Testimonials
What parents are saying about Project ImPACT
Project ImPACT has been by far the most supportive and comprehensive therapy program for our family. Not only have we learned effective strategies to communicate with our son, but our therapist has become the foundation of our support network. She has supported us through training, direct speech therapy, communication with peers at school and now as we transition to an AAC device. If I had to choose just one program for my son, I would choose Project ImPACT without hesitation.
Patricia Dugan-Adams
Proud Mom
Before we started Project ImPACT … from a family stand-point, I felt a little helpless. Like what do I do? And you know of course they have intervention outside of the home, going to this therapist and that, but when they come home a parent can be like, 'I don't have the knowledge.' So, having something like this, I feel like I have power to really help my kid now. And that transition—that cycle—doesn't break when he steps in the house. You can continue to build upon what he’s learning.
Parent
After doing lots of research regarding various therapies, Project ImPACT was the first program that we started when my 2.5-year-old daughter was preliminarily diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. The program has probably been the most beneficial therapy we have participated in. It gave me specific and focused training to help my daughter at home under the help and coaching of a wonderful SLP. The program specifically focuses on parental involvement and coaching, which I found to be essential. Within a few months, we noticed really significant progress with language development, engagement, and play. My daughter went from 1-2 word utterances or some longer memorized scripts to speaking in short sentences, answering yes/no questions, and making lots of comments about things she observed. Project ImPACT also helped troubleshoot some more challenging behaviors in a naturalistic approach, always asking why a behavior was occurring rather than simply suppressing it. Even after completing the formal program, we have continued with services as they have truly been remarkable for our family and daughter. We are so deeply grateful for Project ImPACT and would highly recommend it to any parent of a child with social and communication difficulties.
Emily Bronec
Parent
When our son was diagnosed with autism, I was overwhelmed with feelings of uncertainty and helplessness. He had some language but was so often immersed in his own thoughts and I didn't know where to start or how to connect with him. For our family, one of the most beneficial effects of Project ImPACT was teaching us how to bridge that gap and motivate him to communicate with us. The techniques our therapist taught us were clear and presented in a step-wise manner that we would then practice on our own. The ability to proactively help our son engage with us has been empowering and has really served as the foundation for the progress he has made since. Though we continue to work on his communication skills, he has come a long way and is now able to have multi-turn conversations and ask many types of questions. We are thrilled each time he adds a new level of complexity to his speech and are so grateful we came across Project ImPACT when we did.
Parent
What providers are saying about Project ImPACT
I am glad to have learned about the Project ImPACT online tutorial. Having access to all of the information online makes it not only more accessible to me, but easily accessible to my families as well. By providing the tools needed online, Project ImPACT has made it easy for me to work virtually with families all across Oregon, including those who are too remote to drive to my clinic in person. Five stars!
Becky Spencer, MS CCC SLP
Great training!!! Thank you so much. It is exciting to get new tools that are valuable.
Karen Bene
Early Intervention Autistic Support Classroom Teacher
I want to say a huge 'thank you' for Project ImPACT. My certification process was an amazing experience. I learned so much! Project ImPACT has also been our saving grace during this pandemic. Our families have thrived. The structure of the program and the supporting materials made learning easy. The families that did Project ImPACT via Zoom thrived. The fact that we could easily transition the program to Zoom has literally saved our business. As a business owner, I love that fact that fidelity is a straightforward process to achieve, and to maintain, for our staff.
Susan Marden
Clinical Director Speech Pathologist Certified ESDM Therapist
I want to thank you for this course—for the online course, videos that you shared with us and for clear explanations for each component of the program. For me, this was an amazing experience and gave me the confidence to start for the first time an ImPACT program in my clinical practice.
Provider
It's been a great experience watching how the parents are from the beginning of the sessions to as they move along each session, how they become much more confident. Oftentimes when a child receives a diagnosis, parents tend to look at experts. And feel that they don't have those qualifications to support their children, to learn to communicate, to be engaged. And what Project ImPACT really focuses on is treating this as a collaborative effort. Letting the parents understand that they are driving this. They know their children. And they have the ability to communicate and teach their children the things that they want them to learn.
Julieta T. Banan-Rubin, M.Ed.
INTENSIVE NEEDS SPECIAL EDUCATOR AND CERTIFIED PROJECT IMPACT THERAPIST MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS INFANTS AND TODDLERS PROGRAM
What I especially enjoy is that generalization piece. I think with a lot of programs, it kind of is set in one area. But with Project ImPACT, since you're talking about the daily activities and the daily routines, you can generalize skills in multiple settings. And then near the end when we're talking about shaping that interaction, you can move into the community. You can go to the grocery store. You can go to my gym or little gym or a lot of different places like that to help the families use those strategies in different settings. We do have a wide range of families with different parenting styles. I think since each step is broken down, it really helps guide the families to find their comfort level. That's what Project ImPACT really does. It helps the families understand what cues really support their child in increasing that engagement. And it lets the parents figure that out on their own with you guiding them.
Julieta T. Banan-Rubin, M.Ed.