Children have feeding disorders for a variety of reasons. Both biological and environmental factors can lead to a feeding disorder, including medical complications/ procedures or oral motor delays.

Our Speech- Language Pathologist, whom specializes in feeding disorders will conduct a thorough evaluation to evaluate your child's oral motor function, response to texture and swallow and if necessary, will provide on-going treatment.

Social Skills serve as the foundation for getting along with others. A lack of Social Skills can lead to behavioral difficulties when involved within group settings (e.g., school), inattentiveness, aggression, difficulty with making friends, negative self-image, and isolation from peers.

Jabbergym Social Skills groups are designed to enhance social-pragmatic skills in a comfortable and non-threatening environment, focusing on establishing and improving communicative interactions and play relations among developmentally matched peers.

Our group is created for children with learning disabilities, sensory integration challenges, Asperger's Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, neurological disorders, and social emotional challenges. The availability of a safe and non-threatening environment to practice newly acquired social skills strongly provide these children with the skills to participate in everyday social environments.

Pre-K/Kindergarten

This group will focus on school readiness and pre-writing skills, and will be based on the "Handwriting Without Tears" curriculum. It is an introductory class that is meant to introduce the concepts and skills needed for handwriting improvement. The strategies and lessons are designed for carry-over into the home setting in order to see results in your child’s handwriting over time. Homework will be given in order to increase skills at home and in other environments.

During sessions, we will cover pre-writing components including shapes, drawing, and coloring. We will concentrate on hand development in order to make sure your child has the necessary skills for handwriting. Hand skills need to be developed before your child picks up a pencil to write, as they are the building blocks to successful writing skills. Your child will participate in fun interactive activities to facilitate the development of these building block skills.

A typical session will start with a short gross motor activity focused on trunk strength, coordination, and balance as a warm-up to writing. We will then get our hands ready to participate with a fine motor activity. During the majority of the session, we will focus on teaching correct letter formation and legibility, using the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum and workbooks.

1^st/2^nd Grade

This group's focus will be on getting back to the basics of letter, number, and sentence formation and will be based on the "Handwriting Without Tears" curriculum. Many 1st -3rd graders struggle with the jump in writing demands from the previous grades and have trouble keeping up. In this group, your child will participate in fun gross and fine motor activities to facilitate the development of hand skills as well as work on their writing skills. Homework will be given in order to encourage carryover of skills and lessons to other environments.

The sessions will begin with a short gross motor warm up activity to develop trunk/core strength and stability, coordination, and balance. This will be followed by a fine motor warm-up activity designed to work on specific hand skills. For the majority of the session, we will work on teaching correct letter formation, in addition to helping students learn to control letter size, placement of letters, and spacing.

Our unique play class offers stimulating activities that enhance your child's development through play. Our play classes foster social and functional communication through dramatic play, motor and sensory play. Children will improve their development in the five primary domains: Personal-Social, Cognition, Communication, Gross Motor, and Fine Motor.

These classes are open to the community.

For current class schedule please call Jabbergym at 771-TALK (8255).

Our reading groups make learning to read fun and exciting! Offering classes designed for children in Pre-K through 2nd grade, our reading groups present instruction that is multifaceted. Whether a child is just learning to read or simply needs a little extra instruction, Jabbergym's reading groups are developed to enhance your child's skills and build upon their knowledge. Reading groups address concepts about print, phonemic awareness, sight word recognition, comprehension strategies, vocabulary and so much more.

Reading support can also be provided on a one-to-one basis.

"The more that you read, the more you will know. The more you learn, the more places you'll go."
~ Dr. Suess

AAC is all of the tools we use to communicate in addition to or instead of verbal speech. Augmentative means “to supplement” so this includes things that make communication easier, such as pointing, gesturing, or even text messaging. Alternative means “instead of” so it includes things that completely replace verbal speech, such as using symbols to communicate. Often, an AAC system includes a combination of many different ways of communicating, such as facial expressions, gestures, and sign language, and sometimes includes more “high-tech” tools such as a communication device or iPad.

Jabbergym has licensed speech language pathologists that specialize in helping a child develop an AAC system that best meets their individual needs. Our goal is to help your child find tools that allow your child to express their needs, share their opinions, and participate in social opportunities with their family and friends.

AAC related services at Jabbergym include: