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Janet Turansky works with children, adolescents, and adults with a variety of speech and language disorders.
Speech and Language Pathologist Janet Turansky received her Bachelor of Arts in Speech Pathology & Audiology from Queens College in 1979. While pursuing her undergraduate education, Janet Turansky aided therapists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine Speech and Hearing Clinic,as well a the Speech/Language and Hearing Clinic at the Academy of Mount Saint Ursula in the Bronx,N.Y. , gaining practical experience in her field. In 1982, Janet Turansky graduated from Hunter College with dual Master’s degrees in Speech Pathology & Audiology and Early Childhood Education. At the beginning of her career, Janet Turansky served at Mount Sinai Medical Center’s outpatient clinic, where she gained further hands-on experience treating those with speech and language disorders.
Utilizing this educational background, Janet Turansky currently works as a Speech and Language Pathologist in Westchester County, New York, and Fairfield County, Connecticut. Fostering a comfortable experience for clients, Janet Turansky visits children, adolescents, and adults in their homes. Janet Turansky treats a number of communication problems, serving clients with autism, auditory processing disorders, oral motor disabilities, stutters, and other language disorders, as well as reading and writing difficulties. Employing the PAF (Preventing Academic Failure) program, Janet Turansky helps children enhance word recognition and improve reading capabilities. Well-versed in treating speech impairments, Janet Turansky works to rehabilitate clients whose verbal skills have been affected by head injuries, strokes, and surgeries.
Dedicated to her field, Janet Turansky maintains a number of professional affiliations. Janet Turansky currently holds memberships with the Connecticut Speech-Language-Hearing Association, the New York State Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Outside of her professional life, Janet Turansky gives back to the community by volunteering with the YWCA USA and The American National Red Cross.
Janet Turansky's Publications
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Janet Turansky Discusses the PROMPT Technique
, Janet Turansky's Blog on Bigsight
June, 2011
The Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets (PROMPT) technique of speech therapy provides a framework for treating disorders from a holistic perspective and utilizes a multidisciplinary approach. PROMPT practitioners essentially rely on physical, kinesthetic cues, instead of visual ones, to promote proper use of the speech motor system. Using their fingers, therapists manipulate a patient’s face muscles and jaw, applying various amounts of pressure for different periods of time. This manipulation signals the movements necessary to make certain types of sound. A therapist using PROMPT indicates correct contact points, duration, lateralization, labialization, and closure, among other considerations. Before turning to PROMPT, therapists should evaluate individuals on several levels, including neurological, physical, and developmental. When practitioners tailor the therapy to the exact needs of the patient, taking into account his or her skill level and previous progress, the client can benefit more.
Deborah Hayden began developing PROMPT in the 1970s, drawing primarily on neuromotor theories. Studies have demonstrated favorable results in children and adults treated with the PROMPT technique. The first case study involved an autistic child who had no verbal communication skills. Within four months, the child acquired 30 words that he regularly spoke. Another study involved four children with normal cognitive and motor abilities and four with cognitive problems and motor deficits. All eight children made significant progress. While the control group’s skills grew outside the sounds and words targeted during the study, the test group only showed improvement with those specific phonemes and morphemes. A third study involving five children with severe speech disorders also affirmed the efficacy of PROMPT. Four of the children made progress with the targeted sounds and three showed greater skill with spontaneous speech. The child who did not respond to the treatment made subsequent advances.
PROMPT does not provide a step-by-step procedure, unlike many other techniques. Instead, the tenets guide the therapist as he or she builds on the patient’s existing strengths, developing motor control, cognitive skills, and social abilities efficiently and effectively. A treatment that works for one patient may not be the best approach for another.
About the Author
A licensed speech and language pathologist, Janet Turansky treats patients in Connecticut and New York. She earned her Master of Arts degrees in Speech Pathology & Audiology and Early Childhood Education from Hunter College in New York City. After graduation, Janet Turansky gained firsthand experience in speech and language pathology at the Mount Sinai Medical Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s Speech and Hearing Clinic. She possesses more than three decades of experience in the field.
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