Communication Frequently Asked Questions

  • 1 - Does your child let you know when s/he feels hungry, tired, soiled, or hurt?

    Yes / No

    2 - Do you think your child understands the social-relationship (or back-and-forth) aspect of communication?

    Yes / No

    3 - Is your child imitating others (body/hand movements, sound effects, words)?

    Yes / No

    4 - Reflexive forms of communication may include crying, grabbing, pushing away, or yelling/squealing. Is your child using any non-reflexive forms of communication (pointing, shaking/nodding head, signing, talking)?

    Yes / No

    5 - Does your child respond when you call his or her name?

    Yes / No

    6 - Based on the questions above, do you have concerns about your child’s communication?

    Yes / No

    This mini-screening tool was designed to identify potential communication development red flags. If your answers were the bolded answers, your child might benefit from a comprehensive Communication Assessment with a pediatric speech-language therapist.

  • Communication is the overarching concept implying the ability to receive, send, process, and comprehend concepts for the purpose of interpersonal exchange.

    Communication is quite complex and involves the systems of cognition, hearing, attention, executive functions, social-pragmatics, language, speech, voice, and fluency.

    Therefore, at The Airplane Spoon, we promote the concept of Communication Therapy (rather than just speech or language). Furthermore, just because a person may not use their voice to speak, does not mean they do not (or cannot) communicate.

    All of our communication specialists at The Airplane Spoon are nationally certified, state-licensed Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs).

  • Yes! At The Airplane Spoon, parent involvement is not only encouraged, it is expected. This supports the parent-child relationship through trust, fun, and exploration. In addition, by learning the strategies we practice during sessions, families can carry over at home for the child to have more consistency and ongoing opportunities to progress.

  • The sooner the better! Families benefit from early intervention (as young as newborn babies) by being able to better meet their children's needs from an early age to establish strong and functional habits and skills from the beginning for lifelong success.

    More current research shows us that the “wait and see” approach is not recommended, as it promotes an ongoing trend of unsuccessful/incorrect patterns. Brain and behavioral sciences indicate that early support establishes more solid learning habits for a more stable ongoing learning foundation. The longer the delays/disorders are unsupported, the more risk for persistent impairments or ongoing need for intervention.

    1. Schedule your FREE 20-minute consultation to determine if a comprehensive Communication Evaluation is warranted.

    2. Schedule your evaluation session. This will be a 90-minute session that will be held in your home.

    3. Have your virtual Results Review with your therapist, who will discuss the evaluation results and recommendations.

    4. If therapy is recommended, the frequency and schedule will be determined at the end of the Results Review. Sessions can begin as soon as the following day (pending availability).

    5. Typically the timeline from the initial consultation to getting started with sessions is 2-3 weeks.

  • For children who are under 1 year old and/or medically fragile, we offer all in-home sessions for families within our service area.*

    For all children over 1 (and not medically fragile), The Airplane Spoon’s services are provided through our Dual-Home Model.

    Our Dual-Home Model means that sessions are divided between your home and The Airplane Spoon House.

    The division of sessions is on a 3:1 model. This means that for 3 weeks of the month, sessions are held at The Airplane Spoon House and for 1 week of the month, sessions are held at your home.

    *Our service area is within a 10-mile radius of our center in Menlo Park, California. Please check the distance from our location (697 Menlo Ave, Menlo Park, CA 94025) to confirm you are within our service area.

  • Evaluation costs are $550. Individual treatment sessions are $250. Group treatment sessions are $150.

    We do not bill your insurance. All service fees are processed same-day through our secure payment system with accepted payment methods including FSA, HSA, debit, and credit cards.

    We are considered “out-of-network” providers for your insurance reimbursement policy purposes. A “Superbill” (itemized receipt of services to submit to insurance) is provided after each session, should you choose to submit to your insurance for reimbursement back to you.

    The CPT/insurance code for the evaluation is 92610 and the code for treatment/therapy sessions is 92526.