Co-founder of Dramatic Pragmatics Speech and Language Center and Rye mother of two, Alexandra Lobo, is trying to make therapy services for children more accessible to families. With a passion for helping children and families, her non-profit foundation, The Dramatic Pragmatics Foundation is being launched.
It is Alexandra's dream to help families in need fund local, private therapeutic services such as speech/language therapy, social skills groups, occupational therapy, physical therapy, counseling, and psychoeducational evaluations. The Foundation is currently in the final stages of approval, and they hope to begin fundraising within the next six months and be up and running within a year. Their goal is to help children access therapeutic intervention when there is a significant need but the child is not qualifying for intervention funded through other sources.
A Mother-Daughter Team
Alexandra grew up in Rye Brook and attended Blind Brook High School. After completing graduate school at Boston University, Alexandra immersed herself in the world of social language, working in both school and private practice settings as a speech language pathologist specializing in pragmatic language development and co-directing two Boston-based social skills camps. She moved back to New York in 2008 to open Dramatic Pragmatics Speech, Language and Social Development center in partnership with her mother, speech and language pathologist, Barbara Laufer.
Alexandra and her mom opened Dramatic Pragmatics Speech and Language Center in Rye Brook with the mission of helping children 18 months-18 years of age improve their overall communication abilities and social development. Opening a center where children could foster social development and communication skills has always been a lifelong dream of this mother-daughter team.
What is Dramatic Pragmatics?
Dramatic Pragmatics is a comprehensive speech language and social development center. They provide traditional speech and language services including helping children improve their articulation, language processing and comprehension, expressive language, language formulation and higher level language skills. However, they are best known for their unique and individualized social language groups.
Alex explains that parents are often confused about why their bright, academically achieving child is having trouble navigating socially with their peers. However, social development is not always intuitive or commensurate with intelligence. Some children benefit from having the "social code" broken down, the skills taught and then practiced with explicit, "in the moment" coaching. For example, some children experience difficulty getting into a group of kids playing together or entering a conversation. They will stand on the periphery and won't know what to say or how to get in. Others will barge into a conversation, take over and "monopolize" without reading the cues.
"Many of our students" Alex explains," are challenged in understanding mean teasing versus friendly teasing and other nuanced behaviors. They may have weak perspective taking skills, difficulties with social misperceptions and overall challenges in social problem solving." Having a large pool of students, Alexandra and Barbara and their experienced clinicians pride themselves on careful matching in placing each student in the "best matched" group based on skill level and therapeutic goals rather than soley age level and availability.
For more information about Dramatic Pragmatics, check their website www.dramaticpragmatics.com, call (914) 305-1210, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
