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Pediatric Speech, Language, & Feeding Therapy in Spanish & English

Pediatric Speech, Language, & Feeding Therapy 

Services offered in Spanish & English

Serving Gainesville & Surrounding Areas

WELCOME to
MORE THAN WORDS

Communication & Behavior Development

Specializing in multilingual services in the areas of speech, language, feeding, literacy (reading), social skills, parent coaching, and homeschool support.

Here at More Than Words Communication & Behavior Development, we understand the importance of creating great rapport with our clients, which facilitates a remarkable and positive influence in treatment. Through individualized and evidence-based practices, our team provides high-quality services to individuals who speak different languages. We are currently providing both English and Spanish services!

welcome

Evaluations

We provide comprehensive evaluations to determine your child's skills, challenges, and preferences. Evaluations include a combination of parent input, standardized assessments, clinical observations, and therapist-child interaction. After the evaluation, we will share our findings with parts. When treatment is recommended, we will collaborate with parents to develop a plan of care including the frequency and length of the sessions.

Therapy

Throughout the treatment process, we support each child in reaching their full potential, celebrating both their uniqueness in personality, as well as empowering their strengths, and developing their skills in need for each one to excel. We take a family-centered and play-based approach, to deliver engaging and motivating services. Whether in-person or via teletherapy, parents are welcome to join every therapy session.

services
Speech, Language, & Literacy Therapy

Speech, Language, & Literacy Therapy

  • Overall speech intelligibility

  • ​​Learning how to produce new sounds

  • ​​Strategies for fluent speech

  • ​​Expand vocabulary and descriptive language

  • Combining words into phrases and sentences

  • ​​​​Asking and answering questions

  • Alphabet knowledge

  • Reading, writing, and spelling skills

Common Disorders Treated

  • Language Delays & Disorders 

  • Early Intervention

  • Late Talkers

  • Literacy Delays & Disorders

  • Articulation disorders

  • Phonological Delays & Disorders

  • Fluency/Stuttering

  • Social communication

  • ASD

speech, lang, lit
Feeding & Swallowing Therapy

Feeding & Swallowing Therapy

At More Than Words, Communication and Behavior Development LLC, we take a team approach, collaborating with parents, pediatricians, occupational therapists, and related professionals. Family and cultural issues are always considered in the assessment and treatment of any feeding difficulty.

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We are trained in the Talk Tools Sensory-Motor Approach to Feeding, Jaw Stability and Speech Clarity, and are currently in the Level 1 Novice TalkTools Therapist track.

Common Challenges Addressed

  • Picky eating

  • Challenging mealtime behavior

  • Weaning from a G-tube or NG-tube

  • Oral motor skills for sucking, chewing and swallowing

  • Muscle weakness and/or discoordination

  • Sensory aversions and sensory processing

  • Parent education

  • Dysphagia

feeding
Homeschool Support

Homeschool Support

At More than Words, Communication and Behavior Development LLC, we serve as a guide in integrating speech and language support into your child’s curriculum. We address challenges in the following areas:

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  • Literacy

  • Language skills

  • Phonological Awareness

  • Social Skills

  • and more!

Services We Offer:

  • Review of developmental and academic history, along with current skill levels, to identify which skills to target

  • Development of specific goals to address your child's unique skills and challenges

  • Recommendations for activities to address speech and language skills within the school day/curriculum

homeschool
Parent Coaching

Parent Coaching

Young children learn in the context of their real-life activities and with the people most important to them. Parent coaching empowers the most important people in a child’s life with the tools to support development at home and between sessions. At the end of every session, we dedicate time to providing tips and feedback to parents. 

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We also offer dedicated parent coaching sessions, which is a great option for children who are not ready for direct therapy.

Skills & Strategies:

  • Understand how to engage your child in back and forth communication exchanges

  • Learn strategies to help your child communicate and interact during everyday routines and activities

  • Manage mealtime and feeding challenges

  • Training for other important people in your child's life (e.g. grandparents, teachers, nannies, etc.) in person and via video conferencing

parent coaching

ABOUT US

Meet Carla & Angel

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Angel Gonzalez, M.S., CCC-SLP
Owner, Speech Pathologist

Angel brings over 14 years of experience as a speech-language pathologist to More Than Words. He has served children of all ages in both school and private practice settings specializing in bilingual communication. 

Carla Rivera, M.S., CCC-SLP
Owner, Speech Pathologist

Carla is an experienced pediatric speech-language pathologist who specializes in bilingual communication development, pediatric feeding and swallowing, and telepractice. 

As a team, Carla and Angel are dedicated to advancing their skills to provide evidence-based therapy for the families and children they serve. They regularly participate in continuing education and advanced training opportunities.  


Carla and Angel personalized their approach to therapy to respect each family's preferences and recognizing that family, as well as individual beliefs/values, will vary based on culture, background, personal preferences, and individual variability.

Our Commitment to Culturally Sensitive and Linguistically Diverse Services

Here at More Than Words More Than Words Communication & Behavior Development, we work to ensure that our services are culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate, and aligned with each family's values and goals. We support our clients in developing their skills within the context of their first languages and cultures and encourage them to become proficient bilingual speakers. We also take great care to provide feeding and swallowing therapy aligned with the family's dietary preferences and family beliefs and values. 

About Us

GETTING STARTED

insuranc and referrals

Billing & Insurance

We are currently (or in the process of becoming (in-network with the following insurance providers:

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  • Medicaid

  • Humana

  • Sunshine Health​

  • CMS

  • Aetna​

  • TriCare East

  • Simply Healthcare

  • Molina

  • Coventry

  • Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities (formally the Gardiner Scholarship). Click here to learn more.​

 

New insurance groups will continue to be added!

 

We also offer competitive private pay rates for therapy and provide families with support for seeking out-of-network reimbursement.

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Referrals

For physician referrals, please review our process below and fax referral forms to (352) 478-0717​.

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  • ​Provide signed orders for an evaluation for treatment

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  • Our staff will verify insurance benefits

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  • The parent/Caregiver of the client will be reached by phone for an intake call

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  • Our team will schedule an initial evaluation

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  • Based on the results of the evaluation, the specialist will recommend the frequency of services in a Plan of Care to be shared with the PCP

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  • Our team will assist the family with scheduling appointments

Bilingual Speech Therapy Services in Gainesville, FL

"If they can't learn the way we teach, we teach the way they learn."

-Dr. Ole Ivar Lovaas
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