Pandemic Consequences and Where We Need More Change with ToniAnn Loftus

The pandemic brought many changes to the world of education, including how children with specific needs can access the services available to them. We still have SO far to go, and many changes need to happen to help parents and their children get the help they deserve. Join us to learn more! ToniAnn Loftus is a speech-language pathologist in private practice in Manhattan. After working at the Rebecca School in midtown Manhattan for ten years, she had her son during the pandemic. Knowing that her niche is teaching kids based on their passions and individual differences, she pivoted and opened her private practice, Seaport Speech and Feeding. Her practice is a licensed professional speech, language, and feeding therapy provider for children and young adults in NYC.  Show Highlights: How ToniAnn had to pivot, along with many others, as a result of the pandemic ToniAnn explains the new legislation in NY about parents’ choices about services for their kids How DIR Floortime and ABA are different–and why ToniAnn embraces the Floortime approach How small things, like a comfortable sitting position, can affect everything about a child’s engagement in a classroom Why we need to change and evolve as the world around us does–but we are still fighting an uphill battle How ToniAnn’s experience at the Rebecca School (a non-approved private school) positioned her to be an expert courtroom witness in many cases How ludicrous it is for someone in a courtroom to make decisions regarding a child’s education when they have never met Why parents need to know that they can file for services for their children who need them—and the immense financial burden for those who don’t file How the system is massively overloaded in NYC with people going on a 6-8 month waitlist for speech therapy assessments How ToniAnn feels about the new guidelines from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Links/Resources: Thank you for listening!  Connect with ToniAnn: https://www.instagram.com/the_downto