Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Complete an appointment form and a member of our front office staff will respond and schedule an appointment with you. Alternately, you may call our front office staff directly. Both of these methods will put you in contact with the person who is responsible for scheduling appointments in your chosen office location.

Yes, your child can receive individual therapy and participate in a group session on the same day if there is scheduling availability and if the clinician feels it is appropriate for your child.

We request a 24-hour notice for cancelling appointments and all cancellations must be rescheduled. Our office managers or scheduler coordinators are responsible for taking care of setting schedules and rescheduling any cancelled appointments. Please talk to your office manager or schedule coordinator and she will be able to take care of your request.

At CSLOT, we are committed to your progress. Consistency in therapy is key in this process.  In order to help you achieve the your goals we need you to be present for your scheduled sessions. We also know that many things can happen that prevent you from coming to your scheduled sessions. Whether there is an expected event (vacation, scheduled surgery) or an unexpected event (illness, problems with transportation) we encourage you to schedule make-up sessions for all sessions missed so we can continue to help you work towards your goals.

Depending on the service you are seeking, your geographic location, and the payer source, it is a possibility. At present, we provide home-based services for behavior therapy, for home-based infant development program, and speech therapy for early intervention in some geographic locations. You may speak with one of our office managers for more information.

Small group sessions have specifically targeted goals that are specific to that group. If a member of a group is unable to attend, the group continues to meet. There is not an opportunity for a make-up session since the group has already met. If all group members are unable to attend except one, we will substitute a 45-minute individual session, only at the day and time of group appointment.

Depending on the type of session and the payer source, we are able to provide make-up sessions for holidays as long as we have room on our schedules. Please talk to your office manager or schedule coordinator to inquire about the specifics for your situation.

The therapist will do specific testing to determine whether there is more to the issue than just what is on the surface. The assessment also determines appropriate goals that can be measured.

In order to target current needs, we honor evaluations from other organizations that have been conducted within the past six months. If you have an evaluation from another organization or school district, one of our clinicians will review the information provided. If we feel that additional information is needed, or if standardized testing was not part of the information you provided, we will recommend that additional information be gathered through an evaluation.

During an annual evaluation, we are able to check in on the progress made over the past year. First and foremost, we can evaluate whether or not therapy continues to be warranted. If therapy is still recommended, we can determine areas of need and readjust goals as appropriate.

Our fees vary depending on the payer source. Our office managers are able to answer all questions regarding our fees. Call us so we can answer your specific questions.

Please refer to our Resources for Payment page for a full listing of insurance companies with whom we have established contracts.

We have established contracts with many major insurance companies. There are a variety of reasons that we may have chosen to or been unable to establish a contract with other insurance companies. If we are not in network with your insurance company, please call our office to see if other arrangements can be made.

We do not accept Medi-Cal at this time.

Every insurance benefit plan is different regarding coverage of services. To find out if your insurance benefit plan covers the services you are seeking, we recommend you contact your insurance company to find out the details of your coverage.

We have contracts with RCEB (Regional Center of the East Bay), GGRC (Golden Gate Regional Center), and SARC (San Andreas Regional Center). If you would like to receive services at CSLOT, please make that request through your regional center service coordinator.

Yes, we provide therapy for all children who have need of our services, including infants and toddlers.

Because our therapy plans are created for each individual client, the therapist will give you her recommendation for frequency of services following the assessment. The length of the course of therapy also varies by client based on the severity of need, the learning process of the client, consistency of therapy, and implementation of the home program.

The length and frequency of services was determined at the time of the initial evaluation. If you are not comfortable with your current level of service, talk to your therapist. She can advise you on what is most appropriate for you or your child and changes can be made, as appropriate

All parents whose children are receiving treatment at CSLOT are invited to take advantage of the opportunity to work with their child’s therapists and gain an increased understanding of how to bring communication, movement, and social behavior to their child. Parent participation is requested in therapy sessions because our therapy goes farther when parents are there to learn to do at home what we do in the clinic. This clinician-parent partnership is a valuable asset to your child’s progress.

Not always. Changing therapists can happen for a variety of reasons. You may need to change therapy times and the therapist you usually see doesn’t have that time slot available. A therapist may have a change of schedule preventing her from seeing you at your usual day and time. You or the therapist may be sick one day and unavailable for your regularly scheduled sessions. Additionally, CSLOT often intentionally schedules clients to see two different therapists on alternating weeks. We believe that working with a variety of clinicians helps to increase generalization of skills, increases collaboration among our team members, and provides you with the highest quality service.

There is a lot of benefit in working with a variety of different therapists. This may happen from being scheduled with a different therapist in a make-up session or from a change of schedules. Also, CSLOT often intentionally schedules clients to see two different therapists on alternating weeks. We believe that working with a variety of clinicians helps to increase generalization of skills, increases collaboration among our team members, and provides you with the highest quality service.

We want you to be happy with your therapist and the services you are receiving. If you would like to make a change of therapists, please talk to the office manager. She can advise you on what other openings are available with other therapists.

In a make-up session, you will either be scheduled with the therapist that you typically see or another qualified therapist. He or she will have reviewed a copy of your goals and will be prepared to address those goals in the session. One of the greatest benefits of working with therapists that you don’t typically see in a make-up session is having the opportunity to address goals with a fresh perspective. Often times, following a make-up session, therapists will conference together, allowing another set of eyes to see a situation which helps to provide the highest quality service for you and your family.

ABA, Applied Behavior Analysis, addresses core behavioral challenges resulting from impairments in social communication and emotional regulation. ABA uses reinforcement as well as preventative and proactive behavior management strategies to create change in small steps. These steps build over time toward larger, more significant changes in functioning. Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA), who have Master’s degrees in Behavior Analysis or a closely related field, provide supervision of Behavior Technicians who deliver the treatment protocol. ABA is based on published, peer-reviewed, longitudinal group research studies, which support its efficacy in implementing behavior change. At CSLOT, we have adopted elements of the SCERTS Model along with ABA for the framework with which we treat children with Autism.

The SCERTS Model is a framework for treating children with Autism which focuses on child-initiated communication in everyday activities. The letters, SCERTS, is an acronym which stands for

S – ocial

C – ommunication,

E -motional

R – egulation, and

T – ransactional

S – upport.

At the heart of the framework is the idea that children are available for learning and communicating socially when they are emotionally well regulated. Additionally, it is sometimes necessary for there to be transactional supports put in place to help facilitate emotional regulation for some children. At CSLOT, we have adopted elements of the SCERTS Model along with ABA for the framework with which we treat children with Autism.

Reggio Emilia is a philosophy of Early Childhood Education that originated in Italy after World War II. The Reggio Emilia approach sees the child as strong, rich in ideas, and wanting to connect with others. We use this image of the child in our Early Intervention program and Yikes Tikes!, as well as other components of the Reggio Emilia approach, such as use of open-ended materials, documentation, and an emergent curriculum.

Please refer to the Prompting Hierarchy: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Ask your child’s therapist for guidance on what level of prompting is most appropriate for your child.

All members of our staff are trained to use the same approaches with children to promote relationships and emotional development. Changes in staff can actually be beneficial for your child. With different therapists we can address generalization of skills across partners and locations. Additionally, different therapists bring unique approaches and personalities to therapy which better addresses your child’s needs.

Rifton chairs with straps help promote focus, security, and posture. Most children grow to enjoy the independence of buckling the seatbelt themselves.

When the therapist prompts the child and waits for him to respond, she is giving the child an opportunity to independently make a request or answer a question. If the parent whispers in the child’s ear what to say, then even though the child may imitate, he is not communicating independently. The idea is to make the child the communicator, with support from the therapist. It can be hard to wait that extra time to allow your child a chance to speak or sign, but when he does respond on his own, he will feel empowered and learn that the words or signs he uses make a difference.

No.  Some children are not yet at a developmental stage to use words. Sign language just gives them a way to communicate with you now. Signs serve to decreases frustration for both the child and the parents. Eventually, signing leads to speaking.  It will not take the place of speaking.

No. In the same way that signing works, picture icons serve as another visual cue to help your child communicate and decrease frustration. Eventually, use of picture icons leads to speaking.

No one can make another person speak. We target therapy to the level the child is currently at and provide maximal opportunities and support for their participation.

Sometimes children have performance anxiety to speak in front of other children or adults. If your child feels she is put on the spot to respond “in the moment,” a natural response may be shyness. This is why it is important that we as adults respond to children when they communicate spontaneously. By doing this, we show them that their words mean something and they can make choices by using words, even if it’s not “in the moment.”

Repetition is an important way that children learn. You may have noticed your child wanting to read the same book or play with the same toy over and over again. In the same way, his familiarity with songs and the class routine helps him to master the language and cognitive tasks involved. Each time a song is re-sung, your child has an opportunity to better learn the sounds, gestures, and vocabulary that are part of that song.

Each child’s goals and ways we target them depend on the child’s skill level. If the child isn’t using any words, we may use picture icons as a means to communicate. If the child is already using single words, we will encourage two words together. If she uses two words, we’ll encourage three, etc.

During snack time, we wait for the child to show a natural interest in the food. For example, if a child is looking at a snack or raising his hand, the therapist may respond by prompting him to communicate at his current level. The adult could shake a snack or show it to the child to elicit a request. However, if the child still does not show interest, we follow his lead and do not force him to request something he doesn’t want.

In the Early Intervention group, we work on all of these areas of development. There is a strong correlation between movement and the use of language. Strengthening the body and improving balance and core stability will help your child build speech and language.

The idea of gradual separation relates to “independence training.” By having parents of some children leave the room for a period of time, we are preparing the children for separation during preschool. Some children are not yet at a developmental stage where they are ready to separate, and that is okay. We also encourage parent participation, either directly in the group or through observation.

We determine our response to a crying child on a case by case basis. All children cry some times. It is healthy to allow your child to cry at times in order to build independence and teach the child to cope. However, children at this age also need emotional support and security.  Receiving the comfort of a trusted adult is also beneficial for a child’s development.

Children with decreased language can easily become frustrated and may resort to physical ways of communicating. The therapists and aides work together to redirect these behaviors so they can be expressed in a functional way. Gentle interaction, hugs, and friendship between children are promoted.

Yes. Other children with higher language development will provide a strong language model for children who have more limited skills. The therapists and paraprofessionals work together to design approaches that are individualized for each child.

The purpose of the transition meeting is to prepare your child to exit from California’s Early Start program (birth to three) and enter into the public schools system in your district. The transition meeting usually occurs three months before a child turns three-years old. It is run by the case manager/service coordinator. The therapist is not usually present unless the transition meeting happens to correspond with a six-month review or annual review of the IFSP goals. During the transition process, your child will be evaluated separately by the school district in which you reside. Many school psychologists and therapists consult with the CSLOT therapists about how a child is performing. While the school districts take into consideration the therapist’s recommendations, it is no guarantee that the child will receive therapy services once he reaches the public schools. Please speak with your case manager about the details of the transition process.

We have existing relationships with many local universities and welcome student interns/externs. Arrangements must be made between our extern coordinator and your university coordinator. Please send an email to careers@cslot.com to inquire further.