Speech Therapy, OT and Floortime in English for Esenyurt Families

Speech and Language Therapy for Esenyurt Children: What We Work On

Speech and language therapy helps a child understand what is said, express themselves and produce sounds clearly. At the first meeting, our speech and language therapist finds where your child's difficulty lies. The goals are then worked on inside games your child enjoys.

With a speech delay, a child uses fewer words than peers or is late to put words together. With an articulation disorder, a child usually drops some sounds or swaps them, for example saying "tat" for "cat" or "wabbit" for "rabbit". With stuttering, repetitions and blocks break up the flow of speech.

With a voice disorder, a child's voice sounds hoarse, rough or strained. A developmental language disorder affects understanding and sentence building at the same time. For autistic children, language work focuses on starting communication and taking turns in conversation.

When Your Family Speaks More Than One Language

Being bilingual does not, on its own, cause a speech or language disorder. So when a child hears two or more languages, we look at their skills across those languages together, not in one language alone.

Sessions can run in English, in Turkish or bilingually in Turkish and English. We plan them around your child's language profile: the language or languages spoken at home, the language of nursery or school, and where your child is strongest today.

Do you speak a third language at home? Tell us at the first meeting. Dropping a home language is usually not necessary, and we take every language your child hears into account when we set goals.

Turkish and English Work Differently

Turkish adds endings to words and usually puts the verb at the end of the sentence. English has sounds such as "th" and "w" that Turkish does not use. A child learning both may borrow word order or swap a sound for a while. The evaluation helps tell normal bilingual learning apart from a real speech or language difficulty.

Read more on our bilingual children page and in our article Does Bilingualism Delay Speech?

Occupational Therapy and Sensory Integration for Everyday Skills

Occupational therapy helps a child become more independent in daily life. Holding a pencil, using scissors, getting dressed, eating and self-care all come under it. Our occupational therapist also works on fine and gross motor skills, handwriting difficulties and attention.

Sensory integration is one part of occupational therapy. It is for children who over-react or under-react to sound, touch or movement, and it aims to help them organise sensory input. We do this work in our movement room, with its climbing wall, swing and trampoline.

Occupational therapy and physiotherapy are not the same thing. Physiotherapy focuses on muscle strength and movement. Occupational therapy looks at how those skills carry over into everyday life.

DIR/Floortime: Building Communication Through Play

DIR/Floortime is a relationship-based developmental model that follows the child's lead. The therapist joins your child's play on the floor and gradually widens the interactions your child starts. In this way, your child practises shared attention and back-and-forth communication inside play they enjoy.

Floortime sessions for families from Esenyurt also take place at our Beykent centre. We especially recommend this model for children on the autism spectrum and for children who find it hard to start communication. Your therapist also shows you play strategies to carry on at home, in the language you naturally play in.

New to the model? Start with our page What Is DIR/Floortime?

Which Therapy for Which Concern?

The table matches concerns we often see with the related therapy area. It does not give a diagnosis. Our specialist decides on the right area after the evaluation.

Some children have several concerns at once. Then our speech and language therapist and occupational therapist work together, at the same centre, on one shared plan.

From Evaluation to Follow-up: How the Process Works

The process has four stages, and we share the outcome of each one with you in English. First, our specialist observes your child at play, talks with you and carries out a developmental evaluation. This looks at starting communication, eye contact, following instructions and speech sounds.

Second, we set written goals and prepare an individual plan for your child. If therapy is not needed, we say so clearly and explain which milestones to keep an eye on.

Third come the play-based sessions. At the end of each one, we show you the home programme activities, because new skills take root in daily life at home. Fourth, we re-evaluate and update the goals.

Before Your First Appointment

If you have them, bring hearing test results, doctor's reports and notes from school. It also helps to note when your child said their first words, and in which language. If your child has a sibling, try to come to the first meeting without them, so your child can focus.

Session Length, Frequency and Fees

Speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and Floortime sessions all last 40 minutes. How often your child comes is agreed after the evaluation, based on your child's needs. So every child's weekly plan is different.

For the same reason, we share fees after the evaluation, when we talk through the programme with you.

Who Leads the Therapy Plans?

Our founder, Alev Akıncı Yıldız, leads the team's therapy plans through clinical supervision. She is a Specialist Audiologist (MSc) and DIR Floortime therapist. She trained in Floortime through the DIR 101 and 201 courses and supervision training.

She works with children with autism, late talking, stuttering and heavy screen use, using play-based, family-centred methods. The team works from one shared file, so each child's progress is followed in one place. You can read about her background on our About Us page.

Getting to Our Beykent Centre from Esenyurt

Our centre lies west of Esenyurt, on the D-100 (E-5). Just after you pass Beylikdüzü, you reach Beykent. From neighbourhoods close to the D-100, such as Saadetdere and Zafer, it is one road all the way.

Families from the northern neighbourhoods, such as Koza, usually take the TEM motorway and then come south. By public transport, the Haramidere and Cihangir metrobus stops are the district's main transfer points. From there, continue towards Beylikdüzü and change to a line that serves Beykent.

Choosing an Appointment Time

The Esenyurt stretch of the D-100 often gets busy during the day. Early morning or midday appointments make the trip easier. Tell us your neighbourhood and we will suggest a suitable time slot.

If you are changing buses, allow extra time on your first visit and plan the way home in advance. Try not to bring your child hungry or tired. Running late? A quick WhatsApp message is enough.

Other nearby areas are listed on our service areas page.

Get Directions from Esenyurt