The University of Maryland's LEAP Preschool is charged with a dual mission - to provide therapeutic preschool environment for 3-5 year old children in the community who have identified speech and/or language disorders and to serve as a clinical training site for students enrolled in the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences (HESP). The award-winning LEAP program has been a part of the universi
ty community since 1994 and was founded by Dr. Nan Bernstein Ratner, a HESP faculty member and former chair of the department. LEAP is in session three days/week during the university's fall and spring semesters and also for a 6 week summer program. Families who are interested in LEAP but have not had their children seen for evaluation of their speech-language skills may call The Hearing and Speech Clinic, which offers evaluations to diagnose possible speech-language disorders. Recommendations regarding therapy and an extensive written report are included with all evaluations. The Hearing and Speech Clinic also offers speech-language therapy for all types of communication difficulties which can include: language problems following a stroke or head injury, developmental language delay/difficulty, language learning disability, and/or social skills difficulties; and also for concerns related to articulation, stuttering, voice, accent modification, and/or cognitive organization, memory, and attention. Please follow this link for more information: http://hesp.umd.edu/content/appointments.
