Where to go for an AAC EVALUATION in the Seattle Area?

We are a small community of AAC providers and we love what we do!  I know many speech language pathologists who love providing therapy with children who require AAC to support their communication growth.  Finding an SLP who will perform AAC evaluations can be more difficult.  To add to this, not all SLPs who do AAC evaluations will also then support families with obtaining funding for the recommended AAC system.  Here is a list of AAC providers in the greater Seattle area who, to the best of my knowledge, perform AAC evaluations AND support the funding process:

• Seattle Children’s Hospital, 206-987-2000, https://www.seattlechildrens.org/clinics/speech-and-language/. AAC evaluations only at main campus in Seattle.  Family should contact their child’s doctor and ask them to submit a referral to Seattle Children’s Hospital for an “AAC evaluation”.
• Provail Therapy Services, 206-363-7303, www.provail.org.  Clinic located in Seattle.
• UW’s Speech and Hearing Clinic, https://sphsc.washington.edu/clinic.  Clinic located in Seattle.
• Early Start Speech Therapy, 206-486-2906, https://www.earlystarttherapy.org/.  AAC provider is Sarah McKim Thomas, MS CCC/SLP. Clinic located in Redmond.
• Speech Reach Speech and Language Therapy, 425-610-9595,  https://www.speechreachslp.com/. AAC provider is Helen Strausz Jones, MS CCC/SlP.  She serves Renton and surrounding areas.
• Providence Children’s Center, 425-258—7311, https://www.providence.org/locations/wa/providence-regional-medical-center-everett/childrens-center#tabcontent-1-pane-2. AAC provider is Molly Menzie, MS CCC/SLP. Clinic located in Everett.
• CLASS, Inc., 253-874-9300, http://www.classinc.net/.  Clinic located in Tacoma.
• Augmentative Alternative Communication Services, 206-949-1567, www.inspireaac.com.  AAC provider is Marci Revelli, MS CCC/SLP.  She serves Seattle and Puget Sound area.
• Functional Communication Services, 325-370-8626, www.fxcommservices.com.  AAC provider is Mallory Wilkins, MS CCC/SLP. She serves the Seattle area.
• Seattle Therapy Skills for Life, 206-322-5433, https://seattlethera.com/.  AAC provider is Jo Ristow, MS CCC/SLP (formerly with Provail). Clinic in Seattle.
• Seattle AAC, 360-830-6561, http://www.seattleaac.com.  AAC provider is Tanna Neufeld MS CCC/SLP.  She is currently doing primarily telehealth services.

 
What are some of the differences between these providers:

• Insurance:  For an AAC assessment, some of the above providers except insurance and some only do private pay.  In private pay, most providers offer to send you what is called a “Superbill” or invoice.  This has all the needed information for you to request reimbursement from your insurance.
• Clinic-based versus home/school-based: Where it is listed as a clinic, this implies you travel to this provider and the provider evaluates your child at the clinic.  The advantage is generally that the provider has access to their “closet full of AAC stuff”.  Some providers do not have office space and will travel to your home or school.  The advantage is that the provider can observe and assess communication needs directly in the context of home or school.  Some providers do both.  In either case, all SLP providers should be completing the AAC assessment with input from both the family and a child’s school or therapy team.
  

Other local resources:

• AACcessible, https://www.aaccessible.org/, This is Tanna Neufeld’s non-profit organization with the goal to build a better AAC community.  There are other providers listed on her site (including national and international AAC SLPs) in addition to continuing education opportunities and so many other resources.  One great program being developed is to connect adult AAC users as mentors to younger AAC users.  AACcessible also offers an online AAC class so if you are an SLP and want to start doing AAC evaluations (and brush up on your AAC toolbox for therapy), this may be a good resource for you.

• Northwest Augmentative Alternative Communication Society, http://www.nwacs.info. This organization is said to be the oldest in the Pacific NW to support clinicians and families in learning more about AAC. Over the past 5ish years, NWACS has gained new membership with lots of great opportunities to learn more about AAC, including blogs, videos and a yearly day long conference.  They recently took over the NAACHO Facebook group (originally started by Provail).  NAACHO was started as a means to network with other AAC “enthusiasts”.  For NWACS and NAACHO, you don’t need to be an SLP to join and, if fact, they are looking to widen their membership to parents, teachers and other therapists.

 
I hope this list supports you in finding the best services to support your child or student.  You can reach out to me directly from my website, www.inspireaac.com, with any questions and certainly let me know if I need to add anyone to this list.