Services - Talking Brains Center

Speech and Language therapy

Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) is at the crossroads between medicine and psychology. Speech and Language Therapist provides screening, prevention, evaluation, diagnoses and treatment of verbal and non-verbal communication difficulties and oro-facial related problems such as dysphagia or swallowing problems and facial paralysis.

Speech and language Therapists, also known as Speech Pathologists, Orthophonistes and Logopèdes are Allied Health professionals. They provide prevention care and support for patients of all ages and their families or caregivers. They work collaboratively with parents, caregivers and other professionals, such as teachers, nurses, occupational therapists, psychologists and doctors. SLTs provide training and family education.

Articulation delay or disorder

Speech disorder

Language delay or disorder

Autism

Articulation and tongue posture in Orthodontic cases

Specific learning disabilities

Stuttering

Voice disorder

Swallowing problem

Hearing impairment

Neuropsychological Service

Neuropsychologist studies the structure and function of the brain as they relate to specific psychological processes and behaviors. Neuropsychology is an experimental field of psychology that aims to understand how behavior and cognition are influenced by brain functioning and is concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of behavioral and cognitive effects of neurological disorders.

Some of the areas addressed include:

Memory

Memory is the power or process of reproducing or recalling what has been learned and retained especially through associative mechanisms. Memory is the ability of the mind to store and recall past sensations, thoughts, knowledge. Among the types of memory: visual memory, hearing memory, working memory, narrative memory… Children with learning disability can suffer from memory problem.
Adult and senior can suffer from memory loss that can be present in depression or neurological cases

Attention

Attention is a brain function that allocates cognitive processing resources to focus on information or stimuli. Attention is the ability to keep the mind focused on something through careful observing or listening. Attention is often the beginning to other cognitive functions. You first must pay attention to something before you can process it for meaning and understanding. There are several types of attention that help you to focus: sustained attention, selective attention, alternating attention, divided attention.

Executive functions

Visual-spatial skills

Visual-spatial ability is the ability to mentally manipulate 2-dimensional, 3-dimensional and 4-dimensional figures. It is typically measured with simple cognitive tests and is predictive of user performance with some kinds of user interfaces. Our visual and spatial skills help us find our orientation in space, perceive objects around us and organize them into a coherent visual scene, mentally imagine an object that isn't physically present.

Dyspraxia and Apraxia

Apraxia/Dyspraxia is a problem/dysfunction in the execution of intentional movement. The Apraxia occurs after a cerebral-vascular accident; while the dyspraxia appears in the normal development of the brain. Apraxia/Dyspraxia can occur in a number of different forms:
Motor Apraxia/Dyspraxia: the patient will have problems/difficulties in drawing, imitating actions, executing quick and alternative movements.
Oro-facial Apraxia/ Dyspraxia: will have problems/difficulties to move his oral muscle, his tongue, inability to speak.

Agnosia

Traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an insult to the brain, but caused by external physical force that may produce a diminished or altered state of consciousness, which results in an impairment of cognitive abilities or physical functioning. Profound disturbances of cognitive, emotional, and behavior functioning after TBI may produce permanent impairments that result in partial or total functional disability and psychosocial maladjustment. The center offers a full cognitive assessment and rehabilitation program for patients suffering from Brain Injury.

Epilepsy

Stroke

Occupational Therapy

Occupational Therapy aims at helping individuals across the lifespan participate in the activities they want to do or need to do. Occupational Therapy is based on the therapeutic use of everyday activities. Occupational therapists help children participate fully in play, school activities and self-care tasks. They help clients recover from injury and regain or enhance their daily lives after specific events (diseases, accidents, mental illness, old age...). Occupational therapists assess and modify clients’ homes and community environments to ensure accessibility and improve their safety and independence.

Occupational therapists prescribe and educate clients and carers in the use of adaptive equipment to assist function. Occupational Therapy is a holistic approach that includes the clients in every step of the therapy program and helps them improve their confidence and self-esteem in social situations.

Occupational therapists work on some of the following areas:

Sensory Integration

Gross motor development in children

School-based Occupational Therapy

Handwriting

The underlying skills for handwriting include sensory processing, posture, visual motor integration, spatial perception, eye hand coordination, fine motor skills, pencil grasp, motor planning and organization. The therapists work with the child, parents and teacher to help the child achieve legible handwriting by assessing readiness, identifying difficulties and chosing the convenient handwriting program and correct approach and equipment for each child.

Motor Planning and Coordination

Children and adults may present difficulties in movement skills such as coordination (the ability to use both sides of the body at the same time) and motor planning (the ability of the brain to conceive, organize, and carry out a sequence of unfamiliar action). These difficulties may result from developmental problems, brain injury or stroke. The occupational therapist works on restoring and maintaining these skills through the therapeutic use of activities and/or the implementation of palliative strategies and adaptation.

Accessibility and home/workplace modification

Self-care

Self-care includes all the tasks an individual does throughout the day to look after his or herself: personal care, functional mobility, and community management. Occupational therapists assess the person’s ability to complete a task then based on the evaluation, the intervention may focus on improving the individual’s skills, adapting the environment, or modifying the task to enable the person to achieve functional independence.

Assistive devices

An assistive device is a piece of equipment or a product system that can be purchased or manufactured, modified to be used with a person with disability to increase, maintain, or improve his/her mobility or functional independence. The occupational therapist evaluates the person’s abilities, limitations and physical environment before prescribing the suitable device. The occupational therapist provides training in devices for individuals and caregivers if needed.

Psychological Therapy

The Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) provided in our center has been scientifically proven to be effective with children, adolescents and adults. The CBT will not only focus on reducing symptoms, it will help embracing the strengths of our clients to be more resilient and engaged in their life. The therapy will be provided in a supportive and confidential atmosphere where we respect cultural and individual differences. Therefore, each therapy will be personalized to help our clients, children or adults, to reach their goals. The CBT can be described as generally active, directive, structured and relatively short-lived. It focuses on the present while understanding the origin of the problem in the past.

The psychologist performs assessments and provides therapy to give you the tools you need to successfully manage:

Anxiety disorders

Anxiety disorders are characterized by an excessive fear and/or worry about the present and the future that can interfere with daily life activities such as school work, job performance or social situations. There are several types of anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, specific phobias, social anxiety disorder, illness anxiety disorder, separation anxiety and selective mutism.

Mood disorders

Obsessive compulsive disorder and other disorders

Obsessive compulsive disorder is characterized by the presence of recurrent obsessions (thoughts or images) that are intrusive and unwanted, and the presence of compulsions (repetitive behaviors or mental acts) that an individual feel driven to perform it. Some other related disorders are also characterized by excessive preoccupations or body focused repetitive behavior like hair pulling, hoarding, or skin picking.

Eating disorders

Addictive disorders

Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders

Following a traumatic stressful event, individual will experience variable clinical distress. The trauma can be terrorism attacks, natural disasters, car accident, divorce, loss of a loved one, childhood trauma and more. People can experience a deep sense of helplessness, anxiety, abnormal fear, flashbacks from the event, avoidance to situation that might trigger memories, aggressiveness, anger outbursts, and anhedonia. Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders include: Post traumatic stress disorder, Reactive Attachment Disorder, Disinhiblted Social Engagement Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Acute Stress Disorder, Adjustment Disorders.

Behavioral problems

Problem behaviors such as physical aggression, impulsivity, agitation, self-injury, and tantrums are major barriers to effective social and educational development. Such behaviors put children/adolescents at risk for exclusion and isolation from social, educational, family, and community activities. In addition, problem behaviors may place an onerous burden on families, particularly as children grow from preschool into school age.

Emotional problems

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Speech and Language therapy

Neuropsychological Service

Occupational Therapy

Psychological Therapy

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