iLEAP Program: Bridging the Gap for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder through Therapeutic Preschool Experience and Student Clinician Training

The iLEAP program (Interprofessional Language Enrichment and Pre-Kindergarten) continues to provide a semester-long clinical rotation for our first-year speech-language pathology graduate students. The program continues to evolve into a therapeutic preschool experience for children who present with characteristics of autism spectrum disorder.

“Our first-year graduate clinicians have been gaining first-hand knowledge of what evidenced based practice look like for ASD,” said Beth Lane, M.A., CCC-SLP, Director of iLEAP.  “Not only are we serving our community, we are preparing our students for the challenges of high support patients.”

The iLEAP program celebrated Reading Across America by having guests read a Dr. Seuss book to the children in iLEAP. The guests included Michelle DeBerry, M.A., CCC-SLP and Amber Davis, OTR with the Oklahoma Autism Network, Dean Jane Wilson, Dr. Ashley Hobson, OTR, Dr. Jennifer Tetnowski, CSD SLP graduate program director.

Our special guest was Debbi Hampton, President of United Way of Central Oklahoma. The United Way continues to be a community partner and strong supporter of the iLEAP program. “We could not operate iLEAP without the support of the United Way”, said Beth Lane. “It means so much to have Mrs. Hampton show her support of our mission to help children with ASD be ready for a classroom environment, and provide SLP students the experience they need to be successful “