Preeja Balan is the co-founder and Director of Octave Hearing and Speech Centre. She has over twelve years of experience in working with individuals with communication impairments particularly children with cerebral palsy, apraxia and adults with motor speech disorders. Preeja is especially interested in applying her clinical research on improving communication outcomes and enhancing quality of life for individuals who have significant speech and language impairments requiring augmentative and alternative communication. Her expertise lies in providing guidance for individuals with feeding difficulties, communication intervention, conducting home management programs to train the family as a group to help the individual with communication impairments. She founded Octave to provide a platform that offers professional, structured and comprehensive programs under one roof for individuals with communication impairments.
Education
- PhD, Speech Language Pathology, All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Mysore
- MSc, BSc, Speech language Pathology, Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for Hearing Handicapped, Mumbai
Background
Preeja has worked towards partial inclusion, developing home management programs and out-reach programs for individuals with cerebral palsy. Her research activities are motivated by clinical experience. She trains parents, teachers and professionals on communication assessment and intervention. She teaches and guides research for diploma, undergraduate and post graduate courses.
Professional Memberships
Indian Speech And Hearing Association