About

Claire Allen

M.Sc., RSLP, S-LP (C)
Registered Speech Pathologist

I completed my Master of Science degree in Speech-Language Pathology at the UBC School of Audiology and Speech Sciences. I also attended UBC for my undergraduate education, where I received an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech Sciences. While completing my Bachelor's degree, I began to work as a Group Therapy Assistant in social groups for school-aged autistic children and began learning how to support and teach diverse types of learners. I have experience working with a variety of populations, including children and young adults with Autism, ADHD, receptive and expressive language delay or disorder, articulation and phonological disorders, childhood apraxia of speech, Down Syndrome, language-based learning disabilities, and late talkers.

I completed the Hanen “More Than Words” program for parents of children with Autism and social pragmatic differences, and also completed specialized training in methods such as PROMPT (Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets), a multidimensional approach to targeting apraxia of speech and other speech sound disorders.

I have extensive experience working with children and young adults using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) methods, including high-tech options such as TouchChat and low-tech AAC, such as individualized core boards or books. Speaking Clairely SLP Services believes that all forms of communication are valid, and is committed to providing a practice in which the therapist and client create a plan that includes the client's interests, advocates for and supports their unique communication needs, presumes competence, and celebrates individuality.

For older students, assessments and therapy may be focused on academic and/or social language support in upper elementary, middle school, and high school. Every student requires an individualized approach to determine strategies and support tools that work best to support their learning style, especially in later years when they are expected to demonstrate a higher level of independence in balancing curricular coursework. Therapy sessions may include practice with executive function support strategies and tools to support a student with growing academic and life skill demands.

I was a student clinician in the Changing Keys program, a group-format, gender-affirming speech and voice training program for adults seeking voice feminization, and completed a clinical externship at a voice disorder clinic.

I am certified in Speech-Language Pathology by Speech-Language and Audiology Canada (SAC) and am a registrant of the College of Speech and Hearing Health Professionals of BC (CSHBC). I am a current RASP member (Registry of Autism Service Providers). I am registered in the Communication Intermediary (CI) database. A CI can be contacted through a database to assist victims, witnesses and accused people who have speech and language disabilities to understand questions and to communicate answers effectively when communicating with police, legal or justice professionals.

I am a native speaker of English, and speak Brazilian-Portuguese as a second language.