Communicative Disorders Assistants (CDA) are professionals with a post-graduate diploma in Communication Disorders. CDAs are trained to provide intervention to individuals of all ages with speech, language, augmentative communication and hearing needs. CDAs work under the supervision of Speech-Language Pathologists and/or Audiologists in a variety of settings including, school boards, hearing aid manufacturers, acute care hospitals, treatment centres, long-term care facilities, community health units, private agencies, augmentative communication companies and audiology clinics.
Services We Provide
In the educational setting, CDAs provide services under the supervision of Speech-Language Pathologists. The primary function of a CDA is to provide direct intervention to school-aged children (individually or in small groups) to allow them to access the curriculum and improve their overall academic success. Direct intervention may address difficulties with articulation, receptive and/or expressive language, augmentative communication and literacy development.
Other services a CDA may provide are:
training and/or providing strategies to teachers, educational assistants and parents;
preparation of classroom and home programs to assist with the ongoing maintenance of direct intervention;
written and oral progress reports to parents and teachers upon completion of direct intervention;
in-service workshops to school personnel when required;
development and preparation of materials and/or devices for students to use in the classroom and community settings (e.g., visual schedules, picture communication systems, voice output communication devices, etc…)