<html> <head> <title>Services</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <meta name="description" content="Merritt Speech & Learning specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of cummunication disorders and processing disorders."> <meta name="keywords" content="speech, language, language pathology, dyslexia, dysgraphia, dylexic, dysgraphic, differential diagnosis, communication disorders, speech therapy, speech therapist, developmental delay, auditory processing disorders, visual processing disorders, phonics, american speech language hearing association, florida speech language hearing association, scientific learning, fast forward, 4WD, step 4word, interactive metronome therapist"> <meta name="language" content="English"> <meta name="author" content="Merritt Speech"> <meta name="copyright" content="2001, Merritt Speech and Learning"> <meta name="robots" content="ALL"> <meta name="reply-to" content="info@merrittspeech.com"> <meta name="document-class" content="Published"> <meta name="document-classification" content="Health"> <meta name="document-rights" content="Copyrighted Work"> <meta name="document-type" content="Web Page"> <meta name="document-rating" content="Safe for Kids"> <meta name="document-distribution" content="Global"> <meta name="document-state" content="Static"> <meta name="cache-control" content="no-cache"> <meta name="Abstract" content="Merritt Speech & Learning specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of cummunication disorders and processing disorders."> <meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="EN-US"> <meta name="Publisher" content="Cordaxis"> <meta name="Publisher-Email" content="info@cordaxis.com"> <meta name="Placename" content="Jacksonville, FL"> <meta name="Contributors" content="Merritt Speech & Learning"> <meta name="Page-Topic" content="Medizin"> <script language="JavaScript"> <!-- function MM_swapImgRestore() { //v3.0 var i,x,a=document.MM_sr; 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Motor Processing Therapy</a></font></li> <li><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="reading_therapy.htm">Phonological Processing Therapy</a></font></li> <li><a href="early_intervention.htm"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Early Intervention for the Young</font></a></li> <li><a href="fastforword.htm"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Fast ForWord Family of Products</font></a></li> <li><a href="reading_therapy.htm"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Reading Therapy</font></a></li> <li><a href="serv_motor.htm"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Interactive Metronome</font></a></li> <li><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="brain_fitness.htm">Auditory Processing Therapy for Adults</a></font></li> <li><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="academic_enh.htm">Academic Enhancement </a></font></li> <li><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="brain_fitness.htm">Brain Fitness </a></font></li> <li><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="serv_speech.htm">Speech-Language Therapy</a></font></li> <li><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="index.htm">What is the Problem?</a></font></li> <li><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="serv_diagnosis.htm">"The Proper Diagnosis is Critical to Remediation"</a></font></li> <li><a href="knowledge.htm"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">&quot;Knowledge is Power&quot;</font></a></li> <li><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="faq.htm">FAQ</a></font></li> <!-- <li><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="serv_timing.htm">Signs of Timing, Concentration &amp;<br> Motor Processing Deficits Checklist</a></font></li> <li><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="questionnaire.htm">The Questionnaire</a></font></li>--> </ul> <hr> <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1" color="#000000"><b><font color="#990000">The Remediation of Processing Disorders<br> Begins With A Thorough Screening:</font></b></font></p> <p><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1" color="#000000">"Not Good Enough???" </font></b></p> <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1" color="#000000">Most everybody knows good vision requires 20/20 eyesight. Fewer people know that good hearing requires passing a 20dB hearing screening across all speech frequencies, bilaterally. But, did you know that just passing these two tests is "Not Good Enough" for the ability to effectively learn?</font></p> <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1" color="#000000">Learning is ideally 50% auditory (hearing) and 50% visual; with the emphasis greater on auditory skills in Kindergarten - 1st - 2nd grades and swinging to greater emphasis on visual skills in the higher grades 4th, 5th, 6th and so on.</font></p> <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1" color="#000000">A child who is struggling with communication skills and/or learning skills often presents with very similar symptoms. How is a concerned parent to know what the real problem is?</font></p> <p align="center"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1" color="#000000"><i>Is it a visual acuity problem? <br> or<br> Is it an auditory acuity problem?<br> or<br> Is it a visual processing problem?<br> or<br> Is it an auditory processing problem?</i></font></p> <p align="center"> <i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#990000"><b>ALL FOUR AREAS NEED TO BE ASSESSED.</b></font></i></p> <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1" color="#000000">An acuity problem, if found, needs to be addressed by an optometrist for eyes, and an audiologist for ears. A referral for complete diagnostic work-up and treatment will be required.</font></p> <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1" color="#000000">A processing problem implies that the child can/does adequately receive the information through the "ear gates" or the "eye gates," but something interferes with the sorting and analyzing of that information in the brain.</font></p> <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1" color="#000000">That sounds very serious and detrimental to the child's emotional and academic growth, and it is. Normally, a child does not "outgrow" a processing problem, just like a child cannot outgrow an acuity problem. But the good news is that both visual processing deficits and auditory processing deficits are completely remediable in this day and age.</font></p> <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1" color="#000000">The knowledge of what the breakdowns are in both areas has been around for over35 years. However, only recently has the technology been advanced enough to be able to help your child remediate these problems.</font></p> <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1" color="#000000">One complicating matter, though, is that the symptoms for auditory processing deficits and visual processing deficits "appear" or should I say "sound" very similar.</font></p> <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1" color="#000000">A complete <b>Auditory Processing &amp; Visual Processing Screening</b> at Merritt Speech & Learning can clearly delineate the problem. Acuity and Processing in both the auditory and visual domains will be thoroughly screened. At that time, a plan will be made to remediate the problems.</font></p> <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1" color="#000000">Does that mean that the child will be "slow to develop" and "not very intelligent"? No, it does not. More often than not, these children develop normally and are above average in intelligence but, they "do not test well" on traditional IQ tests.</font></p> <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1" color="#000000">If your child has a communication problem or a learning problem, please contact Merritt Speech & Learning for a Screening. The time required is two hours for the testing and one hour to immediately go over the results and recommendations. Before you contact us, review and print the list of <a href="telltale.htm">Signs of Auditory & Visual & Motor Processing Deficits</a> and the <a href="questionnaire.htm">Questionnaire</a>. Be sure to bring those to the Screening. If your child wears glasses/contacts and/or hearing aides, those should be worn according to the doctor s directions. <br/> <br> <b>Merritt Speech &amp; Learning<br> Dana M. Merritt, M.S. CCC-SLP, IMT<br> 904-721-4122 </b></font></p> <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1" color="#000000"><a href="#top">BACK TO TOP</a><br> </font></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">&nbsp;</td> <td>&nbsp;</td> <td align="left" valign="top"> <!-- PayPal Logo --> <form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post"> <table border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" align="center"> <tr> <td align="center"><font face="verdana,arial,helvetica" size="2"><b>Pay for services securely through PayPal!</b></font></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center"> <input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_xclick"> <input type="hidden" name="business" value="merrittspeech@bellsouth.net""> <input type="hidden" name="item_name" value="Professional Services"> <input type="hidden" name="amount" value="0.00"> <input type="image" src="http://images.paypal.com/images/lgo/logo3v.gif" border="0" name="submit" alt="Pay me securely with any major credit card through PayPal!" title="submit"></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center"><img src="http://images.paypal.com/images/icon_visa.gif" border="0" alt="Visa"> <img src="http://images.paypal.com/images/icon_mastercard.gif" border="0" alt="MasterCard"> <img src="http://images.paypal.com/images/icon_discover.gif" border="0" alt="Discover"> <img src="http://images.paypal.com/images/icon_amex.gif" border="0" alt="American Express"> <img src="http://images.paypal.com/images/icon_echeck.gif"alt="eCheck" border="0"></td> </tr> </table> </form></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">&nbsp;</td> <td>&nbsp;</td> <td align="center" valign="top"><br> <a href="http://www.discovertec.com/" target="_blank"><img src="art/design_by.gif" width="188" height="39" border="0"></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">&nbsp;</td> <td>&nbsp;</td> <td> <table style="text-align:center;" cellpadding="20px"> <tr> <td> Copyright © - The Merritt Way- All rights reserved </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> <script type="text/javascript"> var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? 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