The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences will host speech and language summer programs for children June 2 through July 24 at TTUHSC, 3601 Fourth St., and at All Saints Episcopal School, 3222 103rd St.

The programs are designed for children ages 3 to 12 with various types of speech, language and learning disabilities. Children will participate in individual and group speech-language therapy activities while socializing and enjoying hands-on crafts, projects and experiments. Programs will be coordinated and supervised by faculty speech-language pathologists in the TTUHSC Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences. Current first- and second-year graduate students in the department will provide speech and language therapy.

New to the summer camp schedule this year is Matador Munchers, a pediatric feeding group that targets a variety of feeding difficulties in children including oral-motor issues like problems with chewing or swallowing; limited food intake because of food selectivity and/or aversion; and excessive food intake because of obsessive eating.

“For each session, the group will progress through a routine that focuses on gross and fine motor warm-ups, oral-motor preparation for eating, sensory desensitization to food, peer/social modeling and positive reinforcement,” said Camp Coordinator Sarai Granados, M.S., CCC-SLP. “Children between the ages of 30 months and 6 years who fit the criteria for a possible feeding disorder are eligible to participate."

Registration for Matador Munchers is $80 per day. Other classes are $60 per day. Discounted rates of 20 percent apply for total registration fees collected in advance. Any HMO/PPO patients must pay their copay in advance. Tuition must be paid in full by the initial session. Installment payments will be possible as long as the final payment is made by the initial session.

For more information about Matador Munchers, contact Granados at sarai.granados@ttuhsc.edu or (806) 743-5660 ext. 254. Download the camp brochure and other registration forms at: www.ttuhsc.edu/sah/patient.

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