meaningful ways. We work to support families to generalize these skills.
INTEGRATING SPEECH & BEHAVIOR
INTEGRATING SPEECH & BEHAVIOR
Communication is a behavior and it is shapeable. Because our staff specializes in communication AND behavior, we offer a rare and effective service in the community where we can deliver intervention focusing on decreasing unproductive behaviors and increasing communication.
POSITIVE & TEAM-FOCUSED
POSITIVE & TEAM-FOCUSED
We use every resource at our disposal to improve the life of each individual client. As professionals and parents, compassion always comes first. We’re trained to recognize different perspectives and to step into the shoes of each team member in order to bridge a sense of understanding.
TRANSPARENT TREATMENT
TRANSPARENT TREATMENT
We believe that the more people agree and are aligned on a specific program, the better the progress. Families and their teams have access to the individual’s current goals and strategies created by IS&B so that interventions can be active and accountable across environments.
DATA-DRIVEN DECISIONS
DATA-DRIVEN DECISIONS
IS&B uses consistent and formal data tracking to measure and graph progress. The data drives our decisions. If progress is not being made, the program is re-evaluated and quickly adjusted to make efficient use of the individual’s/family’s time and resources.
AUTHENTIC RELATIONSHIPS
AUTHENTIC RELATIONSHIPS
IS&B understands that when individuals feel valued and important, they will naturally want to express their unique stories. By creating authentic relationships with our clients, IS&B’s therapists provide the tools and opportunities to allow people to express those stories and communicate with a variety of partners.
COLLABORATION
IS&B believes that effective teams are critical for lasting and meaningful change.
Collaboration is the name of the game, and we LOVE working with other professionals. Given our background, we have the opportunity to bring teams of multiple professionals together with a single set of common goals that we all agree will make the greatest impact on our clients and their families.
Most of our clients receive multiple therapies a week and have numerous interventionists.
In fact, it is unusual for us to represent the only speech language pathologist (SLP) and Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) on the team. We enjoy partnering with ABA teams and other SLP’s to provide global skill intervention with a focus on improving communication.
OUR SERVICES
We provide direct, weekly intervention for clients using speech-generating devices (SGDs) in their homes, schools, or communities. We work with individuals in the environment where intervention will be most effective and meaningful.
We provide:
- Evaluation to obtain an appropriate speech generating device
- Evaluation of current levels of communication skills through the lens of Speech-Language Pathology and Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA).
- Treatment using a combination of evidence-based strategies from the fields of Speech-Language Pathology and ABA.
We teach:
- How and when to communicate
- Responding to different stimuli using functional communication
- Navigation of the client’s device in a systematic way
We provide consultative services to families, clients, and school teams who may not need or cannot coordinate weekly intervention.
We consult on:
- Customization and programming of the device
- Training of device implementation
- Systematic teaching plans using direct and naturalistic strategies across multiple environments
- Strategic written plans for an individual’s communication development
We love what we do and we love teaching others how to do it.
We are transparent and systematic! We problem-solve with parents and professionals regarding every client case to help bring optimism and success to all families, individuals, and therapists. We provide individualized trainings to families and therapy teams about communication plans and teaching strategies specific to an individual.
We present tailored trainings to organizations and companies specializing in speech therapy or ABA, day treatment facilities, schools, and home teams on the following topics:
- ABA Basics and What an SLP Should Know
- Communication Device and ABA Teaching Strategies
- Verbal Behavior and Speech Language Pathology: Combining Perspectives
- How PTs, OTs, and SLPs Can Best Support In-Home ABA Teams
- How SLPs Can Successfully Work with an Individual with Challenging Behaviors
In an attempt to make our services accessible to all families, IS&B accepts:
- Medicaid
- Private payment
- Insurance as an out-of-network provider
As an out-of-network provider, we are able to provide clients who do not have Medicaid with a Super Bill to document our services, so that families can submit the claim and independently pursue reimbursement from their private insurance.
OUR TEAM
AMY FETTER – Owner
- Speech Language Pathologist, MA CCC-SLP (May 2008)
- Board Certified Behavior Analyst, BCBA (October 2014)
- Alternative Augmentative Communication (AAC) Specialist
- Formal Training in: Kaufman, PROMPT, PECS, LSVT
I obtained my masters degree in Speech and Language Pathology at the University of Colorado in Boulder. I was hired immediately upon graduation as a school-based SLP in the Cherry Creek School District. I later worked on the district Assistive Technology Team to provide support to SLPs who worked with individuals who use speech generating devices. Eager to gain more experience working with individuals with autism, I pursued a SLP position at The Joshua School (TJS). I was extremely inspired by the therapists, teachers, parents, and students at the school. The people at TJS drove me to learn Applied Behavior Analysis and to combine its benefits with the practice of speech and language pathology. I became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) in October of 2014 and created my own private practice shortly thereafter.
I am extremely passionate about what I do. Individual and family lives matter to me. Through training and teaching, I’m dedicated to giving parents and professionals the tools they need to make them more effective and proud of the work they do. I feel that, together, the fields of Speech and Language Pathology and Applied Behavior Analysis make fundamental positive change in the lives of young people with autism and other developmental disabilities.
KATE BRENNAN
- Speech Language Pathologist, MS, CCC-SLP (May 2014)
- Formal Training in: PROMPT, PECS
My interest in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) first began during my time as an undergrad in the Communication Sciences and Disorders program at the Pennsylvania State University. In the university clinic, I had the opportunity to observe a client trialing a device for the first time. Over subsequent sessions, I watched this individual learn to use this device to communicate, connect, and express preferences. I was amazed and wanted to learn more. I spent that following summer working at a camp for children with special needs, and again, witnessed the benefits of AAC.
Shortly thereafter, I moved to Vermont and completed my Master’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Vermont. I have spent the past few years working in various settings, including early intervention, special purpose preschool programs, and a multidisciplinary clinic. Throughout those experiences, I have found my passion for working with, and advocating for, individuals with complex communication needs.
My therapy style is play-based and client- and family-centered. I’m excited to be a part of Integrated Speech & Behavior and look forward to continuing to pursue my interest in AAC, to teach functional communication, and to improve the quality of life for my clients and their families.
CAROLINE HUDGENS
- Speech Language Pathologist, Clinical Fellow
I completed my master’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders through the University of Virginia. While at UVA, I took an AAC course and had opportunities to work with children who used speech generating devices in different settings including the Virginia Institute of Autism and a local elementary school. These experiences helped to grow my interest in and passion for working with children with complex communication needs.
Throughout my internships and post-graduate work, I gained experience working with clients at different stages of device use, of different ages, and in various settings. I use a naturalistic play-based approach to help children reach their full potential by establishing and improving communication abilities. I am dedicated to family-centered care as collaboration is an integral part of each child’s success. I joined Integrated Speech & Behavior in January 2023 and have enjoyed providing speech therapy in homes and schools, working with parents and teachers directly to choose and implement effective language interventions. I look forward to working with you and your family.
JOIN OUR TEAM
Send your resume and cover letter to amyfetter@integratedsb.com and we’ll get back to you shortly!
FAQ
Here is a snapshot of how we combine strategies and knowledge from both fields to address communication.
As SLPs we’ve spent years working to better understand the scope and sequence of receptive and expressive language development including syntax, semantic, and articulation development. We work to identify where an individual may have communication impairment, within the very dynamic system of communication. As behavior analysts, we also explore what stimuli the individual is successful in responding to, while concurrently identifying stimuli they are struggling to learn to respond to. We use effective teaching techniques such as shaping, chaining, stimulus control, prompting, and prompt fading to teach skills. We collect data to track change over time, and measure our goals to ensure our treatment strategies are effective. We use reinforcement strategies to increase independence and frequency by which individuals communicate, to ensure that all people have a functional communication system.
Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) work to prevent, assess, diagnose, and treat speech, language, social communication, cognitive-communication, and swallowing disorders in children and adults. Specific to communication, SLPs specialize in understanding the areas of speech production and fluency, language, cognition, voice, resonance, and hearing.
At IS&B we are proud speech language pathologists, but we’re also a little different. We address the above areas of communication through a behavioral lens, which helps us to be systematic, dynamic, and effective interventionists. It is the integration of these methods that makes us successful at working with very dynamic and complex individuals.
We realize you can Google, “What is ABA? But the real question is, “How do we explain the ways ABA guides our practice?”
ABA is founded on 7 Dimensions. In order to truly “do ABA” and to be effective at what we do, we have to employ all seven dimensions. Treatment that does not feature every dimension is incomplete and potentially compromised. As behaviorally oriented speech language pathologists, we live by these principles, but we do so with a communication twist.
Summary of the 7 Dimensions
- Applied: socially significant behaviors are chosen for behavior change (e.g., improving communication)
- Behavioral: observable and measurable behaviors are targeted in intervention
- Analytic: decisions are data driven
- Technological: interventions are described well enough that they can be implemented by others with basic training
- Conceptually Systematic: interventions are consistent with the principles demonstrated in the literature
- Effective: interventions are monitored to evaluate the impact of the intervention on a specific behavior
- Generality: skills occur in environments other than where they were directly taught
CONTACT
HOURS OF OPERATION
Monday – Friday
8:30 am – 5:30 pm