General Information
The Annandale Fluency Clinic (AFC) was founded in 1981 as a center for treatment of stuttering in children and adults. The Clinic is well known throughout the United States and Canada as the author of innovative programs for the treatment of stuttering, and has been the recipient of research and development grant awards from the National Institutes of Health. In addition to stuttering treatment, it has engaged in clinical program development in the areas of voice disorders, language/learning disabilities and reading disorders. The clinics now provide a wide range of state of the art clinical and consultative services for children and adults with speech and language disorders.

A Wide Range of Services
Stuttering treatment programs

• AFC offers specialized programs for pre-schoolers, school-aged children, teens, and adults who stutter. With the youngest, the emphasis is on early direct intervention and parental involvement. School-aged children, teens, and adults are treated using Cafet, the computer-aided fluency establishment trainer which provides visual biofeedback of the speech systems. Intensive programs for teens and young adults are offered each summer. Individual and group therapy for adults is offered year round.

• As in stuttering treatment, AFC has been a leader in research and development of clinical treatment of voice disorders in children and adults. Using computer-aided biofeedback instruments, the clinic offers the most efficient and effective treatment programs for children and adults with functional and organic voice disorders. The voice specialists on staff work together with the patient's medical management to provide a holistic approach to voice therapy.

• The Annandale Reading Clinic offers group and individual treatment for children and adults with auditory dyslexia and reading comprehension deficits. Programming includes the auditory segmentation approach authored by Patricia Lindamood, Orton-Gillingham multisensory visualzation method for reading comprehension.

• Training in all aspects of voice improvement, reduction of foreign and regional accents, and oral presentation skills, both verbal and non-verbal are provided by our experienced staff. Using videotapes as well as biofeedback instrumentation is effective in shaping professional level speaking skills. Public speaking phobias are treated in both individual therapy and group practice in cooperation with our consulting behavioral psychologist.

State-of-the-Art Instrumentation
The clinic makes extensive use of modern instrumentation in diagnosis and treatment. A variety of biofeedback instruments make traditional therapy far more efficient and effective, cutting therapy and training time in half, as well as offering improved self-awareness and control on the part of the patient. Instrumentation also provides precision pre- and post-testing for vastly improved outcome assessment and third-party accountability.

Qualified Therapists
AFC employs only Master's degree level speech-language pathologists who are fully licensed in the Commonwealth of Virginia or the state of Maryland, and who hold or are working toward the Certificate of Clinical Competence of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. While every member of the AFC staff is well-rounded and can provide treatment for a wide variety of disorders, each therapist has developed specialized skills in certain areas. We seek to offer the best qualified and most experienced specialist for each disorder.

Resumes are available for each therapist upon request. Resumes for Martha D. Goebel and Linda Ifft Jordan are available from this site.

Scheduling Appointments
The clinic is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday for daytime appointments. Group therapy is regularly scheduled in the evening, and on Saturdays. Some evening hours are available for individual treatment, at a slightly higher fee than daytime hours. No home visits can be provided.

Location
The Annandale Fluency Clinics has two locations in the Washington metropolitan area. For maps, addresses, and driving instructions, see the Locations section.

Payment and Insurance
Payment for services is expected at the time services are rendered, unless other arrangements have been made in advance. Payment may be made by personal check or cash, and Visa or MasterCard. Fees for evaluations must be paid prior to the beginning of the session. Please ask for our current fee schedule.

For all health insurance related questions, see the Insurance section.

Cancellation of Appointments
AFC does not charge for missed sessions, however, a cancellation fee of $40.00 will be charged unless notification of a cancellation or change in appointment time is made 24 hours in advance. In the case of same-day illness, the clinic must be notified at least 2 hours before the scheduled appointment. No adjustment in fee or treatment time will made for late-comers. "Regular" times cannot be held for patients who repeatedly cancel their scheduled appointments.