Neurodiverse Speech-Language Care at We Rock the Spectrum

Did you know that We Rock the Spectrum kids gym not only provides an inclusive play environment for all kids, but also guided speech-language storytime classes for toddlers? 

We Rock the Spectrum is a kids gym aimed at inclusivity with a particular focus on children who are neurodiverse or struggle with developmental or sensory processing disorders. They have a large facility in Northeast Philadelphia with a variety of equipment including a trampoline, zipline, swings, as well as a sensory room and a separate classroom—which the Speech-Language Institute (SLI) of Salus University uses to host their Toddler Time sessions. 

This Toddler Read and Play Time class aims to expose children to literacy and early speech-language skills through storytime, art, and music. The group meets weekly on Wednesday mornings from 9:30 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. Each of these 45-minute sessions offers three different activities to increase engagement and learning with the children. The group is currently overseen by SLI clinical educator and pediatric speech-language pathologist (SLP), Kimberly Cafarella, MS, CCC-SLP. 

“We spend about the first 15 minutes doing an interactive storytime, where we’ll have the kids do gestures and sound play. So, if it’s a book with animals we’ll be prompting them to make animal sounds or sometimes we’ll have them do different actions that are associated with the story,” said Cafarella, “We’re trying to really get the kids engaged and level it so that even the kids that have very emerging language skills can participate. Then we do some kind of table top activity. Oftentimes it's a craft, but sometimes we’ve done more sensory or science-related activities at the table. The last portion of the program, we actually do music time.”

While Toddler Time is focused on the toddler age group, it is open to any children. “We let families know that developmentally it’s geared toward toddlers but it's open to children of all ages and ability levels so we just adapt depending on the children that we have there each week,” said Cafarella. 

This group not only provides a great early-learning interactive experience for children but also a clinical rotation opportunity for Salus University SLP Master of Science students. The Toddler Time program is led by three graduate student clinicians supervised by a licensed SLP. “It's nice to be giving students an opportunity to work with those younger children during their first year,” commented Cafarella. 

The Toddler Time group has been operating since the Summer of 2023 with the help of the SLI and We Rock the Spectrum. According to Cafarella, the program has been successful, bringing in children of all development levels—new and regular attendants—every week.

“We Rock the Spectrum—they’re a really great partner with us. They do a lot of advertising for their groups and of course they have an established clientele but we’ve gotten feedback from them that they have gotten new families that come in also because they hear about this toddler group. So it's been mutually beneficial for them and for us,” said Cafarella. 

We Rock the Spectrum posts regular information about all of their groups, including Toddler Time, on their website as well as their Instagram and Facebook pages. 

The Speech-Language Institute also provides comprehensive speech-language care to children with any kind of developmental challenges or delays. For more information or to book an appointment call 215.780.3150.